The team at Birley Bakery has unveiled Tarte Tropézienne, the first in its line of celebration cakes which will be available from the bakery cafe in the heart of Chelsea Green.

Also known as ‘La Tarte de Saint-Tropez’, the recipe developed by Birley Bakery’s Executive Head Chef Vincent Zanardi remains faithful to the original conceived by the Polish confectioner and patisserie-owner Alexandre Micka in the mid-1950s and beloved by Brigitte Bardot.

Transporting us to the idyllic coastal town on the Côte d’Azur, the Tarte Tropézienne uses light brioche soaked with orange blossom and filled with elegant Crème Madame — a base of vanilla pastry cream (crème patissière) mixed with light whipped cream (Chantilly) — and topped with pearled sugar.

Staying true to the ethos of the bakery, the offering echoes that of the classic boulangerie-pâtisseries Vincent used to visit with his mother growing up in France.

Available already online and in the bakery as a single slice, a small or large cake — and with the option of raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries — this new five-tier creation marks the start of Birley Bakery’s celebration cake offering, available to order for events of all kinds.

About Birley Bakery
Birley Bakery, the latest venture of the well-known club-owner Robin Birley, takes its inspiration from the traditional boulangerie-pâtisseries which, though, at one time, ubiquitous in every city, town and village of France, have now all but disappeared from French life.

The bakery, however, isn’t just an exercise in nostalgia: the maître pâtissier, Vincent Zanardi, and his head baker, Eshak Belabed, have devised especially a selection of breads, cakes and viennoiseries for the new shop.

Their recipes, some of which have taken as long as five years to be brought to perfection, are a more contemporary twist on the classics once found in those much-missed boulangerie-pâtisseries.

All the bread and cakes at the bakery are made from exceptional ingredients, these sourced from around the globe: the wheat flour comes from an artisanal farmer in Burgundy, the sea salt from La Guérande in Brittany, the plump almonds from Valencia, and the thick dark honey from hives in Bermondsey. A special reserve of bitter chocolate, created specifically for Birley, and mixed with cacao beans from the Philippines, forms the basis of the range of chocolates.

  • Address: Birley Bakery, 28-30 Cale Street, London, SW3 3QU.
  • Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 7 am – 6 pm / Saturday and Sunday, 8 am – 6 pm.

You can learn more about the bakery at https://birleybakery.com/.

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