Yes, the flavors are very good, but an unset, unattractive and sloppy cake is one I would serve to no one and am barely justifying serving it to just the two of us. It looks as if a 5 year old assembled it. When I bake (professional or for home) it is not just about taste, it is presentation and I am thrilled that this cake will never be seen by anyone. It should read, brush lightly with coffee brandy. Thirdly, this recipe directs you to use 1/3 of the coffee brandy to brush on each layer of cake. There is obviously a layer of ganache/glaze in between the layers of sponge cake and coffee buttercream - yet this is never mentioned. Secondly, if anyone looks at the picture posted with this recipe and then looks at the assembly directions - all is not right. I would suggest to all- find another coffee buttercream recipe and use it instead. Sugar/water brought to proper temp, yolks beaten for 1 min then syrup streaming in slowly.and NOT! This recipes leaves it more of a 'sauce' than a buttercream. The Coffee buttercream did not set up properly. in all my years making buttercream, this version fails. Recipe has you make way too much Coffee brandy (did turn out great) and the Coffee buttercream tasted fine.however. I am very experienced in the kitchen-both personally and professionally, savory and baking. Let me begin by stating that I am no novice. My first thought is to ask Epicurus - where recipes are normally workable - Did anyone in the test kitchen actually test run this recipe?

In all honesty, I would have given this 1/4 of a fork if given the option. This recipe was a complete waste of time and I would NEVER recommend it to someone else. The instructions were vague and confusing, especially in the cake assembly step. It did not turn out like the picture in any way and took way longer than it should have. This was one of the worst recipes I have ever made.

Recipe for an opera cake