Making the Dessert That Made Julia Child Cry

We're always encouraging our readers to recreate recipes they find interesting. Here's what happened when YouTube's Anti-Chef, Jamie Tracey, tried to make the dessert that made Julia Child cry.

Julia Child’s laugh is infectious but have you ever seen her cry. Apparently there is a recipe that almost left her speechless and brought her to tears. A recipe that Jamie Tracey a Canadian You Tuber came across and attempted to recreate on his YouTube channel, the Anti-Chef. Tracey began filming and posting his efforts on YouTube as he tried to replicate recipes from celebrity chefs and famous restaurants despite having zero skills in the kitchen. Recipes like the Banana Pudding from NYC’s Magnolia Bakery and from renown chefs including Julia Child. In 2020 he made a video of himself making Julia Child’s Ratatouille and that led to his on-line desire to master, or at least try, the art of French cooking with recipes like Boeuf Bourguignon, Crepe Suzette, Cheese Soufflé, Vichyssoise and even a towering Croquembouche.

This time Tracey had his sights set on a recipe for an iconic dessert made by Julia Child and chef, cookbook author and baker extraordinaire Nancy Silverton from a 1997 episode of Baking with Julia. The recipe was for a creme fraiche brioche tart. At the end of the episode, Julia takes a bite, pats Nancy on the back, places her other hand over her heart and says, between tears, "It's a dessert to cry over. That's a triumph. This is the best dessert I've ever eaten."

Nancy Silverton's Creme Fraiche Brioche Tart

I was curious to see how Tracey was going to recreate the famous dessert that made Julia Child cry. The brioche alone has brought more than one cook to their knees and the other components of the dish were equally challenging. Despite redoing parts of the recipe, equipment malfunctions and dirtying every bowl in his kitchen he cracks on. Tracey gave it his best effort but in the end the recipe got the best of him. He acknowledges his miscues and his trial and error style of cooking, building on the lessons he’s learned which we all can relate to.

If you think cooking isn’t for you replicating recipes is a good way to start. Find one recipe you love then make it. Maybe one not quite as challenging as a brioche tart but like Tracey, even with an expected level of frustration, you’ll want to try more. Tracey’s quest to cook gives all of us, no matter what level of skill we have in the kitchen, the assurance that with a well-written recipe and a well-directed YouTube video there’s always hope for those of us who value the joy of cooking and good food.

If you want to learn more about Jamie Tracey's experience with the epic recipe that made Julia Child cry click here.

P.S. I've heard he tried to make Marcella Hazan's Lasagna Verdi (green lasagna). The recipe is a bit of a challenge but the result has been described as "one of the most delicate, delicious and dazzling pastas ever to pass your lips and make its way to your stomach". Tracey describes it as grueling and said "it made a man out of me".

Marcella Hazan's Lasagne Verdi al forno