Top Chef: Just Desserts (2010) s01e03 Episode Script
Glee Club
Previously on Top Chef: Just Desserts Hi, mom.
Hi, babe.
The reason I'm always striving to become a better pastry Chef is for my mom.
I love you so much.
I need to win this show for her.
I'm not here for fun.
I'm here to save my life.
You need more.
I don't have quite enough basil, so I'm gonna grind the whole thing, seeds and all.
It becomes, like, scrambled eggs in a soup.
The Chef who did the best job was Erika.
Oh, God.
Tim, your dessert just didn't measure up.
I am so over this.
'Cause I'm gonna be a , and I'm gonna cook, and I'm gonna win this whole .
And you can all suck it.
I don't care anymore.
Whoa.
Now, ten pastry Chefs remain to compete for a feature in Food & Wine magazine, a showcase at the annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival, a German-engineered, sport-injected 2011 Buick Regal, and $100,000 furnished by Godiva Chocolatier.
Who has the creativity, the skill, and the drive to win Top Chef: Just Desserts? Top Chef: Just Desserts 1x03 Glee Club Very quickly gets this together.
All right, let's go get coffee.
The morning after the super-huge stew room blowup, I definitely feel pretty misunderstood.
I don't know what it would take to get back in people's good graces at this point, but, um, I don't care if I alienate everyone around me.
I just have to cook my ass off, and I know that if I make my best dish every day I'm gonna win every single challenge.
Our middle room is emptying out.
I know.
Tim went home, and now there are ten Chefs left in the competition.
Tim was our hookup.
Yeah.
I miss him already.
Not just for the cigarettes.
My staff at work would be really surprised that I'm still in the competition.
I don't think anybody thought that a Baker would make it past the first challenge.
I mean, everything he made was delicious.
I'm feeling good, 'cause I'm realizing that maybe this isn't just about presentation and technique.
It's also about taste and flavor.
But you can never be on high too long, 'cause you'll be on the bottom tomorrow.
Okay, everybody, let's go.
We walk into the kitchen, and Sylvia Weinstock is standing there with Gail.
Sylvia Weinstock is, you know, a genius with wedding cakes.
Just beautiful, over-the-top cakes for celebrities.
So I know wedding cakes are going to be involved.
Hi, Chefs.
Hi, Gail.
Your guest judge for this quickfire challenge is America's foremost cake designer.
Please welcome Sylvia Weinstock.
And it's a pleasure to be here with you today.
You know, when I started this business about 30 years ago, I think we built a reputation for not only a beautiful cake, but a delicious cake.
They have to taste beautiful.
The flavors have to sing to you.
Chefs, for your next quickfire challenge, you'll be making a wedding cake.
Wedding cakes are something I take a lot of pride in making, and it takes, you know, days and weeks to create a wedding cake.
But this is a quickfire.
So I'm a little bit confused.
For most people, it's the most important cake of their life.
And Bakers spend days making them.
You're gonna have an hour and a half.
What? Like, really? Have you been snorting buttercream? I mean, that's, like, not rational.
I mean, that's gonna be impossible.
And I'm definitely stressed.
We'll provide you with the sheet cake.
But it will be up to you to wow us with your decorating artistry.
Not only do we want you to make sure you give us visual fireworks.
You need to infuse it with unique fillings, decoration, and make it taste delicious.
This is your opportunity to show me how creative can you be in an hour and a half.
I'm jazzed.
I've been decorating cakes since-- I mean, that's, like, my first job that I had as a kid.
The winner will get immunity in the next elimination challenge.
Your time Starts now.
Behind you.
Behind you.
Another day at the office? Yeah.
I don't make wedding cakes.
So I will just start putting something together, and then, as I'm working, think through how I'm gonna really finish it.
I got engaged just before coming into the competition.
So I've thought a lot about wedding cakes lately.
And I hope I might have a bit of advantage.
Typically, buttercream and fondant are icings that you'll use for wedding cakes.
I like fondant, but it just tastes like sugar, so you soak the layers of the cake with syrup to add flavor.
Behind you! Wedding cakes should be very visually appealing.
But it kind of kills it if it tastes like crap.
Fondant looks smooth, but buttercream tastes way better.
So I always cover my cakes in buttercream.
Whosever pot this is, I'm stealing it.
I know that I can't make a wedding cake.
So I'm just gonna make her something delicious to eat and say, "sorry it's not a wedding cake," you know? I've never made a wedding cake in my life.
So I'm gonna make a little miniature wedding cake plated dessert and call it an engagement cake.
I'm gonna cook my kind of food, and I have to believe that that's gonna make me win.
Seth has already screamed out, "I've never made a wedding cake!", which is, like, no shock to anyone.
It's like, "I've never made cupcakes.
I've never worked with chocolate.
" I'm not exactly sure what he's ever done.
But the fact that he can't even try is ridiculous.
I'm--I'm staying safe.
I'm not going all over the place.
I've been decorating cakes since I was 12.
So I'm feeling great about this challenge.
But it is Sylvia Weinstock.
It has to be beautiful and taste amazing.
So I'm making a gianduja chocolate mousse, soaking my layers with mocha, and making Kahlua buttercream.
I should have worn a garbage bag today.
Come on! Come on, the little engine that could.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Oh, my God, what are you planning to serve, the army? I made the cake at my wedding.
I had to do my own cake.
I wasn't gonna let anybody else.
I'm making a citrus filling, and I'm doing three layers of cake and then two layers of icing.
And I know it tastes great, but normally I'll bake the cake one day, I'll cut it out and sandwich it another day, and then I'll finish the third day, so trying to squeeze everything into an hour and a half is gonna be tough.
You guys, 40 minutes.
40 minutes.
That's intense.
Holy .
Oops.
It's a diva cake.
No, I think that's what you call a "hot mess cake.
" Wedding cakes are very architectural.
And as you stack more and more tiers on top, you have to make sure that it's structurally sound.
34 minutes! Yeah! I got to clean this station up, 'cause there's no way to make a cake in frigging chaos.
I'm so not gonna make this.
I bet you Erika's gonna kick ass.
! I'm starting to realize this is an enormous cake.
I'll never have enough buttercream.
Why did I do this? Why did I pick the bottom layer? All I'm thinking is how am I gonna finish this cake? I'm looking around and I'm wondering, like, how are people getting through this? And I realize we're all in the same place.
Okay, I'm about to walk away from this.
31 minutes.
I'm gonna cry.
This is gonna splatter.
I've got a really beautiful coconut and cardamom filling, but my cake is not working.
My frosting is just getting softer and softer and softer.
