How THE Opera Cream Star Was Born

This is the story of a beautiful marriage of flavors: fragrant vanilla, cream and luscious dark chocolate. When I was growing up, the only time white chocolate was available was in the form of a white chocolate lamb or bunny in my Easter basket. I couldn’t wait to nibble at its delicious tiny head down to its toes. I still love all things vanilla! The second taste contributor to the opera cream taste profile was also present during Easter. The dark chocolate covered opera cream eggs that were nestled in the green cellophane grass in my Easter basket. The juxtaposition of rich vanilla cream and dark chocolate was always a perfect combination. The final contributor for my taste inspiration was my dad’s favorite ice cream cone, vanilla ice cream with real chocolate jimmies sprinkled on top. I still follow his lead when choosing an ice cream cone, even though there are so many modern and inspired flavors to choose from.

The actual development of the opera cream is also quite a story. First, I had to learn my craft. As a novice pastry chef in the 80’s at Edwards Restaurant in Cincinnati, I was mentored by the owner Rob Fogel, who encouraged me daily to create, to taste for balance and clarity, to reach out where previous classic pastry chefs had not been encouraged to go before. On Monday mornings, he would hand me a stack of papers torn from the likes of Bon Appetit or Gourmet Magazine of recipes “that sounded interesting”. We had some core favorites on our menu, like the Chocolate Marquis, Mrs. Boodles Jamaican Coconut Pie and our Classic French Chocolate Mousse, but that stack of the new and cutting-edge recipes of that era opened my mind to create desserts for a NEW cuisine that was emerging all over America. Edwards trained me to trust my enlightened taste buds. I left Edwards after four years with a great education in the pastry arts and the confidence to try anything with a zeal for perfection. My mind and skills had been expanded tenfold.

Within a year of leaving Edwards, I started BonBonerie with Mary Pat Pace, who is still my business partner, to create custom cakes for restaurants. We would set up meetings with restaurant chefs to create cakes that would appeal to their individual customers. Lou Yecis was the proprietor of a very innovative restaurant called InCahoots in Clifton and later took over Arthur’s in Hyde Park. He also had a very refined palate. The first cake we created for him wasn’t what he wanted. I was disappointed but ready to work towards something better for him. I changed cakes, I changed fillings I changed glazes. It took at least four or five versions before he approved of what is now the Opera Cream. The original recipe card which, I still have, is even called Lou’s Cake, not the Opera Cream and the recipe card was originally written to make two cakes at a time. That was a very long time ago.  We had made an agreement with each of our restaurants that the cake we custom created for them would only be made for them. His customers would often request whole cakes to purchase for their personal events at home too. That is how we began to feel like we had a winner on our hands.  Arthurs was the only restaurant that sold that cake until Lou Yecis sold Arthurs, which allowed us to offer the Opera Cream to other restaurants.  We did not have a retail outlet for four years after the Opera Cream was created and during that time, we were regularly requested by some of the restaurants who served it to send them a few extra cakes for their patrons who wanted to buy them whole for parties.

Mary Pat would often remind me of just how many times the Opera Cream had to be handled, fussed with and touched to get to its glorious finale. Wasn’t there a simpler way to achieve something as delicious? But alas, we could never find a shortcut. This is how it happens.

1.    Cakes Baked

2.    Filling made

3.    Glaze made

4.    Signature white chocolate icing made

5.    Vanilla syrup made

6.    White chocolate diamonds hand cut

7.    Cake sliced into thirds

8.    Filling whipped

9.    Special enhanced syrup brushed on each layer

10.  Filling spread between layers of cake

11.  Each cake iced completely on the outside with opera cream filling

12.  Iced cakes then refrigerated

13.  Iced cakes brought out and glazed with marquis chocolate glaze

14.  Glazed cakes surrounded with chocolate flakes on the sides

15.  Glazed Cakes refrigerated

16.  Glazed Cakes brought out and decorated with white chocolate icing rosettes

17.  White chocolate diamonds placed in each rosette

18.  Doily placed in boxes

19.  Cakes placed on doilies in boxes

20.  Cakes put in refrigerator ready for sale….. unless inscribed with a salutation 

21.  VOILA…. Ready for the show

Like any star there have been requests to photograph her for magazines to dig deep into who she was and where she was from. She is no ingenue, but her star power remains after 40 years. She is in her prime perhaps ready to go onto bigger and better things. She has travelled to numerous destinations throughout the United States. Even before Cincy Favorites began shipping her in dry ice around the country, we would often be asked to advise our customers on the best way to carry her from Maine to California. In honor of Opera Cream Month, we had a contest to see who had taken an Opera Cream Cake the farthest and it was a tie between two cities in Washington State.

She has hobnobbed with the rich and famous throughout the city and beyond. One time while chatting with a stranger in a New York City Theatre I told her I was from Cincinnati; she instantly opened her phone to show me a picture of her friend who at the time was the musical director of A Chorus Line at the Playhouse in the Park revival. In the picture he was holding an Opera Cream Cake that his mother had sent to him in NYC for his birthday. I recognized it in an instant. Like I said, the Opera Cream is quite the bon vivant. BonBonerie is simply her hometown.

The other day I saw one of our beloved customers while she and her husband were looking at the original watercolors of BonBonerie pastries in the hallway to the Cafe. They inquired if they might be able to purchase a small watercolor of the Opera Cream to remind them of all the wonderful celebrations they had serving it. They were genuinely overjoyed that the Opera Cream had become such a significant part of their family traditions.

The Opera Cream is certainly one of our stars. After forty years I haven’t tired of her lusciousness either.  She truly deserves applause, perhaps even a standing ovation for all the joy she has brought to so many.

Sharon Butler

Co-Founder