Of all the countless, magnificent sweet goodies sold in French bakeries, none has quite the glamorous connotations of the tarte Tropézienne, the pastry cream and buttercream-laden cake invented on the French Riviera which is celebrating its 70th birthday this year.
Its rank as one of France’s most desirable, luxurious pâtisseries is largely thanks to its name and protected trademark as opposed to any especially expensive or rare ingredients. It is not even notable for its use of local ingredients – after all, one cannot spot many cows grazing on the Côte d’Azur. Then there is the involvement of a megastar French actress to lend heft to the mythology and its enduring appeal...
In 1955, the young Polish pastry chef Alexandre Micka started selling a soft brioche filled with a creamy filling, based on his grandmother’s recipe, in his Saint-Tropez shop. The cake was sprinkled with large sugar crystals.
That year, the chef helped to provide on-set catering (morning pastries and coffee) for the film crew of Et Dieu… créa la femme (And God Created Woman) – Roger Vadim’s film starring Brigitte Bardot, a role which would catapult her to worldwide fame. At the time, Saint-Tropez was a simple fishing village popular with a handful of artists.
The young starlet took a shine to Alexandre’s delicious, surprisingly light cake and was asked to give it a name. She plumped (rather unimaginatively, it must be said) for ‘tarte de Saint-Tropez’, a name which the chef eventually modified to the more catchy ‘tarte Tropézienne’ (‘Tropezian tart’).
Its reputation grew locally and then nationally – in tandem with both ‘BB’ and Saint-Tropez itself. One might argue that ever since, there has been an element of ‘smoke and mirrors’ at play, with an added splash of cunning marketing, both of which over the years have lent this pretty simple cake a certain grandeur.
To mark the 70th birthday (it trademarked the cake in 1972), the company founded by Alexandre Micka, which was taken over in 1985 by Albert Dufrêne, and run since 2021 by his son Sacha, laid on events in the town’s Place des Lices.
Of course, it would not be so popular without one vital element – it is absolutely delicious – as your Food Noter can vouch, having tasted it in situ.
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