I am starting to try and get that cake in and out of the glass freezer, but there's just not enough time.
It's not chilling fast enough.
Five minutes, everyone.
You have five more minutes.
The cake starts to fall apart.
What happened here? Um Behind you.
I swear to God, this is gonna be crazy.
This is insane.
The quickfire is a wedding cake challenge, and we have an hour and a half to do it.
There's so many components in a wedding cake.
So time is the biggest issue.
That is just about the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life.
I'm struggling with my second cake.
And I put it down, and it's completely off-center.
There's no way I can present a cake to Sylvia Weinstock that is off-center.
So I decide I'm gonna pull it off, and when I pull it off, oh, my God, the cake comes apart from the middle.
And the struggle just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Hey, shakey.
Hey! I see you shaking the Out of this table.
It's driving me crazy.
All right? Don't ever call me shakey.
My name is Malika.
You can call me by my name, Morgan.
Morgan talks to others disrespectfully.
And right now, I'm like, this is not the time.
You know, I feel bad enough already.
Two minutes! Oh, God, I hate this ! Shaking.
Shaking.
Time's up, everyone.
Tools down.
Time's up.
I look around the room, and there's a lot of hideous wedding cakes.
Eric's cake looked like a grocery-style cake.
And then Danielle's cake, it was all green.
I didn't think it seemed very appropriate for a wedding.
And, Erika, she has more of a homey style rather than a professional cake.
You got a finished cake.
Chill, chill, chill.
Don't be me.
Don't cry on camera.
It doesn't get you anywhere.
No, I'm fine.
I'm fine.
I cannot control the tears.
I feel very overwhelmed.
This is my second quickfire disaster.
What I've done, it's not anything that I am proud of or that shows any of my ability or skill.
Hi, Heather.
Hi, Gail.
How are you? Sylvia.
Sylvia Weinstock is one of the greatest cake designers ever and one of my idols.
I'm so excited and nervous.
Tell us about your cake.
It's a white cake with a vanilla simple syrup, just soaked it a little bit.
And I made a nutella buttercream.
Are you married? Um, I'm engaged.
And who's making your wedding cake? I don't know.
It might be me.
But I'm being advised against that.
Go get your nails done and your hair done.
Have somebody else do it.
It's your day off.
Okay.
Eric, tell us about your cake.
It's just a very traditional wedding cake.
Inside, it's a pistachio-based buttercream and an apricot Brandy filling.
Mm.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Hi, Zac.
Since I can't deep-fry a whole cake, I decided to put the toasted meringue on the outside.
I made a fruit of the forest jam, worked that into a dark chocolate ganache.
I have made a wedding cake, but I've never done something this out there.
Well, out there is the way to experiment and to grow.
I'm waiting for Gail and Sylvia to come around, and the cake starts falling on the table.
And I'm starting to feel that I'm not loving cooking when I'm here.
This is definitely the worst moment for me.
Hi.
I made a mocha explosion.
On the inside there is a gianduja mousse.
The layers are soaked with mocha, simple syrup, and covered with a Kahlua buttercream.
Not too sweet.
Not too sweet.
Thanks a lot.
Hi, Danielle.
So I made a cream cheese lemon filling, and I layered it with fresh strawberries and pistachios.
And then I made it green because that's my favorite color, and this is what I would make for myself.
Oh.
Are you getting married? No.
So you're practicing on us.
But maybe sometime in the future, yes.
Oh, so you're practicing on us.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Hi, Seth.
Tell us about your wedding cake.
Uh, it's actually an engagement cake.
I don't know how to make tiered cakes.
So there is a caramel chocolate mousse and a marsala apricot jam.
And then on the outside of the cake, there's olive oil dust, absinthe honey, and there's going to be some orange marsala ice cream.
This is actually my favorite dish I've made since I've been here.
For Seth, in front of Sylvia, to not even attempt it is embarrassing for pastry Chefs, period.
How come you didn't even try to do the wedding challenge? Well, I knew I was gonna be in the bottom three, so I actually decided to have fun and just try to get back to being myself.
It was a wedding cake competition.
You should have made an effort.
If I have 100 guests, I'd need 100 of 'em.
Hello.
The flavors-- I made a passion fruit, vanilla, and lime soak for the cake.
I actually made a vanilla cream and orange diplomat cream.
And it also has some fresh raspberries inside.
Nice and light.
Thank you.
Cheers.
Heather.
I wanted to keep the flavors fairly light, and I incorporated lemon and orange zest into my buttercream.
I just wanted to keep it very classic.
Summery.
Thank you.
Morgan.
Down in the South, my favorite wedding cake is Italian cream cake.
So I made a coconut rum syrup to soak the cake with, and then I filled the layers with cream cheese icing and toasted pecans.
Morgan, what do you think of wedding cakes? Well, I absolutely adore yours.
Good answer.
Very political.
Hi, Malika.
Hello.
Tell us about your cake.
What happened here? Um Malika's starting to tear up.
And there's times and places where it's okay to show your emotions.
I don't know what's going on with Malika.
I don't know what's going on with Seth.
But I've never been this upset about a dessert not coming out.
Well, first of all, I'm sorry I wasn't able to complete it.
My cake was just so soft, but it's got a coconut custard inside infused with cardamom and vanilla with a raspberry jam.
I want to taste that.
So do I.
Serve it out.
Okay.
So you've never made a wedding cake before? This is, unfortunately, the first time.
But you learn from it.
It's always positive.
Thank you.
I feel much better.
You're very welcome.
Thank you so much.
Okay, Sylvia, tell us how you thought our Chefs did in the wedding cake challenge.
I think, given the conditions they worked under, they did a fabulous job.
Whose were your three least favorite cakes? Seth, even though you don't do wedding cakes as a rule, even if it flopped, it would have been an effort.
When something challenges you, don't back off.
Malika, I thought, under the circumstances, your cake was quite delicious.
But I'm sorry.
It didn't work out.
And just remember, it's not death.
It's only a cake.
Okay.
And, Eric, your pistachio cream cake, I didn't like the way the icing was put on, and, you know, when you slice a cake, I want to see even layers and even fillings.
Basically, the easiest thing you can do is get the layers even.
This is the most embarrassing moment of my life.
Hands down.
No contest.
So who are the top three? Well, there are three that I thought were really pretty terrific.
I liked Erika's cake because I thought Erika did some very nice detail work.
And I thought the flavors were delicious.
I thought Morgan's cake was absolutely lovely.
Very clean, very fresh-looking.
The fillings were good and tasty.
And I also felt that Heather h's cake was lovely.
I think it was very delicate.
I loved her little pink dogwood flowers on it.
