Here’s the kind of recipe that does you good at the weekend, especially when the weather is rather gloomy. The tropézienne, you probably know it! Especially if you’re from the South of France. For the record, it was Alexandre Micka, a pastry chef of Polish origin, who came up with this recipe, which became iconic in the 1950s thanks to the film “And God Created Woman” with Brigitte Bardot. She was actually the one who suggested a name for this dessert: “la tarte de Saint-Tropez”, which eventually became the “tarte tropézienne”.
It’s all very well knowing all that, but what about the recipe? I stayed faithful to the blog Chloé Délice, since it was thanks to her brioche recipe (and after many failures) that I managed to make my first exotic fruit tropézienne tart. Today, I’m keeping it classic by offering you the famous vanilla recipe, with, for those who like it, a brioche delicately flavoured with orange blossom.
Let it be known: it’s to die for! The brioche is soft and fragrant, and the vanilla cream is a treat for the taste buds. For those wary of bread-making (like me, originally), rest assured that with this recipe, everything should go smoothly! So off to the kitchen — you’ve got your weekend recipe!
Ingredients & Method
4 components · Full recipe
Brioche
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) flour
- 25 g (0.9 oz) sugar
- 3 g (0.1 oz) salt
- 10 g (0.4 oz) fresh yeast
- 110 ml (3.7 fl oz) milk
- 50 g (1.8 oz) whole eggs
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
- 50 g (1.8 oz) softened butter
- 1 egg for glazing
- pearl sugar
- icing sugar
Method
1
Place the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
2
Add the sugar, salt, and crumbled fresh yeast (making sure the 3 ingredients do not touch each other), then the eggs, milk, and orange blossom water.
3
Mix at medium speed for 10 minutes.
4
Add the softened butter all at once and continue kneading for 10 minutes. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl.
5
Leave the dough to rise for 1 hour at room temperature.
6
Knock back the dough: punch it down firmly to expel the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast and accumulated during proving. The air bubbles are distributed more evenly through the dough, resulting in a more regular crumb structure.
7
Place the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.
8
Knock back the dough again, shape it into a ball, then flatten with a rolling pin to a round of 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter.
9
Brush with whole egg and leave the dough to prove for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature. If nothing is happening after an hour (if it is not very warm), place it in the oven at the minimum temperature (30–40°C / 104°F, proving function).
10
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (fan-assisted).
11
Brush with whole egg again, sprinkle generously with pearl sugar. Bake for 20 minutes (depending on your oven).
Vanilla Cream
Ingredients
- 400 g (14.1 oz) milk
- 48 g (1.7 oz) egg yolks
- 100 g (3.5 oz) sugar
- 40 g (1.4 oz) cornstarch
- 140 g (4.9 oz) softened butter
- 1 vanilla pod
- 150 g (5.3 oz) double cream
Method
1
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale.
2
Add the cornstarch and mix.
3
In a large saucepan, bring the milk to the boil with the split and scraped vanilla pod. Pour a little of the hot milk into the bowl in a thin stream, whisking constantly, to temper the cream, then pour everything back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
4
Whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens.
5
Transfer to a bowl. Cover with cling film touching the surface and leave to cool.
6
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a bowl), cream the softened butter with the whisk, then gradually incorporate the smoothed pastry cream (whisk it first to loosen it) and beat until you obtain a mousseline texture.
7
Cover with cling film touching the surface and refrigerate.
8
Pour the double cream into the bowl of a stand mixer (or into a bowl) and begin whisking at medium speed, then as the cream starts to firm up a little, increase the speed. Gradually, the cream will rise and firm up. It should be fairly firm (soft peak consistency).
9
Fold the whipped cream into the mousseline cream and mix gently using a spatula. Refrigerate.
Orange Blossom Soaking Syrup
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) water
- 30 g (1.1 oz) sugar
- 5 g (0.2 oz) orange blossom water
Method
1
Bring the water and sugar to the boil.
2
Off the heat, add the orange blossom water.
Assembly
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Carefully cut the brioche in half using a serrated knife.
2
Soak both halves of the brioche with the still slightly warm syrup (a warm syrup on a cold brioche, or vice versa, for better absorption).
3
Place the tropézienne cream in the centre of the bottom half of the brioche and smooth with a small offset spatula (or a spoon).
4
Gently place the top half of the brioche and dust with icing sugar.
5
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
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