We had previously discussed my advice in preparation for the exam to prepare well for the CAP pastry chef exam. Now let's get down to brass tacks and see how the CAP exam as a private candidate actually goes!

First of all, know that exam conditions vary depending on the centers. For example, candidates sometimes have a commis to do the dishwashing for them (but don't dream, it's extremely rare!). In some centers, you can start the practical part as soon as the planning is finished, while some juries require you to spend the regulation half hour on it.

Location can also be a bit unfair. I took my CAP in 2 very nice Parisian schools: the EBP for the practical and Ferrandi for the theory. Beyond their reputation, they are both quite accessible from my home. On the other hand, some candidates have to change departments altogether to reach the exam center (when you live in Paris and you take the exam in Rungis at 7am, you're laughing a lot less…)

To get to the center, I took the metro with half my kitchen on my back (I hesitated for a moment about bringing my Kitchen Aid to be sure I knew how to use it…). Mock me if you want, but generally speaking, you can recognize a private candidate by the amount of equipment they're carrying (whereas "regular" students only bring what they need). I think in a way it reassures us.

I think the appointment was at 7am. I feel somewhat out of place, all the others seem to know the place well and I wander around like a lost soul with my stress as my only company. Finally someone points me to the locker rooms, I change and leave my things in the locker.

I find the room where I'm going to do the practical and I meet my fellow candidates. Most are from the school and quite nice. They tell me to ask them if I'm looking for something. I meet another private candidate but my joy is short-lived: she already has a cooking CAP, so I risk making a fool of myself alone… And on top of that, she's full of herself… I feel like I'm at the bottom of a roller coaster but there's no turning back… here we go!

They open the room for us and we begin to disinfect the equipment and work surface. I learned the lesson well from the practice CAP: I manage to disinfect my blades without cutting my finger before the exam even begins… So all is not lost! By the way, remember to put first aid supplies in your equipment case: bandages and a finger guard to cover the wound in case of a cut.

We are then taken to a classroom. The teacher hands out the exam papers. I scan it quickly and it's not super complicated, I'm reassured. I escaped croissants (which I only master moderately) and I got choux pastry (CAP for those in the know) which I usually do quite well with (but that was before my stupid mistake that would give me enormous cold sweats…).

Here's a little aside while we're talking about exam papers. If you're a bit clever, you'll find this year's exam papers quite easily. I strongly advise you to find out about the difficulties of each paper. When I took it, some candidates got a cake that came out of nowhere, never seen in the past papers. Not really complicated to make but quite unsettling when you've never done it…

Some will tell you that it's cheating to know the exam paper in advance, but I think we already have enough difficulties as private candidates and we can spare ourselves the bad last-minute surprises. And honestly, knowing the 5 or 6 possible papers 2 weeks in advance doesn't guarantee success on exam day. So I advise you to put all the odds in your favor.

I don't really remember my organization, but I think I didn't have difficulty with my planning. I started with the brioche of course and then I had to start my laminated yeast dough. I was careful with the ingredients, because I learned the other lesson from my practice CAP well: sometimes the ingredient bins have no indication of their contents… During training, I confused flour and cream powder and ruined my first sweet dough. I had sworn they wouldn't catch me again! And yet…

But we're not there yet! For now I'm working like crazy to get the preparations out in order. Nothing doing, the jury's gaze unsettles me: it's one thing to succeed with your preparations peacefully at home, it's another to do it in front of 7 pairs of eyes scrutinizing your every move. I feel illegitimate, I start to panic and lose my composure. One of the jurors comes and gently tells me that my work surface should be much cleaner… and he's right. I think he appreciated that I agreed with him. Overall the jurors are rather kind but their gaze blocks me.

I'm then called for the oral exam, which will be a nice change. I don't remember the questions but nothing too harsh that I'm not supposed to know… I manage moderately well, get a rather disapproving look from the teacher questioning me (ah… these private candidates…). No matter, I go back to my choux pastry.

I start to make my pâte à choux and I'm not yet aware at this moment that I'm right in the middle of it (*bonzai: comment if you understood this pastry chef joke!). I start to weigh my eggs to hydrate my dough. I'm happy because these are eggs in a bottle, they look like nothing but it's a real time saver. I hydrate my choux pastry but the amount of egg isn't enough. I add more and it's still not enough… I put in another helping and it's still not right… After a while (I must have added about 3 times the amount recommended by the recipe) my choux pastry starts to have about an acceptable consistency…

I don't really understand but I don't question it. I pipe my éclairs and brush them with whole eggs… Well, what I think are whole eggs, because one of the jurors comes to tell me that the bottle I'm holding in my hands is indeed an egg mixture… but a mixture of yolks not whole eggs…

It's a mistake that can easily happen when you've never used it because the color difference is minimal. In this case, this beginner's mistake is likely to cost me dearly: I made my choux pastry with only egg yolks and not whole eggs (yolks + whites therefore) as is normally the case. It's very likely not to rise and I don't have enough time to make it again… Future candidates, be SUPER careful about that during your exams.

Might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb, I put it in the oven and go back to my pie dough. My stomach is in knots and I wait to see if by some miracle it will rise anyway… I go back to check 15 minutes later and against all odds, it rose well! Of course it's a bit colored because yolks brown more than whole eggs. It looks like my éclairs got a suntan but they're far from ridiculous. One of the teachers asks me if I glazed it with yolk and if that's why they're so colored. I have the nerve to answer in the affirmative and it works… I go back to my preparations.

The rest goes much better, even though overall I have the impression of struggling and being behind. We stop for lunch and I decompress a bit with my classmates. They perk me up and give me advice on the rest of my preparations. They encourage me not to give up. This break allows me to get my head back. I'm not ahead but nothing is lost.

The second part of the exam goes at lightning speed. I finish my apple tart and my charlotte. I'm quite happy with them even if I'm clearly a level below the others. I glaze my éclairs and one of the teachers comes to correct my technique. I hear him tell a colleague that I need to stop panicking because I'm not doing that badly… That's always good to know!

But nothing doing, I struggle with the piping bag. I get chocolate everywhere and start to get frustrated, I can't wait for it to be over. I've been on my feet since 7am almost non-stop and I'm exhausted… I'm frustrated because I didn't manage to finish my piping bag decoration when that's something I usually handle quite well. I could clearly have done better in the last quarter hour but I really can't anymore, it won't change much anymore.

The jury announces the end of the exam and has us leave to evaluate our preparations. I'm quite pleased: the result is far from perfect but I got everything out on the first try and the result is honorable (but maybe it's the adrenaline talking for me ^^). My classmates debrief while smoking a cigarette, I mostly want to go home…

But there's no way I'm leaving, I have to clean the lab. That's what seemed the most difficult to me I think: having to stay another 1 hour 30 minutes to thoroughly clean the lab. It's normal of course to return the place as we found it, but it's a real effort (anyway, there's no way to get out of it, they keep my ID as a hostage…).

Oddly enough, I think it's in the cleaning up that I felt most out of place compared to the others. I had never cleaned a lab and it's not that easy, it's super standardized (yes I already hear those in the back objecting that anyway cleaning is not my strong point in general…). In any case I'm really not up to the cleaning challenge as I take an equipment ring from the school and forget my blender. I'll come back a few days later to the school to exchange it…

So I made myself noticed right to the end… You already know the rest, despite my many mistakes, I still passed the practical. It passes just barely but it passes! With a nice grade in theory I even got my CAP with distinction! It's the diploma I'm most proud of I think!