Very feminine and elegant.
So of those three, which is the winner today? There is one that I think I would want to use for a wedding.
And that would be Erika's.
Congratulations, Erika.
You have immunity in the elimination challenge.
Erika won, but, aesthetically, that's not a type of cake that I would go for.
This is back-to-back win for me, and it feels great.
So my fellow Chefs, if they're gunning for me, they can come on.
I'm ready.
For this elimination challenge, we're gonna divide you into teams.
Please grab the cookie jar and take a cookie.
Glee.
Malika.
Pep.
Pep.
Glee.
Glee and pep.
What the are we gonna do here? Pep.
Pep.
Pep.
Glee.
Glee.
Glee.
Please divide into the two groups with the same cookies.
Pretty much everyone on our team had a altercation with Seth the last elimination challenge.
Not a good beginning to this team challenge.
To help explain this elimination challenge, we've invited a few special guests.
Top Chef, Top Chef we are here on Top Chef , my God.
Top Chef have to keep him calm.
Heather too.
They're having a peanut butter meltdown.
It's sabotage time? All right.
I can do that.
To help explain this elimination challenge, we've invited a few special guests.
Top Chef, Top Chef we are here on Top Chef oh, my God.
Top Chef, Top Chef we are here on Top Chef in High School, that was me.
Glee Club all the way.
I just saw these kids, and I could just point to you which one was me.
Just Desserts Top Chef red velvet cupcakes Top Chef give me some apple pie and ice cream Top Chef sweet chocolate souffle Top Chef Just Desserts We love chocolate and we love cake! So come on all you Chefs and bake, bake, bake! Please welcome the St.
Monica's High School Rainbow Riders and Mariners Pep Squad.
The Mariners are hoping to go to Cheerleading Camp this summer.
And the Rainbow Riders have an opportunity to perform in New York City.
For your next elimination challenge, you'll be throwing a bake sale to raise money for the squads.
I'm really excited about this challenge.
I was a geek in High School.
I've done band camp, so I know it's gonna mean so much to them.
You'll have three hours to bake here in the Top Chef: Just Desserts kitchen.
Tomorrow, you'll have 30 minutes to prep on site.
The bake sale will be from 3:00 to 5:00.
The school will give out 490 tickets, each worth $1 to students and teachers from the Grade School and the High School.
Each person on your team is responsible for one bake sale item.
The winning team is the one that raises the most money.
And to sweeten the pot, the winning team will receive $5,000, furnished by Dawn Hand Renewal.
If we won the $5,000, I think that'll definitely be the icing on the cake.
Good luck.
See you tomorrow.
Bye, guys.
Bye! We have to be approachable enough for kids and for a bake sale, but we have to be refined enough for the judges.
I think our team is perfect for the Glee Club because we really are a bunch of misfits.
Seth is clearly the jock.
I'm the theater geek.
Yigit is, like, the artsy kid.
Danielle, I think, was, like, the valley girl.
Like, "oh, my God.
Let's go to the movies and then make out in the back of your car.
" And Heather C.
is like the girl who just got broken up with over and over and over again.
You know, the one who's always crying.
So we're talking, like, High School kids and High School parents.
I'm gonna do Eric's brownies with some toffee.
We've decided to kind of stay back from our very pastry Chef ideas and really try and focus on an actual bake sale.
I definitely have had my struggles in some of my challenges, but with every challenge, you have to set a positive mind and set goals again.
It has to be very kid-friendly.
Yes.
I was thinking of doing a gianduja financier.
A financier is a cake that is named for the financial district in Paris.
The financiers could walk around eating their little cakes, and no crumbs are getting on their suit.
That's the only thing I feel confident doing for a bake sale.
Okay.
All right.
At the last elimination challenge, I was in the bottom three, so I'm gonna make the thing that I know I can do the best job of.
I won't go home for this dish.
Strawberry shortcake.
I was gonna do, like, a chocolate cream, some marshmallow bits.
I thought, like, whoopie pies.
If he's doing something marshmallow and you're doing chocolate and marshmallow, that's gonna be, like, the same thing.
You should do a cookie.
I don't want to make a cookie.
I want to do whoopie pies.
I think that that would be a winning dish and something that I would feel comfortable doing.
I'm kind of freaking out a little bit.
I don't know what I'm doing.
Heather C.
, she doesn't know what to do.
And I've done a lot of bake sales.
And we can't have a bake sale and not have a cookie.
I can do it.
I can do peanut butter cookies.
Do 'em.
And then-- dip it in chocolate.
Do something interesting with it, though.
I'm not really the biggest fan of my team.
But I was the athlete in High School.
So I am a team player.
And I decide to do a peanut butter cookie.
Okay, guys, we need to get going! Let's go.
I know for a fact that we're gonna put out a great product.
You know, Eric is a Baker.
And, elementary school, I had my own little business called Erika's treats.
I would sell cakes or cookies to my teachers.
And I'm gonna do my family recipe of chocolate chip walnut cookies that I used to sell as a kid.
Eric, is this yours? Yeah.
I'm going to make a peanut butter and krispy bar.
Malika's working on brownies.
Morgan's working on cupcakes, and Heather is working on her dulce de leche cookies.
Even though I'm so excited that it's a bake sale, and I know that's my thing, the wedding cake challenge pretty much destroyed me.
I cannot go home for the bake sale.
I cannot lose it for my team.
Did you take all the peanut butter? Yes.
Just clear your mind.
It is okay.
It's not okay.
Yes, it is.
Because we don't have a choice.
I'm not sure how many pounds of peanut butter I'm gonna need.
It's a competition, you know.
Don't feel badly, girl.
It's sabotage time? All right.
I can do that.
Morgan gets really angry, and he was like, "well, I'm gonna take all the butter.
" Even though it may not be the best way to work through this challenge, he's looking out for me, and it's pretty cool.
If somebody wants to share peanut butter, they can have the butter back.
It's completely ridiculous.
Peanut butter is kind of a specialty ingredient.
Butter is a staple.
We're acting like we're in High School at this point.
Are we okay with water and flour, or did you bogart those too? All the water and flour's gone too.
Oh.
I grabbed all of my ingredients at the start.
Eric, I'm not trying to anybody over.
Grabbing all the peanut butter turns into a very big ordeal.
So when I was done scaling everything out and there was peanut butter left over, I brought it over to Eric.
And I'm really just trying to stay away from the drama.
If you guys need some butter, you let me know.
Can you do a mixer of nutell and peanut butter? And peanut butter? Yeah.
There's not enough peanut butter to make my peanut butter krispy bars.
