Daring Bakers-Opera Cake

I have to admit when I saw this month's challenge for Daring Bakers-Opera Cake, I was intimidated. My favorite thing to bake is cake and so I was also excited. This recipe sounded so complicated that I decided to half the recipe just in case the flavors I chose wouldn't taste good together. Boy was that a mistake! This was the most delicious cake that I have ever tasted! It was amazing. I wish I would have made the full recipe, but I guess I will get the chance later because I am definitely going to make this one again. This challenge was chosen by the co-founders of DB, Ivonne- Cream Puffs in Venice and Lis-La Mia Cucina. It was also co-hosted by Fran-Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie and Shea-Whiskful. I used macadamia nuts, ground into meal (more like paste, but it worked!) and lime zest in the jaconde, lime zest and juice to flavor the syrup and opted for a strawberry buttercream that I have used before. I omitted the glaze and topped it off with the white chocolate mousse, which was so delicious that I didn't flavor it with anything else.
I made 1 10-inch round and 12 cupcakes. The cupcakes didn't turn out so well but still tasted great. I cut small circles out of the round and once I tasted all the components, I used all the scraps of cake because it was too good to throw out!

This was great tasting and fun to make. I took it to a family get together and it was devoured. I made the full recipe for the mousse and buttercream so I had to make another cake to use those (check it out below- next post) Can't wait until our next challenge!

The recipe is really long, so I didn't add it to the post. If you are interested in the recipe, leave me a comment and I will add it. Now head on over to the Daring Baker's Blogroll and check out everyone else's take on this cake!