Tropezienne cake

The origin of this cake is in Saint-Tropez, where in the 1950s, Polish pastry chef Alexandre Miccka made and sold a delicate brioche filled with cream. The invention was so delicious that even Brigitte Bardot herself fell for it. In fact, it was the actress who suggested the name “Tarte Tropézienne”, which is now a registered recipe and trademark and is still as popular as ever.

The Tarte Tropézienne consists of a light brioche flavoured with orange blossom water, the surface of which is covered with pearl sugar and sprinkled with icing sugar. It is filled with a diplomatic cream, which is nothing more than pastry cream and chantilly cream together. A sublime invention that makes you want to eat it by the spoonful.

It is a laborious preparation that requires time and care, but it is delicious and well worth the extra effort it requires. We recommend preparing the diplomatic cream the day before and keeping it refrigerated until ready to use. The brioche must be completely cold before opening it in half and filling it. This way we ensure that the cream maintains its consistency and volume.

INGREDIENTS (For 8-10 people)

For the dough:

• 220 g flour
• 10 g fresh baker's yeast
• 3 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
• 4 M eggs (1 of them to brush the dough)
• 80 g butter, at room temperature
• 30 g of sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
• Salt
• Pearl sugar and icing sugar for decorating

For the diplomatic cream (pastry cream + chantilly):

• 500 ml of milk
• 1 vanilla pod
• 125 g of sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 50 g cornstarch
• 500 ml of whipping cream, very cold (35% fat)
• 100 g icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

ELABORATION

How to prepare diplomatic cream (pastry cream + chantilly)

1. We start with the pastry cream, and to do so, we put the milk in a saucepan.
2. We open the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. We add them to the milk and heat until it comes to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat with a whisk until they turn slightly white. Then add the cornstarch and mix again.
4. When the milk reaches boiling point, remove it from the heat and slowly add it to the egg yolk mixture. Stir it carefully and at the same time to prevent the egg from curdling.
5. Once almost half of the milk has been added to the egg yolk mixture, return it to the saucepan with the rest of the milk. Heat again, over a low heat, until it boils. Stir constantly with the whisk so that it does not stick to the bottom, until it is thick to your liking.
6. Pour the cream into a bowl and cover with cling film, keeping it in contact with the cream so that it doesn't form a crust. Cool it before storing it in the fridge.
7. When the pastry cream is cold, we prepare the chantilly. To do this, the cream must be very cold. It also makes things easier if the bowl in which we are going to whip it is cold, so we can keep it in the fridge or freezer for a while.
8. Pour the cream into the bowl and beat with a whisk. When it starts to thicken, add the vanilla essence and, little by little, the icing sugar. Continue beating until you have used up the sugar and achieved the desired consistency. Be careful not to overbeat or the cream will turn into butter.
9. To finish with the diplomatic cream, add the pastry cream to the chantilly bowl, little by little. Mix gently and with circular movements, using a silicone spatula. If the pastry cream has thickened too much when it cools, you can beat it a little to get it back to the consistency of a cream.
10. We reserve the diplomatic cream in the refrigerator, inside a pastry bag with a smooth nozzle, until the moment of use. If you have the De Buyer gun , load the tank and store the refill in the refrigerator.

Making the cake batter

1. We dissolve the yeast in the milk at room temperature.
2. In a large bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar and one of the eggs. Stir with a whisk until you obtain a homogeneous mixture.
3. Add two more eggs, one at a time, the butter, in lumps, the orange blossom water and the yeast dissolved in milk. Mix again.
4. Add the flour little by little, stirring first and then kneading. It is a greasy and sticky dough that will become elastic and silky with kneading, so avoid the temptation to add more flour and knead it for as many minutes as necessary.
5. When the dough is smooth, place it in a large bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest until it doubles in volume. The time will depend on the room temperature.
6. Once the dough has risen, we deflate it with our knuckles, pressing the dough gently. We knead it again for a few seconds while shaping it into a ball. We place the dough on a baking tray covered with baking paper and flatten it. It should be between 2 and 3 centimetres high.
7. We cover it again with the kitchen cloth and let it ferment for approximately one hour.
8. Once the dough has risen, brush the surface with beaten egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar. Place the tray in the oven, preheated to 180º C with heat from above and below, and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

We fill the Tropézienne cake

1. Before cutting in half it is important that the baked dough has lost heat and is lukewarm.
2. Fill a piping bag or De Buyer pastry gun with the chilled diplomatic cream and fill the cut-out base of the cake.
3. Cover with the top of the cake.
4. You can sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Revol porcelain plate , Pallarès carbon steel kitchen knife with boxwood handle and non-stick oven tray from De Buyer