This tart was inspired by the French Tarte Tropezienne or Saint Tropez Tart. It is a classic cake made from brioche dough that is filled with pastry cream and buttercream. My version is easier to make and no less delicious. Instead of the two creams we will make a simple diplomat cream without gelatine. The brioche will be soaked inside and out with syrup made with fresh orange juice. The resulting tart is light and super flavourful, and it looks great too.
We’ll be using my no-knead brioche dough for this project. Whenever I make my no-knead brioche I always mix up a double batch so that I can use it for two projects and that is exactly what I’ve done this time around. I used the other half for a recipe which I recently posted. You can find that recipe and many more in the Brioche playlist on my channel.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the dough –
500g (1.1lb) white bread flour
250g (8.8oz) egg
12g (0.42oz) salt
9g (0.32oz) instant dry yeast or 11g (0.38oz) active dry yeast or 27g (0.95oz) fresh yeast
60g (2.1oz) sugar
200g (7oz) softened butter
To top –
1 egg for glazing
Pearl sugar
For the filling –
200g (7oz) milk
50g (1.75oz) sugar
1 egg (50g; 1.75oz)
The zest of 1 orange
5g (0.17oz) vanilla paste
20g (0.7oz) corn starch
50g (1.75oz) double (heavy) cream to turn the pastry cream into diplomat cream.
For the syrup –
100g (3.5oz) fresh orange juice
100g (3.5oz) sugar
To learn more about no-knead bread dough temperature control click here.
The flour I use has a protein content of 13%. If your flour is weaker, then you may need to lower the hydration.
If you are using active dry yeast, then you will need to let it sit in the egg for 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients or else it could take a lot longer to raise the dough.
If you are curious about why the dough contains butter, egg, and sugar, click the links to learn more about the effects those ingredients have on bread dough.
Method
- Make the dough. In a large bowl combine the eggs, yeast, salt, and sugar. Whisk to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add 8 tablespoons (200g; 7oz) flour and whisk. Add the softened butter and whisk until smooth.
- Add the remaining flour and mix to a dough. *Desired dough temperature around 24C (75F).
- Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
- Fold #1.
- Chill for 30 minutes.
- Fold #2.
- Chill for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into two pieces and shape into balls. If you are not dividing the dough, give it another fold.
- Wrap in clingfilm and cold ferment for 18 – 24 hours. After cold bulk fermentation you can use this dough for any project you like.
- Make the custard. Combine the milk, sugar, egg, orange zest, vanilla paste, and corn starch in a small pan and whisk together. Place on medium-high heat and cook for around 3 minutes or until the custard becomes thick. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate.
- Make the tart. Roll out the dough to a flat disc and place it in a tart case. Cover and proof for 2.5 hours. During the final hour of fermentation pre-heat the oven to 170C (340F) fan on or 190C (375F) fan off.
- Brush the tart with egg, leave to dry for 5 minutes, and then brush again. Sprinkle with pearl sugar.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Make the syrup just before the brioche comes out the oven. Combine the sugar and orange juice and bring to a boil.
- Brush the brioche with the syrup as soon as it comes out the oven. Leave to cool down for 30 minutes.
- Once cooled slice the brioche in half and soak the crumb with the remaining syrup. Leave to cool down completely.
- Make the diplomat cream. Whisk the double cream until thickened. Whisk the cold custard until it becomes smooth. Finally, whisk together the cream and the custard.
- Cover the bottom part of the brioche with the filling and place the other half of the brioche on top. Press it down firmly. Leave in the fridge to set the cream.
Slice and serve cold or at room temperature.
Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.
Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.