So I decide to mix half nutella, half peanut butter.
I hope that works.
I'm just not gonna have time to brown the butter for this.
And if I don't brown my butter, it's not a financier.
And I think Johnny Iuzzini is gonna know that.
"Why didn't you use browned butter in your financier? Do you do it a different way?" I like it to taste a little , actually.
It's my special technique.
Seth! Happy.
Happy thoughts.
I definitely feel pretty misunderstood by my compatriots at this point.
And I'm trying to keep kind of under the radar, so I think things are gonna calm down naturally on their own.
I got it.
I got it.
I got it.
Wiggle.
Just wiggle.
I know.
I'm gonna.
I can wiggle it too.
Just do what you got to do.
Seth, I want you to keep one thing in mind, dude.
Hmm.
It's a bake sale.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know.
Have to keep him calm.
Heather too.
Keep him calm, because we need to stick in this.
I know.
I'm making a milk chocolate pudding cup with a slight infusion of fresh ginger.
Zac is making strawberry shortcakes.
Danielle is making coconut caramel cupcakes.
Heather C.
Is making peanut butter cookies.
And Seth is making financiers.
Oh, no! ! I just put coffee extract instead of vanilla.
Nah, that's not possible to fix.
It's a coffee financier.
I don't think most kids know what a financier cake is, let alone the flavors of having coffee.
The whole dish, I'm kind of like, "eh.
" It's a coffee dish, but not, like, overwhelming.
Oh, come on.
What's up, Chefs? Hey.
Hey, Johnny.
Hi, Chef.
Mr.
Eric.
Hi, Chef.
How are you? That's one way to open a Yeah, that's how we do it.
My big snafu is that we ran out of peanut butter.
I don't have enough.
So I'm gonna improvise hopefully with some nutella.
Well, that's good.
That's a similar texture.
Yeah.
Well, good luck to you and your team.
Thank you very much, Chef.
My boy Zac.
Hello, Chef.
What's all this? Uh, biscuits.
Doing strawberry shortcake.
For a bake sale? Bake sale.
Yeah.
Sounds ambitious for a bake sale.
He seemed surprised that I'm making shortcake at a bake sale, but it doesn't seem strange to me.
Malika.
How's everything? Everything's okay.
I had a little, rough quickfire, but Why, what happened? A little wedding cake disaster.
It's just a matter of staying focused and, like, remember why you're here and taking those deep breaths.
Thank you, Chef.
See you later.
Okay.
I still feel very emotional about not having my cake work.
And I've had such a rough year in my life.
My restaurant closed, and I am in the process of a divorce, so I'm starting to get this feeling-- cookin in a competitive environment, this is not for me.
All right, Chefs.
Good luck.
I'll see you tomorrow.
30 minutes! 30 minutes! Ah! Keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle, please.
Why the hell did I decide to do strawberry shortcake? That was dumb.
Did you wrap a brownie tray? We're missing one.
I got 'em! Five minutes, everybody! Hot! Hot! Hot! The peanut butter cookies taste good.
But I'm also still very nervous.
Because I'm thinking maybe it's a little too simple.
30 seconds! Here.
That was everything, right? That's everything for me.
Sugar! Sugar, sugar! Holy .
I just my pants.
I actually feel pretty good, 'cause the other team's dishes, maybe they made overall more bake-sale-appropriate stuff.
Ours has a little bit more elegance to it.
So I'm hoping that that's gonna work in our advantage.
I am definitely too old for this .
So we go back to the house, and it's been tough for me today, so I'm starting to really think about what cooking means to me and what it's starting to mean to me in this competition.
You know You're what? You know, there's two things that keep me going in life.
First is my children.
The other is food.
I'm not happy cooking in this environment.
Oh, Malika.
She's having insecurities about her skills, about why she's here.
I know the past couple days have been really rough for her.
And I'm getting worried that she really wants to leave.
Oh, my God, though.
At this stage in my life, I just want to do whatever I want to do that makes me feel good.
With all the hell I've been through the last year.
My palate is the one thing I have 100% confidence in.
I think that I can, like, put together flavors in my head that would never exist if I didn't think of 'em.
I like Seth.
He's in a tough place in his life.
He doesn't understand a lot about himself.
It doesn't make him a Pastry Chef.
I believe he's got all the potential in the world to come out the other side a better person.
I'm definitely pissed at myself for getting in the bottom on two contemporary plated desserts in a row.
But, like, now that I got my head back on, like, I feel like I'm ready to cook some sick food and blow the doors off it, you know.
Today, our challenge is to raise money through a bake sale for the Glee Club and the Pep Squad of St.
Monica's High School.
My team, we're raising money for the Glee Club.
And we're competing against the other team, which is the Pep Squad.
Eight minutes! What are we putting on this? That's our ticket box.
We have to have it there.
So the guests at our bake sale give us a ticket, and we either box a dessert for them or they eat it right there.
Wins the challenge.
We got two minutes, you guys.
When she gets the big glasses done with the pareils in, follow her with two scoops of ice cream.
Okay, let's keep our calm.
Let's not look frantic, please.
Okay, right now, I'm not calm.
Just keep working, please, Seth.
16 seconds! 15! Just keep cutting.
Just keep cutting.
White cluster, white cluster, white cluster.
It's up at the top.
Five seconds.
Do we have everything? It's over.
Here we go.
Top Chef, we are here on Top Chef Seth has already made it clear that he can't interact with children or he'll cuss too much.
What's going on? Yigit? Everyone, get your smile on.
Our elimination challenge is to do a bake sale.
Our team has the Glee Club.
And kids are, in essence, our judges, because they get to try all the samples of all the desserts.
And those which they like the best, they get to come back and give us a ticket for the ones they want to buy.
Come on in.
There's plenty of room.
Yeah, guys, come and step on down.
Step on down.
One ticket per item.
Yigit, can you help me out with one thing? Just call out orders.
You got it.
You got it.
I think everyone's really kicking ass and doing their work, and I'm really happy to see that Seth is working really hard and he's pulling his share.
I got it.
I got it.
You don't have to explain.
I'm doing it.
Cool.
We have cupcakes.
They have milk chocolate cream inside.
It's really fun to be back in a school environment.
I was thinking about perhaps leaving the competition yesterday, but it's another day.
And I'm gonna set myself in a positive mode and move forward so I can kick some butt for my team.
Let's go! Let's win this! All right? Whoo! Seth, Seth, Seth, when they come, we got to be like, "go, Glee!" Okay? I'm counting on you guys.
I'm in the-- I'm in the push zone.
