the crust to bake long enough to chase out all of the moisture without browning the crust A perfectly baked crust will be golden and evenly colored >> If you want to make a nut-free sweet dough, replace the almond flour with cake flour A TART SHELL STORY THE FIRST DAY OF MY certificat d’aptitude professionelle, the rigorous final exam that all apprentices must take in order to work in their field, was a sunny day in July 1978, at the end of my grueling two-year apprenticeship with Jean Clauss I had been practicing my pastry skills every night after work for weeks in preparation for the exam The knowledge that I would have to repeat another year with Jean Clauss if I failed my CAP was motivation enough for me to make sure that I had mastered every skill the judges might ask to see We didn’t know ahead of time which tasks we would be asked to perform The two-day exam took place at a cooking school in Illkirch-Graffenstaden, a suburb of Strasbourg Each candidate had his own station As soon as I arrived I got to work setting up my table A judge smiled at me and said, “You’re one of Jean ...almond flour with cake flour A TART SHELL STORY THE FIRST DAY OF MY certificat d’aptitude professionelle, the rigorous final exam that all apprentices must take in order to work in their field, was a sunny day in July... was a sunny day in July 1978, at the end of my grueling two-year apprenticeship with Jean Clauss I had been practicing my pastry skills every night after work for weeks in preparation for the exam The knowledge... that I would have to repeat another year with Jean Clauss if I failed my CAP was motivation enough for me to make sure that I had mastered every skill the judges might ask to see We didn’t know ahead of time which tasks we would