The question may seem incongruous at first, so much does pastry-making appear to be a trendy discipline. TV programs on this subject are increasingly numerous and more watched. Our favorite pastry chefs become icons, even rivaling the fame of music and television stars. Besides, the number of candidates registering for the pastry chef CAP exam has never been higher. Undeniably, pastry-making is booming. And yet when you look in detail at the CAP program (which hasn't changed since 2007!), it's hard not to question the old-school techniques taught in vocational training centers.
For example, apprentice pastry chefs must struggle with perfecting fondant (an ingredient loaded with sugar and of questionable taste appeal) while this technique is rarely used in business because it's difficult to scale up. It is also forbidden in the exam to place craquelin on choux pastry even though it allows for more regular and therefore more aesthetic choux. The famous salted butter caramel religieuse by Christophe Michalak in illustration actually combines two CAP prohibitions: craquelin choux and almond paste instead of fondant (for a taste and aesthetic result... wow!). So I question whether the pastry chef CAP actually prepares students for the pastry chef profession as it is practiced today in business.
Exceptional pastry chef... but poor CAP student
The subject particularly struck me when Philippe Conticini stated in one of his videos that he deliberately sliced his buttercream. That it would cause him to fail his CAP if he took it today, but that this technique allowed him to have buttercream whipped with air and therefore much lighter. That one of the world's best pastry chefs would say he would fail his CAP left me thoughtful.
I was fortunate to meet him at the presentation of the Michel Cluizel professional collection and was able to ask him the question directly. To get a broader view of the situation, I also interviewed candidates preparing for the exam as independent candidates, a future CFA teacher, and one of my pastry chef friends who works in a large Parisian pastry shop.
The opinion of independent candidates
Among independent candidates, the opinion is general and rather clear. They have their heads down (and who could blame them given the approaching deadline?). They have well understood that as future assistants, they would only be asked upon leaving school to apply the orders and technical sheets established. Creativity and more modern techniques will come when they've advanced in their careers. It's a point of view that holds up, but what about those who will start their own business? I find it unfortunate not to train these apprentices in more profitable techniques and not to teach them to consider market trends (but that's probably my marketing side speaking).
The opinion of professionals
Among active professionals, everyone emphasized to me the importance of mastering the basics of French pastry as a sine qua non condition for being a good professional. But beyond technicality, they all also told me that what made an exceptional pastry chef was first and foremost their personality and their way of expressing themselves through their creations. A "signature" that is only acquired over time.
Mastering the basics is therefore fundamental but not sufficient. Chef Conticini also told me that he wasn't the best apprentice in his class back then because he wasn't the most technical. Yet today he is one of the most (re)known pastry chefs in the world (he also admitted to me that he doesn't make his puff pastry when he's on vacation but that's another story ^^).
That point being established, everyone also told me they regret that training doesn't go further. And that's perhaps where the shoe pinches: if the program itself could be dusted off, the real problem is that it doesn't go deep enough in learning. In CFA for example, students only spend 2 or 3 courses on each technique: not enough to practice both traditional techniques and more modern developments.
So certainly, students are supposed to practice these techniques in business. But how many of them end up assembling ready-made preparations in large chains? Without denying the fundamentals, most professionals would like the program to go further and teach new techniques.
Going further, but toward what?
Yes, but here's the thing: how do you reference these "new techniques" that are most often the result of research and development by individual pastry chefs? Without hindsight, it's difficult to determine which "tricks" will enter the history of pastry-making and which will remain confined to only the brigade of the chef who developed it. Another point raised by my friend who just finished school: experienced teachers are not trained in the most modern techniques. Indeed, it's complicated to keep up with business trends when you never set foot in one!
Ultimately, shouldn't CAP training simply be longer? That's at least the opinion of our future CFA teacher. For her, 8-month training should be reserved for adults in career transition or qualified chefs looking to specialize in pastry-making. Young apprentices, on the other hand, rarely have the maturity necessary to enter the workforce at just 16 years old.
Longer training to integrate more modern techniques
If undeniably the CAP exam could be dusted off in certain aspects (notably fairer exam conditions between centers!), it's rather the training time that seems to be lacking.
Pastry-making is an ancient art with many codes. Rejecting tradition is not the solution, but remaining stuck in the past either! Longer training integrating more modern techniques (while learning the old ones!) would probably allow for a more complete exam and closer to the reality on the ground.