Top Chef, Top Chef we are here on Top Chef We are here on Top Chef Top Chef, we are here on Top Chef Top Chef, Top Chef if we win, you win.
Yes! So you got to help.
You got to help sell.
Go, Glee! Strawberry shortcake! Whoo! Let's go, gold team.
Let's go! When I say green, you say team! I think probably, out of any challenge, I want to win this one.
I was, like, slammed in the locker all through middle school.
So these are my peeps.
I got to represent.
I just want you to look at the stack of sample cups, all right? That is creativity, and that is what cheerleaders don't have, guys.
Go, Glee! One of you guys, here.
Here are samples, okay? Just put 'em on a plastic.
We're here for the kids.
We're here to raise money for them.
But Seth has already made it clear that he can't interact with children or he'll cuss too much or something.
I don't know what the Is going on.
Yigit! Ohi'm cursing already.
White chocolate pudding? Go ahead.
He wanted You want that? Thank you.
Hi, Pep Squad.
Hello.
I'd like to introduce you to our judges for this challenge-- Johnny Iuzzini, your head judge, Dannielle Kyrillos, editor-at-large for daily candy, and, of course, Sylvia Weinstock.
Hello.
I think our collective desserts rock.
Hopefully, they'll impress the judges, but, in this challenge, it's not just about us.
We're trying to win this for the Pep Squad.
I made a chunky chocolate chip walnut cookie.
And it's a family recipe that I've been making since I was eight years old.
And I thought this would be a great time to share it with everybody.
This is a peanut butter krispy bar.
Krispy treats on the bottom with peanut butter and nutella in the middle, and on top is a chocolate glaze.
I made a black and white cupcake.
Very similar to what the kids eat at my son's birthday parties.
Cool.
Those are the last two in existence.
Oh.
Sold out.
Sold out.
Malika? I made some toffee Fudge brownies.
Baking these brownies, thinking of my boys, really made me feel great.
I'm hoping it'll be a big seller here at the bake sale.
Finally, Heather.
My cookie, it's a butter cookie with a little bit of a dulce de leche cream.
Hopefully, they'll like it.
Thank you guys so much.
Thank you.
Thank you guys so much.
All right! We rocked it! If the gold team wins, then we get to go to cheer camp.
We haven't been able to do that, and we really want to do it, 'cause it's really exciting.
Here you go, sir.
Okay, can I have a ticket? Erika's cookie.
Already I can tell it's really well baked.
Soft.
'S chewy.
But golden and crispy on the edges.
I know.
Right? Oh, you like rice krispies? If you want to try some of that? Those krispy treats really add a layer of texture and a lightness.
I like it.
Brownies.
He said give me some brownies.
You can't have a bake sale without having brownies.
You have to have brownies.
I'm very happy to see all the texture.
You guys have some good food? Yeah.
Okay, what was your favorite? The brownie from the Pep Squad.
Do you want to know something really obvious? What's that? Gold's gonna win.
Oh, I hope so, man.
I hope so.
Thank you.
I think we're gonna win.
We're going to cheer camp.
Hi, guys.
Hi, Gail.
How are you? Good.
I did a classic strawberry shortcake.
And since the Rainbow Riders is the name of the Glee Club, we did rainbow sugar on top.
I went with the classic peanut butter cookie.
Definitely something that you would see at a standard bake sale.
So I wanted to keep it very straight and American.
I'm still disappointed that I didn't do the whoopie pie.
These cookies--I think it's, you know, gonna be okay.
I just hope that they like them.
Yigit.
I made a chocolate caramel pudding.
And I also snuck in the tiniest hint of ginger and some housemade vanilla marshmallows.
Danielle.
I did coconut cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream.
Seth.
Financier.
And they've got a little orange creamsicle sauce on them.
Seth is definitely going for lots of intense flavors, and I think his dessert was a bit much for the kids.
Thank you guys so much.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chef.
Go, glee! Green team definitely had the best desserts.
This was good.
This was good.
Already you can see when you try to cut through Zac's dessert, it just exploded.
The biscuit's a little bit dense.
That's it.
No more shortcake.
Do you want some chocolate pudding? Let's move on to Yigit's chocolate pudding with hazelnut and ginger crumble.
Holy cow.
That's super gingery.
The green team had some really good stuff, and then they had some really bad stuff.
Psych 'em up.
Turn on the rainbow power, man.
I'm about to turn it up.
I don't feel like Seth gave us a bake sale item.
It is not a kids' dessert.
It's too sophisticated.
Cupcake? Sure.
I like the icing.
I like the idea of coconut.
I think the cake is dry.
We have a winning smile.
Yay! Let's talk about Heather's peanut butter cookies.
Kids at a bake sale go crazy for peanut butter cookies.
She really kept it simple.
Maybe too simple.
Absolutely.
We need one of those samples for the principal, please.
Otherwise, he's calling my mom.
There you go, sir.
Enjoy.
All right, well, let's find out who raised the most money today.
Oh, we get along great.
I want to win.
But the most important thing for the bake sale is to send these kids to Carnegie Hall.
How do you like going to school here? Those things mean so much to kids, and to take a trip like that would be awesome.
Thanks, everyone, for an amazing bake sale.
The team that raises the most money for their squad wins this challenge.
The results are in, and it's very, very close.
Only $10 separates the two teams.
Glee Club, you raised $240.
Pep team, you raised 200 And 50 dollars.
Go! Bake! Win! Go, bake, win, yeah! The Pep Squad won by ten.
That really sucks.
To be that close really sucks.
And now one of us is getting the boot tonight.
It was a good day.
Well, that's not all.
We know how hard you've all been working.
Glee Club, we know you really want to go to New York City to perform, and, Pep Squad, we know you really want to go to Cheering Camp this summer.
So we're adding another zero to both amounts to enable you to do that.
And one more thing.
Everyone here has been so great to us, and, as a thank you, we're going to donate $5,000 to St.
Monica's High School, furnished by Dawn Hand Renewal.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We had so much fun.
Thank you.
Chefs, we'll see you all back at judges' table.
The kids get to go to New York City, and we get to go to judges' table.
You should go home because you are a .
But I'm cooking better food than you, so I'm not gonna go home.
Great.
Good for you.
It's delicious, and your Sucked, so whatever.
All the girls just love Morgan.
Oh, they got Glee sweaters.
Morgan was definitely putting on the salesman charm.
Mais bien sur.
Allez vite.
Morgan is our superman, and, uh, he's a cutie pie and the girls love him.
They made, like, really good cupcakes.
I hate this room, I hate this part so much.
Well, congratulations, Chefs.
How did you guys enjoy today's bake sale? I loved it.
We work really well as a team.
