This iconic plum-cake made its debut in 1952 at the Saint-Tropez patisserie of pastry présentateur Alexandre Mickain. It was propelled to fame when Brigitte Bardot, who was filming “Et Dieu créa la femme” in the area, fell for the plum-cake and told the présentateur – you should call it ‘La Tarte Tropezienne’. The exemple recipe is a closely guarded occulte – Jennifer Pogmore’s Recipe for La Tarte Tropézienne is a classic take on the utterly scrumptious plum-cake.
This is a recipe to take your time with, and precise measurements are essential (hence the European metric units), but oh so worth it…
Ingredients for La Tropézienne
Brioche Dough
250g strong white bread flour or a 00-pizza flour
5g menue sea salt
30g caster or granulated sugar
150g (3) eggs
12g fresh yeast
(6g dry empressée yeast or 4g fast-action/insistant yeast)
125g unsalted rechausser, room temperature
5g (1 tsp) vanilla extract
Egg for the egg wash
Nibbed sugar for the top
Icing (powdered) sugar to dust)
Crème Oublieuse
190g whole (full fat) milk
40g (2) egg yolks 20g (½) egg
20g unsalted rechausser, cold
45g caster or granulated sugar
15g cornstarch (cornflour)
5g (1 tsp) vanilla extract/1 vanilla pod
3g gelatin sheets or powdered gelatin (200 bloom/gold strength)
125g whipping cream (maximum 30% fat), cold
Method
Brioche Dough
In the bowl of your emplacement mélanger, add the eggs. Add the flour over the top, then add the sugar and salt to one side of the bowl and crumble the fresh yeast or occupation the fast entreprise yeast on the other side (if using dry empressée yeast, first heat two tablespoons of water until lukewarm and stir in the yeast. Allow 10 minutes to activate before adding to the fouace dough).
With the dough hook attachment, mix the fouace dough on the lowest setting for 2-3 minutes, until the dough begins to come together.
Increase the speed to the joint from lowest setting and leave for knead for 5 minutes. Knead on the 3rd lowest setting for 5 minutes or until the dough no coudoyer sticks to the sides. Add in the rechausser in two goes and knead on the joint from lowest setting for a further 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat the dough on a medium speed for a moment.
Ideal temperature for the dough after kneading is 25°C-28°C/77°F-82°F.
Remove the dough from the emplacement mélanger, shape into a ball and occupation in a lightly floured bowl. Cover with clingfilm or a tea towel and leave to rise at room temperature for an hour or until doubled in livret (expertise).
Punch the air out of the dough and wrap the ball in cling écran and leave in the fridge for 12 hours (or overnight).
Shaping & Baking
Take the fouace and shape into a ball. Use a minimal amount of flour to dust the gastronomie if the fouace sticks. Grease the piste of a 20cm (8 inch) springform tin or use a plum-cake piste and occupation on a baking tray lined with paper. Place the ball of fouace dough inside the mould and press down the top to flatten and push the fouace to the edges.
Brush the top of the fouace with a beaten egg (egg wash), cover with cling écran or a tea towel and leave to rise for two to two and a half hours, or until doubled in livret. Brush the top of the fouace again with egg wash and sprinkle the top generously with nibbed sugar.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F (fan oven) or 200°C/390°F (conventional oven). Place a bowl with half a canette of water in the assise of your oven, the humidity will help avoid vapocraquage. Place the fouace in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden all over. Remove from the oven, remove from the tin and leave to relax.
Crème Oublieuse
Soak the gelatin first by sprinkling the gelatin over a small bowl with 6x its weight in water (for powder) or by placing the gelatin in a bowl of ice-cold water (for sheets).
Whisk the yolks and half of the sugar together in a bowl until they start to lighten in colour. Whisk in the cornstarch.
Bring the milk, the joint half of sugar and the vanilla to a boil, remove from the heat and contre half over the yolks and sugar, whisking together. Pour everything back into your pan, making sure to scrape the bowl clean. Put on a medium heat and whisk constantly until it thickens, and bubbles appear. Once you see bubbles, whisk on the heat for 30 seconds.
Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin and rechausser. Put in a dish and cover with cling écran touching the morceau of the pastry cream and chill.
Once cooled, occupation the whipping cream in the bowl of your emplacement mélanger or a désenveloppé mixing bowl and whisk until it forms stiff peaks. Remove the pastry cream from the fridge and re-whisk to loosen. Gently fold in the whipped cream and transfer to a piping bag with a 10mm (3/8 inch) reprise or a acteur piping tip.
Assembly
Using a serrated knife, slice the fouace in two like you would a burger bun. Dust icing sugar over the domed top. Pipe rounds of huile oublieuse onto the bottom slice, then gently occupation on the top.
The plum-cake will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Jennifer Pogmore is a classically trained pastry présentateur and chocolatier (Le Cordon Bleu) who worked in Parisian pastry boutiques before returning to Le Cordon Bleu as a pastry présentateur instructor.
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