These were recipes we had to memorise for our exams (for the bon d'economat):
* Tarte au citron
* Miroir au cassis
* Charlotte aux poires, coulis de framboises
* Saint-Honoré
* Succés
* Éclairs au chocolat et au café & religieuses au café
* Gâteau basque
* Pavé du Roy
* Tarte soufflée & gratin de fruits
* Forêt Noire (Black Forest)
These were the recipes each group of students ended up getting for their practical exams:
BP - Group A:
Tarte au citron
Succés
Pavé du Roy
(Note: each of these recipes was given to 3 or 4 students in the group, and there were about a dozen students in each group)
BP - Group B:
Saint-Honoré
Pavé du Roy
Tarte soufflée & gratin de fruits
BP - Group C:
Tarte au citron
Saint-Honoré
Pavé du Roy
Because each recipe has a different degree of difficulty, the requirements and scoring system for each cake are slightly different. After my exam, I was told (by someone who knows about things like that) the judges are instructed to look for particular aspects for each cake. For instance, the Pave du Roy is not really that hard to make because the chocolate biscuit (sponge layers) is a very basic requirement (a recipe and technique we learn early on in the term). However, the ganache is an element that is more difficult to make well, and if you make the ganache really well (i.e. smooth and shiny) and it tastes good, you score higher points. It is fair enough, I guess. (This sort of reminds me a little of how they score the diving in the Olympics. In terms of degree of difficulty, and how well a dive was excuted.)
Anyway, these are things I am filing away in my mind as I prepare myself for the next level of pastry. Basically, practice makes perfect, but a little bit of planning and analysis won't hurt.