We had a great time, we just worked really quickly together.
Well, you did raise the most money, so you won as a team together.
But we do need to pick a winner tonight.
And for us, it came down to three desserts.
Eric, the way you incorporated a rice krispy treat, you know, you did it in a mature way-- using a little bit of salt which I tasted, and then the layers and layers.
I loved the glaze on it, it was beautiful and smooth.
So you took an item that no bake sale would be complete without, and you just elevated it.
You made it look pretty, you made it taste so rich and so indulgent, and it was a home run.
Thank you.
Malika, you made a toffee Fudge brownie.
Is this a recipe you've made before with your kids? I do do brownies with my children, but this actual recipe was Eric's.
I used a base that he gave me and then kind of added my own twist to it.
So the toffee twist was yours.
Yes.
Adding the toffee was unique and distinct, and it really elevated the brownie.
I think you made it your own.
Thank you.
And last, but certainly not least Erika.
You can't go wrong with a big, giant chocolate chip cookie.
I'll tell you, I think you can go wrong with a big chocolate chip cookie, if it's not a good one.
Oh.
But yours was the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.
Oh, thank you.
I want the recipe.
Oh, that's awesome.
Well, Sylvia, as our guest judge, please announce the winner.
In general, all the desserts were absolutely delicious.
I would like to pick all five of you on all that.
Thank you.
But the winner is Eric.
Yes.
Going to the judges' table and being on top is-- it's still, like, I don't believe it.
Like, I don't believe it happened.
Congratulations, Eric.
Thank you, very much.
I know that other people are making elaborate dishes.
And I'm a Baker, so I wanna prove that what I do is valid.
So to win Wow, you know.
I have a win.
You can all return to the stew room, but please send back the losing team.
Thank you.
And I still want the recipe.
Not a problem.
I won.
Bake sale, man.
The bake sale.
Bake sale.
Yes.
Baker won the bake sale.
They'd like to see the rest of you.
Good luck, guys.
Unfortunately, you were the losing team.
How was working as a team together? It went better than expected.
I definitely think some people had more of an impact on it than others in a positive way.
Four of us made a lot of stuff and also interacted with the kids.
AndSeth, I never saw him speak to anyone.
And he kind of, you know, did what he likes to do, which is, you know, if it's not his thing he's not gonna make an effort.
I personally appreciate Seth for stepping up and prepping all of our desserts.
Not just my desserts.
Everyone's desserts.
And I just have to say I was so proud to be on the team th you, bro.
Right up until I got thrown under the bus, I actually felt super great about what I did today, and about what all our team did.
I'm always going to be myself, and I'm always going to make my food.
If someone wants to say I'm throwing them under the bus, that's fine.
But if you wanna know my opinion, I'm gonna tell you.
Yigit, was I good for the team or bad for the team? Today, I think we worked well together.
But at--you know, what happened yesterday, and what happened today are two completely different circumstances.
What happened yesterday that was disorganized? We had ten minutes to plan for 3,700 desserts.
We were not organized as a team.
I actually wanted to do something different, and I wanted to actually do something with chocolate, and ended up doing, you know, the cookie.
Heather, you weren't forced into anything.
I'm--I wasn't-- I'm not-- why do we have to do this? Someone's gotta go home, why can't we do it honorably? But I'm not trying to say--I mean I'm not-- I'm seriously not standing here saying that anyone forced me-- you're making people on the team who have supported you-- supported you emotionally and labor-wise-- you know, you had that list-- guys we had such a good time and we had so much fun doing this whole thing right until now.
If we just not argue with each other and just do this honorably.
We had to have a cookie.
It's a bake sale, we had to have a cookie.
Choosing a delicious, simple, classic cookie was a great idea.
It's a question of execution.
Which we haven't even talked about yet.
Okay, so let's talk about the food.
Let's start with Seth.
A mocha financier with orange Creamsicle sauce.
Creamsicle sauce.
I was hoping I could do something the kids could get into that they'd never got into before, and it would improve their relationship with food.
And I feel super successful about it.
Seth, I think you have to get out of your mind that it's your role to educate people.
Your role is to make delicious food and to make people happy.
That said, your financier was perfect.
Do I think it was a great bake sale dessert? Not really.
Yeah, okay.
Heather.
I liked the cookies.
And the samples, you know, came out well.
I thought the cookie was good.
I think it was ordinary.
I don't think it showed any creativity.
That you could have played with that a little more.
Added some dimensions to it, so that it was not an ordinary, everyday kind of cookie a housewife can knock out.
It seemed maybe a little overbaked.
Danielle.
You made a coconut cupcake with salted caramel.
Danielle, did you eat your cupcake? Yes.
I liked it.
I thought the cake was dry.
Did you soak the coconut in anything? I just toasted it.
It should've been more moist.
Zac.
Strawberry shortcake.
I thought it was delicious.
But how do you eat that? It was actually served in the to-go containers so mom can take that, and give it to the kids in the back of the car, and it's not going anywhere.
Kids are not going in a car with that.
Not in my car anyway.
Zac, I was really excited when I walked in the kitchen yesterday and I saw your whole table covered in biscuit dough.
But what I really love about biscuits is the fact that they're fork tender.
And I needed a knife to cut through your biscuit today.
They definitely dried out overnight.
Yigit.
Chocolate and ginger pudding.
It was gingery.
The kick was a little bit strong.
I'm not gonna disagree with that.
How did the kids react? Actually, no one even mentioned the ginger or the fact that it was spicy.
People seemed to love eating it.
Your dessert actually sold the least amount of your team.
Wow.
I'm shocked to hear that.
You can go back to the stew room, we'll call you back when we've reached a decision.
Hello, team.
It was awful.
And I essentially feel like half my team is upset with me.
You for some reason felt the need to jump in there before they said anything and defend yourself, which is so incredibly selfish.
This is kind of a dysfunctional group.
I worried it might have come to blows.
My first time at the judges' table being in the bottom five.
Well, I've never been at the judges' table at all.
That's no excuse.
First there was Yigit, with his ginger and milk chocolate pudding.
Yigit wanted to teach kids about ginger.
I think he went a little overboard.
And I think the fact that he sold the least amount of the team proves that point perfectly.
Let's move on to Zac's strawberry shortcake.
It's not a biscuit, and a biscuit is tender.
He admittedly said that biscuit wasn't where he wanted it to be.
I stuck by my balls, I didn't throw anyone under the bus.
And I kept saying that I was part of you guys.
I think that's what we should have stuck to.
But I don't feel like I threw anybody under the bus.
Heather.
You could almost taste the resentment in her cookie.
