My husband still brings up a slice of this cake we had on a trip along the French Riviera years ago, describing it in more loving detail than he uses for most of our actual vacation photos. I finally sat down and worked out a home version, and it has become the one request that reliably gets him to volunteer for dish duty afterward.
Tarte tropézienne was created in the 1950s by a Polish pastry chef named Alexandre Micka, who opened a bakery in Saint-Tropez and sold a sugar-topped brioche filled with a light cream. Brigitte Bardot was filming in town at the time, tasted it, and suggested he name it after the village, and the tarte tropézienne has carried that name ever since. It is soft, only lightly sweet on its own, and entirely dependent on that cloud of vanilla cream in the middle.
This sits right alongside my French blueberry pie (recipe on the site), proof that a Portuguese food blogger can still have a real soft spot for French pastry. Some things cross borders without any trouble at all.
Tarte Tropézienne Recipe
Prep time: 45 minutes, plus rising and chilling · Cook time: 25 minutes · Total: about 4 hours · Servings: 8 servings · Calories: ~385 per serving
Ingredients
- For the brioche:
- 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cubed
- 1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash
- Coarse or pearl sugar, for sprinkling, optional
- For the cream filling:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons orange flower water or 2 tablespoons rum, optional but traditional
- 1 cup heavy cream, cold
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- In a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the eggs and the yeast mixture and mix until a shaggy dough forms.
- Knead on medium speed for about 5 minutes, then add the softened butter a few cubes at a time, letting each addition incorporate before adding more. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth, glossy, and pulls away from the bowl, about 10 minutes total.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch down the dough and shape into a flat disc about 8 inches across on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover loosely and let rise again for 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the disc with egg wash and sprinkle with pearl sugar if using. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until deeply golden. Cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the pastry cream: whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until pale. Heat the milk until just simmering, then slowly whisk it into the yolk mixture. Return everything to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thick, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and the orange flower water or rum. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and chill completely, at least 1 hour.
- Whip the cold heavy cream to stiff peaks, then fold it into the chilled pastry cream to lighten it.
- Once the brioche is completely cool, slice it horizontally in half. Spread or pipe the cream filling generously over the bottom half, then set the top half back on.
- Chill for at least 1 hour before slicing so the cream firms up enough to hold clean slices. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Recipe Notes
- This cake needs to be properly chilled before slicing, or the cream squishes out the sides. It is worth the wait.
- Orange flower water is traditional and worth seeking out at Middle Eastern grocery stores or the baking aisle of well-stocked supermarkets, but a good dark rum is a very acceptable substitute if you cannot find it.
- The brioche can be made a day ahead and stored well wrapped at room temperature. Fill it with the cream no more than a few hours before serving.
- Since this filling contains dairy and eggs cooked into a custard, keep the finished cake refrigerated and eat it within 2 days.
