Tarte Tropezienne

Now if you ask me what Poppy has in common with Brigitte Bardot, the answer is obvious, heavy, some would say too much, use of eye liner. When it comes to what I have in commom with Brigitte, well the answer is Tarte Tropezienne. The French actress made a habit of ordering a slice every day with coffee in her favourite Parisian patisserie, at least that's what we're told but if this is true how did she remain slim while I, well no matter, lets just say she may well have missed the odd day and had instead cucumber sandwiches.
This confection is simply a large flattish brioche, split and filled with crème patissière scented with kirsch, it is however delicious and well worth making. This year I am making it as my birthday cake.

Eye liner - midnight hound by Bobbi Brown

Jersey brings my list up to 92, thank you very much!

For this recipe you will need'
Just over 1/2 quantity of brioche dough, click here for the recipe
I quantity of crème patissière, see below
pearl sugar and a little sugar syrup for decoration

To make the crème patissière you will need,
500ml of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
75g of sugar
50g of unsalted butter, at room temperature
25g of plain flour
25g of cornflour
1 tablespoon of kirsch
200ml of double cream whipped to soft peaks.

Begin by making the crème patissière, this can be made up to a couple of days in advance, covered with clingfilm (touching the surface) and kept in the fridge.
Heat the milk in a saucepan to just under the boil. Place 6 egg yolks in a large bowl and whisk in the sugar until the mix becomes paler, whisk in both flours thoroughly then finally whisk in the heated milk and the vanilla. Return the mix to the saucepan and place back on a low heat. With a whisk keep whisking the mix gently as it thickens quite dramatically. I usually abandon the whisk at this point and use a spatula to keep the thickened crème moving while the flours cook out, on a low heat, about another minute. Place the soft butter in a bowl and sieve the cooked crème onto the butter, be persistent and push the mix through the sieve, I find the spatula helps. Whisk the butter into the crème and whisk in the kirsch. Finally fold in 200ml of double cream which has been whisked to almost stiff peaks. This all sounds like a lot to do and indeed it does require effort, effort rather than expertise I would say, if you take your time you will end up with a truly wonderful crème patissière that you can use in so many dishes so well worth becoming good at.

Take a 700g of brioche dough (the remaining 480g can be either frozen for another occasion or used to make 6 brioche) and roll out to form a disc which measures 24cm. Place it in a tin lined with baking parchment. I use my tarte tatin tin for this. Leave in a warm to place, covered, to more than double in size. Bake in a hot oven 200C for ten minutes, turn down the heat to 180 and bake for a further 15 minutes. Take the brioche out of the oven and switch the oven off. Paint the surface with a little sugar syrup, sprinkle with a teaspoon of pearl sugar and return to the cooling for a minute or two.
When the brioche is cooled, remove it from the tin, split it in two and sandwich together with the crème patissière.