She really didn't wanna do a cookie.
Heather took a backseat for her own dessert, in order to make everyone else's better.
Okay, but devil's advocate on that is she said "oh, I got stuck with the cookie.
Okay, let me just bang this out and get it out of the way.
" I wanted to be part of the team, and I wanted to take, like, everybody's advice, and I went with it, you know.
And that was my decision, I guess to do that.
The reaction was not to your choice.
It was to what you did with it.
It's not your choice, because Erika made a chocolate chip cookie, and they had no issue with that Seth's financier.
Seth's financier seemed really out of place at a bake sale.
I think Seth is the one Chef in the group that consistently stretches.
The guy never plays it safe.
Although sometimes the reason he doesn't play it safe is because he refuses to actually do the challenge.
Let's talk about Danielle's coconut cupcake with salted caramel frosting.
I think she has to rework the formula for her cupcake so it melts in your mouth.
But again, she took the same stance.
"I do what I know, I bake what I like, I'm true to myself.
" Okay.
Then be true to yourself all the way home.
I think when we started off with the bus-throwing, it changed the whole tone on the whole thing.
Here's the thing.
I think you are a piece of .
And the way you treat everyone in this competition, I think it's bull.
You didn't go into it going, "I'll stay in the back, someone needs to prep.
" You stayed in the back because you're like, "well, I can't-- I can't talk to anyone, I'll cuss at them, and" That's not why I did it.
That was a joke I made about it.
You think I'm gonna cuss at kids? It was a joke.
I said it three times because it was a funny joke.
You should go home because you are a .
But I'm cooking better food than you, so I'm not gonna go home.
Great.
Good for you and your creamsicle.
Yeah, it was delicious.
And your Sucked, so whatever.
So I think we've come to a decision.
I think so.
I do too.
Chefs, unfortunately, you are the losing team.
Yigit Your bake sale item was way too aggressive for kids.
Zac Yours was not appropriate for a bake sale.
And your biscuit was just off.
Danielle The most important part of a cupcake is the cake.
And yours was dry.
Heather But unfortunately, your cookie was just ordinary and uninspired.
Seth, once again, you cooked for yourself and not your clientele.
Heather Your dessert just didn't measure up.
Please pack your tools and go.
I could have done better.
I should have stayed true to myself and done what I really wanted to do.
Good luck, Chef.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
I'm a little upset to be going home.
I don't think it's fair because it was a bake sale and also a team challenge.
And I think I exhibited both of those.
Bye, guys.
My number one fan always is my fiancée James.
We're gonna plan our wedding and hopefully one day I'll have a bakery, and live happily ever after.
Next time on Top Chef: Just Desserts Coming through, hot.
Flaming.
Oh, Jesus.
I have a really short temper.
I don't care if I alienate everyone around me.
Seth is shaking and pacing.
It's really scary.
Weak sauce.
Yes, yes, yes.
Oh, lord Jesus almighty.
I don't think he has the maturity level to handle the amount of pressure.
We don't need that.
I just really wanna put all this behind.
For more about the recipes you've seen tonight go to bravotv.
com.
Hi, babe.
The reason I'm always striving to become a better pastry Chef is for my mom.
I love you so much.
I need to win this show for her.
I'm not here for fun.
I'm here to save my life.
You need more.
I don't have quite enough basil, so I'm gonna grind the whole thing, seeds and all.
It becomes, like, scrambled eggs in a soup.
The Chef who did the best job was Erika.
Oh, God.
Tim, your dessert just didn't measure up.
I am so over this.
'Cause I'm gonna be a , and I'm gonna cook, and I'm gonna win this whole .
And you can all suck it.
I don't care anymore.
Whoa.
Now, ten pastry Chefs remain to compete for a feature in Food & Wine magazine, a showcase at the annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine festival, a German-engineered, sport-injected 2011 Buick Regal, and $100,000 furnished by Godiva Chocolatier.
Who has the creativity, the skill, and the drive to win Top Chef: Just Desserts? Top Chef: Just Desserts 1x03 Glee Club Very quickly gets this together.
All right, let's go get coffee.
The morning after the super-huge stew room blowup, I definitely feel pretty misunderstood.
I don't know what it would take to get back in people's good graces at this point, but, um, I don't care if I alienate everyone around me.
I just have to cook my ass off, and I know that if I make my best dish every day I'm gonna win every single challenge.
Our middle room is emptying out.
I know.
Tim went home, and now there are ten Chefs left in the competition.
Tim was our hookup.
Yeah.
I miss him already.
Not just for the cigarettes.
My staff at work would be really surprised that I'm still in the competition.
I don't think anybody thought that a Baker would make it past the first challenge.
I mean, everything he made was delicious.
I'm feeling good, 'cause I'm realizing that maybe this isn't just about presentation and technique.
It's also about taste and flavor.
But you can never be on high too long, 'cause you'll be on the bottom tomorrow.
Okay, everybody, let's go.
We walk into the kitchen, and Sylvia Weinstock is standing there with Gail.
Sylvia Weinstock is, you know, a genius with wedding cakes.
Just beautiful, over-the-top cakes for celebrities.
So I know wedding cakes are going to be involved.
Hi, Chefs.
Hi, Gail.
Your guest judge for this quickfire challenge is America's foremost cake designer.
Please welcome Sylvia Weinstock.
And it's a pleasure to be here with you today.
You know, when I started this business about 30 years ago, I think we built a reputation for not only a beautiful cake, but a delicious cake.
They have to taste beautiful.
The flavors have to sing to you.
Chefs, for your next quickfire challenge, you'll be making a wedding cake.
Wedding cakes are something I take a lot of pride in making, and it takes, you know, days and weeks to create a wedding cake.
But this is a quickfire.
So I'm a little bit confused.
For most people, it's the most important cake of their life.
And Bakers spend days making them.
You're gonna have an hour and a half.
What? Like, really? Have you been snorting buttercream? I mean, that's, like, not rational.
I mean, that's gonna be impossible.
And I'm definitely stressed.
We'll provide you with the sheet cake.
But it will be up to you to wow us with your decorating artistry.
Not only do we want you to make sure you give us visual fireworks.
You need to infuse it with unique fillings, decoration, and make it taste delicious.
This is your opportunity to show me how creative can you be in an hour and a half.
I'm jazzed.
I've been decorating cakes since-- I mean, that's, like, my first job that I had as a kid.
The winner will get immunity in the next elimination challenge.
Your time Starts now.
Behind you.
Behind you.
Another day at the office? Yeah.
I don't make wedding cakes.
So I will just start putting something together, and then, as I'm working, think through how I'm gonna really finish it.
