Here is the true and unique story of the Tarte Tropézienne.

We are in 1955, on the long sandy beaches of Ramatuelle, still unspoiled and wild, a team is making a film. The name of the actors and of the director are at that point still unknown: Brigitte Bardot: feminine leading role, Curd Jurgens, male leading role: Jean-Louis Trintignant, young beginner, and a certain Vadim as the director, with first name Roger, who was even more unknown at that time. The film was going to "light up the world". We are talking of course of "And God created woman", the beginning of a legend.

Flash back: Some years earlier Alexandre Micka has landed in Provence with the American Forces and had opened a bakery on the town square of Saint Tropez. From his native Poland he had brought a recipe of his grand mother's cream cake. Amongst other things (Pizzas, Croissants etc) he sells the cream cake in his bakery.

Next thing you know, Alexandre Micka was asked to cater for the film crew and supplied them with meals, pizzas and croissants, but he soon found that every day he was having to make ever-larger quantities of his famous "tarte".

You should find a name for your dessert, was Brigitte Bardot advice. Why don't you call it the "Tarte of Saint Tropez"! That is how it became "La Tarte Tropézienne".
But the story continues...



One day, a Parisian customer, enters the bakery of the city hall square and asks Alexandre Micka if his cake was "protected"...

- What do you mean by "protected", asked A.Micka
- Well, against imitations! replies the Parisian
- No, I have not, says A.Micka.
- I'll take care of it, state the Parisian.

Mr Micka gives in confidence the methods, the ingredients and the necessary proportions for the making of the cake.

One year later to the day the same Parisian enters the bakery again, hands Micka the official documents and says: It is done, the Tarte Tropézienne is protected.

We now move forward to 1975. The Tarte Tropézienne had become a well known local speciality, but was only found in a few outlets. Along came Jean-Baptiste Doumeng, a prominent wealthy businessman known as "The Red Millionaire" on account of his political sympathies.! JB. Doumeng was the first to have the idea of developing a deep-frozen version of the Tropézienne and distributing it throughout Europe. He made it happen and a massive EEC-wide advertising campaign supported the project. The "frozen" busines was only successful for a short time but it helped to gain notoriety on a large scale. The wheels really started turning then and are still not ready to stop.

End of the story ? No. In Saint-Tropez, nothing really occurs like anywhere else !


In 1985, Albert Dufrêne, Sales manager of the Tarte Tropézienne, bought the famous name and process from Alexandre Micka, who was happy to hand over his business.
Albert Dufrêne grew up in the Savoie (region in France around Annecy) and is an ex-Rally driver.

M. Dufrêne made no attempt to modify the production process, which was still carried out entirely by hand, down to the sugar being boiled in copper cauldrons, but gradually increased the number of sales outlets in southern France.

But above all, thanks to his contacts he still had in the Motor racing scene, Albert Dufrêne becomes the official caterer to the Williams-Renault and Benetton-Renault Formula 1 teams A move which earned his motor-home the most number of stars of the entire paddock. 6 times World Champion with Renault-Williams-Benetton!

The secret of this success story? The Tarte Tropézienne is still made by hand and under best conditions, with always fresh products: 4000 eggs, 500 kg of flour, 400 kg of powdered milk per day, etc...

To meet upcoming European food hygiene standards,
"La Tarte Tropézienne" has undertaken a stringent Quality drive to satisfy ISO 9002 standards.

The Tarte Tropézienne? The star of the desserts and the dessert of the stars! But be careful, there is only one! That of its creator: Alexandre Micka.