Get ready it’s semi final time on Channel 10’s MasterChef: Dessert Masters, let’s recap!
In tonight’s MasterChef: Dessert Masters semi-final; there’s five chefs remaining but only three will make it into the grand final. They are one cook away from the grand finale!
Today the contestants enter a greenhouse, the MasterChef kitchen with a garden in full bloom. Todays dish needs to be inspired by nature, it’s a very vague brief but the contestants have 3 hours to create something as beautiful as nature itself.
Kirsten Tibballs is planning to make a chocolate moose cake with a 3D chocolate bird cage. “I think this might be the most ambitious thing you have done so far.” Amaury marvels while she works.
“This requires a bit of engineering and skill to pull this off. Hopefully it becomes a bird cage and not a shipwreck.” Kirsten winces.
Everything is going smoothly but with less than a minute to go, Kirsten’s bird cage falls apart as she transfers it to the final plate. The countdown clock stops, the whole kitchen freezes. The spoon from the dessert I am eat whilst watching Dessert Masters also drops to the floor. It’s all over for the Chocolate Queen. Oh dear god, this is awful to watch. Amaury just shakes his head. Kirsten’s making me cry.
But she doesn’t present empty handed, she still has a cake to present and it is a flawless recipe. Amaury has nothing but respect for Australia’s queen of chocolate, what she presents is immaculate. It’s great but is it enough for the grand finale? The judges are left to ponder.
Whilst Kirsten is breaking boundaries with her chocolate tempered wrecking ball, Gareth Whitton is staying in his lane more than a bureaucrat. “No risk, no glory. That’s what I’m hoping will get me in.” He’s making a dessert with artichoke, apple and hazelnut truffles.
“Gareth, I want a dessert, not a bowl of vegetables.” Amaury warns. I agree, I’m only here for Amaury, the sweet stuff.
At first, ‘Riverstones’ looks like the leftovers from Andy Bowdy’s ‘Bound for the bin’ plate a couple weeks ago. I’ve never seen the judges taste something cautiously.
“There is a lot of technical mastery in this plate and it shows who he is and what he does because it is amazing.” Amaury praises. It’s well balanced, well defined and well tasting but to Amaury it’s just not dessert and it is making him question everything he knows about desserts.
After using his immunity pin, Reynold Poernomo has got some skin in the game, he’s doing an oakwood gelato.
You heard him right. Amaury is intrigued in what sounds like a vegan’s delight, it’s a flavour he’s never heard of but is looking forward to the experience. Reynold’s got a point to prove; he has perfected the leaves that sent him home in 2021 and keen get him through to the grand finale.
When he’s pulling the dessert leaves out of the moulds, the first leaf breaks but the rest are great, Reynold and myself both sigh in relief. His dish is ‘Natura’ but what’s Reynolds secretly saying is ‘dessert is a dish best served cold’.
The judges smile upon tasting his dessert. “The oak gelato has this smoky maple syrup taste. This is definitely a Dessert Master worthy dessert.” Amaury approves.
Jess Liemantara is making a Matcha Moss into a mini bonzi. With less than 30 minutes to go, she’s still working on the elements to assemble the plant. In the last 10 minutes, it’s all finally coming together. “At the start of the competition, I would not have even dared such a thing,” Jess says, watching her confidence build throughout the series is heart warming. “I wanted to put everything into this cook because it could be my last day.” Jess tells the judges.
Melissa and Amaury eat her dessert and become as tranquil as her dish. “I am just in awe of Jess,” Melissa says. “We have multiple texture and flavour elements, Look wise it’s stunning and flavour wise it does not disappoint” Amaury adds.
Kaylene Tan has made a vanilla sponge, rhubarb concept and calls it ‘When winter turns into spring’. It’s a new beginning. “I think this is an accumulation of my journey in the MasterChef kitchen and for me it, it’s actually believing I can do this.” Kaylene explains.
“I think if you are trying to make a point for yourself, point made.” Amaury nods in approval. “Everything is good but it’s a little dry. It’s not a perfect dish, the ratio is wrong.”
The Results:
“The top three chefs who have made it to the grand finale are Reynold. Jess and Gareth.” Amaury announces.
Kaylene and Kirsten are unfortunately do not make the cut.
“I could not think of a three more worthy to make the final, I’m really happy to spend this much time with them. I have grown so much these past few weeks”
Kaylene Tan
Melissa Leong
“Kirsten, you are the queen of Chocolate and you have proven you are worthy of such reign.”
Go jess Go Reynolds