Le Meilleur Pâtissier

The main series is shot in the grounds of various French castles: the first series at the Château de Neuville in Gambais,[3] the fifth at the Château de Maillebois near Chartres[4] and the rest at the Château de Groussay in Montfort-l'Amaury.[5]

Since one episode takes two days to film, it takes six weeks in total to shoot each series.[6]

Faustine Bollaert presented the programme from the launch episode[7] until the second celebrity special series in 2017 (Meilleur Pâtissier, spécial célébrités), just before her departure for France 2.[8] Since then (series 6), Julia Vignali has presented.[9]

Nathalie Homs, meanwhile, performs the voice-over.[10]

There are several phases involved in the programme's casting process. For each series, the production team receives between 4,000 and 5,000 applications along with candidates’ photos. After reviewing these, only 400 to 600 amateur bakers are selected to visit the production offices where on-camera casting is carried out. Would-be contestants arrive with two cakes. The first is a specific example of traditional French patisserie. The second is a personal creation. A shortlist of forty is selected and a "life-size" test then carried out in a professional kitchen in the presence of Mercotte and Julia Vignali among others. Here, fourteen candidates emerge who will go on to participate in the programme.[10]

This challenge consists of contestants making their own home recipes according to a given theme. For example, for the theme of tarts a contestant might bake a tarte aux pommes (the French equivalent of an apple pie).

Here, the bakers make a classic of either French or foreign baking by scrupulously following a recipe provided by Mercotte. However, she deliberately omits certain details with the aim of judging the contestants’ technique and know-how.

This phase involves inventing a recipe based on a given theme. With presentation being taken into account, contestants’ skills, creativity and aesthetic sensibilities are all put to the test. A VIP guest (e.g. a Meilleur Ouvrier de France or a pastry chef) joins the normal judges for this challenge.

Having completed these three challenges, the bakers who made the worst desserts face off in this last test, which involves revisiting a classic of French patisserie. At the end of the challenge, the judges choose the contestants who will continue the adventure and those who will go home. This challenge was dropped from series 3 onwards, with the unsuccessful contestant now being chosen at the end of the creative bake.