“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then where you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”
This weeks recipe is one I have been wanting to make for over a year now. One day while I was scrolling through Instagram I saw a picture of the most beautiful dessert. It seemed to be some sort of cake with pastry cream in between the two layers. Turns it out it was a popular French dessert called Tarte Tropézienne. It is a free form brioche “cake” that is baked, sliced in half, and filled with pastry cream. Simple, elegant, and delicious.
After seeing that photo I wrote myself a note to try making a Tarte Tropézienne one day. That was over a year ago and I finally made it and I must say, it was amazing. The dessert itself seems simple and maybe doesn’t seem like it would taste like much at first. However, when you combine buttery brioche dough with a cold vanilla + orange pastry cream, it makes something truly delicious. I will add that although making brioche seems daunting, it is actually very easy so long as you have a stand mixer. You could make this brioche by hand but make sure you have some upper body strength because it needs to knead for quite some time.
According to Dorie Greenspan writing for Food 52,
“The story goes that a bread baker, Alexandre Mika, had a shop in Saint-Tropez and that he made this cake using a recipe that he brought with him from his native Poland. But it wasn’t until 1955, when a film crew set up across from the shop, that the dessert became the “it” cake. The crew included a bunch of then-unknowns: the actors Jean-Louis Trintignant and Curd Jürgens; first-time director Roger Vadim; and starlet Brigitte Bardot. When Mika started making meals for them, the cake became the most requested item on the menu. It was so beloved that Bardot is said to have advised Mika that he should have a special name for it and that’s when it was christened “La Tarte Tropézienne.”
I love when food has a story behind it and I love the story behind this now famous French pastry. It makes the dessert in and of itself more interesting. Once I started researching what a Tarte Tropézienne was and discovered the story behind it, I decided then that I had to make it. Jacob and I both agreed that it was amazing and I’m sure it will be a recipe I make at least a couple times a year.
As I stated above, this Tarte is actually really easy to make. The vanilla + orange pastry cream filling is really a add-everything-together-in-one-pot recipe and it can be made the night before. The brioche itself comes together very easily and just requires a bit of kneading which I why I recommend you (and everyone else!) have a stand mixer. Every baker should have one, that’s my opinion. Once you have the bread and pastry cream, you just slice the brioche “cake” in half and fill with the pastry cream. The Tarte itself is topped with pearl sugar which adds a lot of texture and pairs so perfectly with the silky smooth pastry cream.
I hope you enjoyed this weeks recipe. I have been dying to make it and I’m so glad I finally did. I love classic French pastries and this is by far my favorite one I have ever made. If you try this recipe, or any other from the blog, please share your thoughts, feedback, and/or photos with me. I would love to hear from you! Happy baking everyone!
Tarte Tropézienne
Ingredients:
For the Filling
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
½ Cup White Granulated Sugar
¼ Cup Cornstarch
½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 Cups Whole Milk
4 Egg Yolks
Seeds from ½ of a Vanilla Bean
2 Tablespoons Butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 Orange, zest only
½ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
For the Tangzhong
20 g All Purpose Flour
100 g Water
For the rest of the Milk Bread
290 g All Purpose Flour, plus more
30 g Sugar
6 g Kosher Salt
5 g Active Dry Yeast
5 g Dried Milk Powder
130 g Whole Milk, room temperature
1 Large Egg, room temperature
Tangzhong (recipe above)
50 g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
To Finish
1 Egg, whisked
1 Cup Swedish Pearl Sugar *see note
Directions:
For the Filling
A quick note about the filling: This filling does need to be chilled for at least two hours before you use it for the tarte. You can make the pastry cream the night before and finish up the last step (adding whipped cream) when you are ready to make it.
In a medium sized saucepan, add the sugar, cornstarch, and salt and whisk until there are no lumps of cornstarch.
In a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg yolks and vanilla bean seeds until fully combined. Pour the egg + milk mixture slowly into the sugar + cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly until you have a lump-free mixture.
Turn the heat to medium-high and cook, whisking constantly, until the custard is thick like pudding. Take the custard off the heat and stir in the cubed butter until evenly combined.
Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and pour the custard through the sieve and into the bowl— this will catch any lumps that may have formed during the cooking process.
Cover the custard with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic wrap touches the entire surface of the custard to prevent a ‘film’ from forming on the top of it.
Refrigerate until completely chilled, about 2 hours.
Make the Tangzhong
Whisk together the flour (40g) and water (200g) in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened like pudding— this will take about 1-2 minutes. Continue cooking for a full 60 seconds. The mixture will be very thick and sticky, like silly putty.
Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Once ready to make the milk bread, take the tangzhong out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before adding it to the dough.
Make the Milk Bread
In a bowl, mix together the ham and cheese until evenly combined. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and dried milk powder and mix until evenly combined.
Add in the milk, eggs, and tangzhong and mix on low speed until a shaggy dough forms— 3 minutes. Add in the butter and knead on medium-low speed for about 10 minutes or until you have a smooth dough. Stop the mixer and shape the dough into a smooth ball.
Butter a large bowl lightly and transfer the ball of dough to it. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm space for 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
Once doubled in size, deflate the dough by punching it down with your hands. Lay a sheet on parchment down on a baking sheet. For the dough into a ball and place on the baking sheet. Lightly dust the top with flour and shape into a round somewhat flat disk that is about 10 inches in diameter. Cover the baking sheet loosely with plastic wrap without pressing the plastic onto the dough (you don’t want to smoosh the dough). Let rest in a warm place until doubled in size— about 1 hour. About 20 minutes before the hour is up, place a rack in the center and preheat the oven to 400℉.
Once the dough has doubled in size, remove the plastic wrap and brush with the beaten egg. Top the dough generously with the Swedish pearl sugar, pressing down slightly so that the sugar sticks.
Put the dough into the oven and immediately turn the oven temperature down to 350℉. Bake the tarte for 20-25 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the top and sides are golden brown.
Remove the tarte from the oven, let cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once the cake is completely cooled, use a long serrated knife to cut the tarte in half horizontally.
To Assemble
In a bowl, whip the heavy cream and orange zest into stiff peaks. Fold in ⅓ of the orange whipped cream into the pastry cream to loosen it up— you can mix a little vigorously here. Then add the rest of the orange whipped cream and gently fold everything together until
Place the bottom half of the tarte onto a serving plate or cake stand.
Scoop the filling on top and spread into a flat even layer with an offset spatula. Top with the top half of the tarte.
Place the whole Tarte Tropézienne into the fridge to set for at least one hour. Remove from the fridge, slice, and enjoy!
Notes
Swedish Pearl Sugar are small chunks of sugar that hold their shape when baked. They create a nice crunchy topping top of this Tarte Tropézienne. I only had Belgian Pearl Sugar on hand so I crushed that up into smaller pieces to be similar in size to Swedish Pearl Sugar. You can buy the same brand I use here. However, you can also crush sugar cubes if you can’t find Swedish or Belgian Pearl Sugar.