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Through her cookbooks, TV shows, and the individuals she mentored directly or inspired around the globe, Julia Child has taught generations of people how to cook—and find more joy in the kitchen.
Along with joy, Child also vehemently believed passion is priceless, having urged others to “Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” Emotional eating was also encouraged, as she openly cried on TV after taking a bite of a particularly impactful dish.
This was all caught on tape in a 1997 episode of the PBS show “Baking With Julia.” It has recently resurfaced on TikTok, as a new generation falls in love with the heartwarming and honest moments with Child. The tear-inducing dish, however, wasn’t her own; it was courtesy of her guest on the show, baking icon Nancy Silverton.
Nancy Silverton's Brioche Tart With White Secret Sauce
When the episode aired in the late ’90s, Silverton was the owner of La Brea Bakery. Since then, she’s added a handful of Italian-inspired restaurants, a gelato shop, and several cookbooks to her empire.
At 70 years young, Silverton has mastered thousands of recipes, including “The Cookie That Changed My Life,” the name of—and inspiration behind—her most recent cookbook. (That cookie, by the way, is made with toasted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, and a one-to-one ratio of all-purpose and sorghum flours.)
Which of Silverton's dishes touched Child so much that it brought tears to her eyes? Brioche Tart with White Secret Sauce.
Admittedly, the recipe is a labor of love and requires a generous dose of patience. But good things come to those who wait. The dessert starts with a homemade buttery brioche dough. Mix it one day, refrigerate it overnight, then roll it out the next day. Before baking, fill the tart crust with a crème fraîche custard. Sprinkle the top with sugar, brush the tart rim with a beaten egg white, then bake. While that cooks, prepare the “secret sauce” featuring caramelized sugar, vanilla beans, and white wine, which you’ll use to quick-poach slices of fresh stone fruit and to fold into whipped cream.
Silverton demonstrates how to bring this decadent dessert to life on the episode, and near the end of the final segment, Child walks over to the oven to take the creamy tart out. Silverton cuts a slice, places it on a plate for Child, garnishes with the saucy fruit, cream, toasted sliced almonds, and powdered sugar. They both take a bite, and after hearing a series of joyful “mmms,” Silverton asks, “A good combination?” Child looks Silverton in the eye, sets down her fork, puts her hand on her chest, and utters in a teary voice, “It’s a dessert to cry over. It really is. So good.” Declaring it a “triumph” and quite possibly “the best dessert I ever ate,” Child wraps up the episode saying, “This is marvelous.”
Besides being delicious, the recipe held subliminal sentimental value for Child. During a 2023 interview on Milk Street Radio podcast, Silverton and host Christopher Kimball discussed how the producer of the PBS series initially thought Child’s eyes were welling up during this segment because she had taken a bite of a too-hot tart and burned her mouth. But instead, the Brioche Tart brought to mind a vivid memory of Child’s time in France.
Reflecting on that memory, Silverton told Kimball, “When people ask me, 'So, what's the highest achievement that you’ve had?’ I always bring back that story and say, I was able to make Julia Child cry. I, too, thought that I had burned her…I, too, was sort of taken aback when I saw these tears streaming down her cheeks,” she recalls. “All she had to say was, 'This is a dessert to cry over.' Now that is the ultimate compliment. When you can bring back whatever that memory is…that’s sort of the joys of pleasing somebody through your food—when you can do that—because food is emotional.”
How to Make Nancy Silverton’s Brioche Tart Recipe
The exact recipe for Silverton’s Brioche Tart with White Secret Sauce is available online, and it is so beloved that it made its way into the cookbook “Baking with Julia” by Dorie Greenspan. Spoiler alert: In that book, this single recipe takes up a whopping six pages.
If we could ask Child today, we’re sure she’d verify that it’s worth the time and effort. Many home bakers who have shared their riffs online agree. Still, you need not make it completely from scratch and can streamline some steps. (Hey, even Child outsourced cocktail hour snack duty sometimes and served Goldfish crackers instead.)
Rather than making the brioche dough from scratch, consider swapping in a jazzed-up Hot Roll mix. To the boxed dry blend, add an egg for richer flavor, use butter instead of oil, and opt for warm milk instead of water. This will act as a shortcut enriched dough, serving as the base for your tart. Allow it to rise once, punch it down, then pat the dough into a 10-inch round pan (such as a springform pan), pressing it up along the edges to create a rim.
From there, you can follow Silverton's instructions for the custard filling, which is simple: Mix together 1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream and one egg. Pour this custard into the center of the dough after it has proofed, then evenly distribute 1/2 cup sugar on top. Brush the rim of the crust with one beaten egg white. Bake for about 40 minutes at 275 degrees F (135 degrees C), or until the custard is almost set and the crust is golden.
Top with your favorite fresh fruit or fruit compote, dollop on some mascarpone whipped cream or sabayon, and finish with some toasted slivered almonds and powdered sugar. As Child would say, “Bon appétit!”
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