TOP 5 Things You Do at Home That Will Cost You at the CAP Pastry Exam

The CAP pastry exam isn't very complicated and I'm convinced that anyone who practises regularly is almost guaranteed to pass. However, it's an exam designed to produce food industry professionals and involves some fairly strict hygiene rules that are important to know. These are little things that nobody does at home but that will cost you dearly at the exam. So let's look at the top 5 things you do at home that will cost you at the CAP!

5. Not disinfecting your tools (and your work surface)

Few people follow this good practice at home (even though the whole point is to avoid bacteria in food...) but it's literally the first thing you'll be asked to do at the CAP. As soon as you set foot in the lab, you'll be given a disinfectant spray and kitchen paper to clean your equipment and work surface. Why not start good habits now and do the same at home? Plus, it might save you from doing what I did — cutting yourself before the exam even started while cleaning a knife because you weren't used to it!

4. Touching the bin with your hands

Nobody would think of starting to cook without washing their hands (at least I hope!). But have you really analysed how you throw away your waste? In a lab, bins have pedals that let you open them without touching them. Don't go lifting them by the lid — it's a serious hygiene breach that would cost you dearly. And wash your hands after every trip to the bin. Show the examiners that as a future professional, hygiene is a priority for you!

3. Wiping your hands on your tea towel

This also applies to wiping your work surface with a tea towel. Now this one is really a trap and I admit I still do it at home often... With your pastry uniform, you'll be asked to bring one or two tea towels to the exam.

Don't be fooled — they'll be useful for... nothing! OK fine, you can use them as oven mitts to remove a pan from the heat, but that's about it! You're not allowed to use them to wipe your hands or your work surface. Again, for hygiene reasons, use disposable kitchen paper to prevent the spread of germs.

2. Forgetting to boil your pastry cream

Eggs are, I believe, the main cause of food poisoning in pastry. They're a sensitive ingredient that you'll need to learn to be careful with. CAP recipes are designed so that eggs are cooked at the correct temperature for pasteurisation. Not paying attention could cost you points on your preparation.

Pastry cream in particular, a fairly fragile cream by nature, must be cooked at a rolling boil for at least 1 minute (and discarded after 24 hours). I've heard of examiners refusing to taste a pastry cream that hadn't boiled long enough. Admit it would be a shame to get a zero for a few seconds, wouldn't it?

1. Placing your eggs on the work surface

You obviously knew you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket, but did you know it's forbidden to place eggs on the work surface?

Eggs can carry salmonella (that's why they need to be pasteurised by heating them to 63 degrees). By placing them on the work surface, you risk contaminating other ingredients. I once saw an otherwise nice teacher fly into a rage after a student stored their eggs on the counter.

The solution is to always place your eggs on kitchen paper. Problem solved! You must also (for the same reasons) wash your hands after touching the shells.

Yes, I know. You're going to cite 25 cases of people who don't follow this hygiene rule and have never had any issues. But just ask one person to tell you about their salmonella poisoning and you'll quickly change your mind! Your role as a professional is to produce pastries that send your customers neither to hospital nor the morgue (yes, because while salmonella cases are fairly rare, they can cause very serious damage very quickly).

Independent candidates are often looked down upon and considered amateurs by examiners. Knowing these rules and applying them will show that you care about hygiene and should win over your examiner!