Opera Cake '2008'

A few months ago now we picked up a function for the Sydney Operatic Society. It was to be an outside event for approximately 250 pax, 3 courses and the dessert had to be a modern version of the classic opera cake. We looked at different recipes for the classic and came up with a few different versions. We decided on this one and the dish is now on the menu in the restaurant. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Opera cake it is a multi layered cake with only 3 flavours; Coffee, Almond and Chocolate and quite often would have 'Opera' written on the glaze in gold. So that was the brief. On our version we have a chocolate gel (set with pectin), a coffee and vanilla cream (set brulee mix), almond soil, chocolate soil, roast almond ice-cream ('Paco-Jet') and chocolate caramel to finish of the dish.
We kept all the flavours and kind of warped the different layers. The same 3 flavours all with a different texture. Later

'Coffee and Doughnuts'

This is the current dessert on the dega menu, and a little bit of fun. Its really simple but tastes great. Espresso creme brulee, infused with vanilla and cinnamon and Cardamom sabayon. The doughnut ice cream is made with Krispy Kreme originals in the paco jet. So smooth and very moreish, very moreish. Played with a few other things like croissant and danish. Krispy Kreme wins every time. Looks like the guys at 'Ideas in Food'http://http://ideasinfood.typepad.com/ideas_in_food/2008/03/putting-on-the.html are on the same vibe at the moment. The combinations are infinitive. We've put the ice cream on some pistachio soil to stop it sliding around and to fit in with the Moroccan flavours. Later