Where does the Tropezian tart come from?
To tell you the truth, this great classic of pastry was born not so long ago. It was in 1952 that Alexandre Micka, a Polish pastry chef, arrived in France. With him, he brought a recipe passed down by his grandmother.
It is now 1955, at the beginning of the filming of the movie “And God Created Woman”. Alexandre Micka is then in charge of preparing the meal for the entire film crew. For dessert, he has reserved a brioche cake with two creams, his specialty. Brigitte Bardot is won over, to the point that she decides to find a name for this pastry that does not yet have one. She thus christens the tarte tropézienne, inspired by the village where the film takes place. A consecration for this pastry that becomes as famous as its godmother.
In 1973, on the advice of Albert Dufrêne, the young entrepreneur Alexandre Micka registered the recipe for his cream. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a pastry cream, but rather “a buttercream and a pastry cream judiciously mixed at the same temperature”. Although the recipe was kept secret for a long time, it has now entered the public domain and can be consulted freely on the INPI website.
The two partners then decided to set up their own brand specializing in the Tropezian tart. La Tarte Tropézienne was born in 1985, with the promise of respecting the original recipe. The franchise has since grown considerably and now has 29 stores, including one in Dallas, in the United States.
Faced with the many imitations of this Var pastry, the family business continues to highlight its traditional know-how. As we usually say about the Tropézienne tart, “always imitated, but never equaled”.
Fun Fact
A priori, there is no link between Donald Trump and our famous Tropezian pastry. That is without counting on the latter’s meeting with Kim Jung-un in Singapore on June 12, 2018. Indeed, during this historic day, a menu mixing Korean flavors, French specialties and junk food was offered to the two leaders. After a shrimp cocktail and sweet and sour pork, they were able to enjoy an authentic Tropezian tart. The rest is history: the signing of a historic denuclearization agreement between the two countries. When we tell you that French gastronomy is a place of agreement for everyone.
Our recipe for Tropezian tart
Even today, the real recipe for tarte tropézienne is kept secret by the brand of the same name. We therefore offer you our own version in which we have chosen to replace the butter pastry cream with a princess cream. This is a variation of crème diplomate, but without gelatin, lighter and airier.
Preparation: 15 min
Cooking: 20 min
For 6 people
- 400 g brioche dough
- 1 egg yolk
- coarse sugar
The cream
- 50 cl of milk
- 1 vanilla pod
- 4 egg yolks
- 100 g sugar
- 100 g flour
- 1 cl of liquid cream
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Start by preparing the brioche. Roll out the dough to form a disk 1 cm thick and about 20 cm in diameter. Place it on a baking sheet covered with baking paper.
Mix the egg yolk with 1 tbsp. of water, brush the surface of the dough with this mixture. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake the brioche for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
For the cream: boil the milk with a vanilla pod split in two in a saucepan. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar, add the flour then pour a few spoonfuls of milk to dilute this mixture. Pour it into the saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Let it boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat. Cover with cling film and let it cool. Whip the liquid cream until it is firm, gently incorporate it into the pastry cream. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Cut the brioche in half and fill it with cream. Leave to cool for at least 1 hour before serving.
You can also make this recipe in an individual version. You will thus obtain 6 mini-Tropez tarts.
Tips for making a successful Tarte Tropézienne
A few very simple tips can help you make a delicious homemade tarte tropézienne.
First, the brioche. For it to be as soft as you want, it should only contain butter, no milk. And be careful, you need a lot of it, count half the dose of flour in butter. It is the latter that will give it an incomparable texture.
It is also recommended to flavor your dough with orange blossom or with a few lemon zests. Some will tell you that the best thing is to soak the brioche in homemade orange blossom syrup. This is not mandatory, but will bring a touch of the South to your dessert.
Finally, you will also need to make a successful cream to garnish your brioche. To do this, we recommend replacing half of the flour dose with cornstarch. This will give your cream a less heavy texture and a nice yellow color. The cooking stage is also crucial because lumps can form, giving an unpleasant texture. So be sure to stir your preparation continuously over low heat to avoid them. If, despite everything, your dough contains some, pass the mixture through a sieve or strainer to remove them. No one will see.
You are now ready to make the most Saint-Tropez-style tart.
