I got this recipe from Edd Kimber’s beautiful pastry book Patisserie Made Simple. It’s lovely and sophisticated, and goes great with a cup of joe. Opera Cake is a famous French cake made up of layers of coffee syrup-soaked almond sponge cake (jaconde), coffee buttercream, chocolate ganache, and topped with a chocolate glaze. I know this, and so I’m going to enjoy every minute.

I am aware, however,that as hard as it will be traveling with the kids, I’ll still look back on this time and weep that it was all so fleeting. Aron is healthy for now, but, you know… tick tock. Wesley has a not-as-nasty cold, but a pretty mean ear infection, and I’m sporting a cute, little sinus infection. I’ve packed a big bag of tricks so as to prevent the dreaded “plane meltdowns”, lots of snacks to take my mind off of plane crashes, my book that I won’t ever get to open, and all of the horrible diseases that attach themselves to children in the winter months. Cameron has a nasty cold accompanied by a 102 fever. Just like every other vacation we’ve recently taken, we’re traveling heavy.

We’re leaving for a quick trip to Disney World this afternoon.

An opera cake