How to make, fill and fold a crepe

• Timing, timing, timing.  If you make your pastry cream first, drop a sheet of plastic wrap right on top and keep it in an ice bath at your station.
• Make sure your eggs aren’t curdling; keep stirring!
• Keep your pastry cream smooth and as light (thin) as possible.
• Keep your crepes as thin as possible.
• Make sure your crepes are the right color.
• Practice folding your crepes.
• Play with the presentation before you get to competition, to give yourself a plan and options in plating.
• Be careful about your chocolate sauce, and how you pipe it onto the crepes and plate.
• Chocolate piping doesn’t need to be too glitzy!
• Finally – don’t forget to taste!  The pastry cream should taste sweet enough, with a whisper of vanilla. 

Chef Francine Marz says, “If you want this, fight for it.  The night before, review every step and make out lists.  Visualize everything you will do and what your plates will look like,”

More than that, she adds, “Develop a sense of urgency in your work.  And visualize how it will feel to win.  You want an emotion to hang on to as you work.”