I got engaged just before coming into the competition.
So I've thought a lot about wedding cakes lately.
And I hope I might have a bit of advantage.
Typically, buttercream and fondant are icings that you'll use for wedding cakes.
I like fondant, but it just tastes like sugar, so you soak the layers of the cake with syrup to add flavor.
Behind you! Wedding cakes should be very visually appealing.
But it kind of kills it if it tastes like crap.
Fondant looks smooth, but buttercream tastes way better.
So I always cover my cakes in buttercream.
Whosever pot this is, I'm stealing it.
I know that I can't make a wedding cake.
So I'm just gonna make her something delicious to eat and say, "sorry it's not a wedding cake," you know? I've never made a wedding cake in my life.
So I'm gonna make a little miniature wedding cake plated dessert and call it an engagement cake.
I'm gonna cook my kind of food, and I have to believe that that's gonna make me win.
Seth has already screamed out, "I've never made a wedding cake!", which is, like, no shock to anyone.
It's like, "I've never made cupcakes.
I've never worked with chocolate.
" I'm not exactly sure what he's ever done.
But the fact that he can't even try is ridiculous.
I'm--I'm staying safe.
I'm not going all over the place.
I've been decorating cakes since I was 12.
So I'm feeling great about this challenge.
But it is Sylvia Weinstock.
It has to be beautiful and taste amazing.
So I'm making a gianduja chocolate mousse, soaking my layers with mocha, and making Kahlua buttercream.
I should have worn a garbage bag today.
Come on! Come on, the little engine that could.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
Oh, my God, what are you planning to serve, the army? I made the cake at my wedding.
I had to do my own cake.
I wasn't gonna let anybody else.
I'm making a citrus filling, and I'm doing three layers of cake and then two layers of icing.
And I know it tastes great, but normally I'll bake the cake one day, I'll cut it out and sandwich it another day, and then I'll finish the third day, so trying to squeeze everything into an hour and a half is gonna be tough.
You guys, 40 minutes.
40 minutes.
That's intense.
Holy .
Oops.
It's a diva cake.
No, I think that's what you call a "hot mess cake.
" Wedding cakes are very architectural.
And as you stack more and more tiers on top, you have to make sure that it's structurally sound.
34 minutes! Yeah! I got to clean this station up, 'cause there's no way to make a cake in frigging chaos.
I'm so not gonna make this.
I bet you Erika's gonna kick ass.
! I'm starting to realize this is an enormous cake.
I'll never have enough buttercream.
Why did I do this? Why did I pick the bottom layer? All I'm thinking is how am I gonna finish this cake? I'm looking around and I'm wondering, like, how are people getting through this? And I realize we're all in the same place.
Okay, I'm about to walk away from this.
31 minutes.
I'm gonna cry.
This is gonna splatter.
I've got a really beautiful coconut and cardamom filling, but my cake is not working.
My frosting is just getting softer and softer and softer.
I am starting to try and get that cake in and out of the glass freezer, but there's just not enough time.
It's not chilling fast enough.
Five minutes, everyone.
You have five more minutes.
The cake starts to fall apart.
What happened here? Um Behind you.
I swear to God, this is gonna be crazy.
This is insane.
The quickfire is a wedding cake challenge, and we have an hour and a half to do it.
There's so many components in a wedding cake.
So time is the biggest issue.
That is just about the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life.
I'm struggling with my second cake.
And I put it down, and it's completely off-center.
There's no way I can present a cake to Sylvia Weinstock that is off-center.
So I decide I'm gonna pull it off, and when I pull it off, oh, my God, the cake comes apart from the middle.
And the struggle just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Hey, shakey.
Hey! I see you shaking the Out of this table.
It's driving me crazy.
All right? Don't ever call me shakey.
My name is Malika.
You can call me by my name, Morgan.
Morgan talks to others disrespectfully.
And right now, I'm like, this is not the time.
You know, I feel bad enough already.
Two minutes! Oh, God, I hate this ! Shaking.
Shaking.
Time's up, everyone.
Tools down.
Time's up.
I look around the room, and there's a lot of hideous wedding cakes.
Eric's cake looked like a grocery-style cake.
And then Danielle's cake, it was all green.
I didn't think it seemed very appropriate for a wedding.
And, Erika, she has more of a homey style rather than a professional cake.
You got a finished cake.
Chill, chill, chill.
Don't be me.
Don't cry on camera.
It doesn't get you anywhere.
No, I'm fine.
I'm fine.
I cannot control the tears.
I feel very overwhelmed.
This is my second quickfire disaster.
What I've done, it's not anything that I am proud of or that shows any of my ability or skill.
Hi, Heather.
Hi, Gail.
How are you? Sylvia.
Sylvia Weinstock is one of the greatest cake designers ever and one of my idols.
I'm so excited and nervous.
Tell us about your cake.
It's a white cake with a vanilla simple syrup, just soaked it a little bit.
And I made a nutella buttercream.
Are you married? Um, I'm engaged.
And who's making your wedding cake? I don't know.
It might be me.
But I'm being advised against that.
Go get your nails done and your hair done.
Have somebody else do it.
It's your day off.
Okay.
Eric, tell us about your cake.
It's just a very traditional wedding cake.
Inside, it's a pistachio-based buttercream and an apricot Brandy filling.
Mm.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Hi, Zac.
Since I can't deep-fry a whole cake, I decided to put the toasted meringue on the outside.
I made a fruit of the forest jam, worked that into a dark chocolate ganache.
I have made a wedding cake, but I've never done something this out there.
Well, out there is the way to experiment and to grow.
I'm waiting for Gail and Sylvia to come around, and the cake starts falling on the table.
And I'm starting to feel that I'm not loving cooking when I'm here.
This is definitely the worst moment for me.
Hi.
I made a mocha explosion.
On the inside there is a gianduja mousse.
The layers are soaked with mocha, simple syrup, and covered with a Kahlua buttercream.
Not too sweet.
Not too sweet.
Thanks a lot.
Hi, Danielle.
So I made a cream cheese lemon filling, and I layered it with fresh strawberries and pistachios.
And then I made it green because that's my favorite color, and this is what I would make for myself.
Oh.
Are you getting married? No.
So you're practicing on us.
But maybe sometime in the future, yes.
Oh, so you're practicing on us.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you.
Hi, Seth.
Tell us about your wedding cake.
Uh, it's actually an engagement cake.
I don't know how to make tiered cakes.
So there is a caramel chocolate mousse and a marsala apricot jam.
And then on the outside of the cake, there's olive oil dust, absinthe honey, and there's going to be some orange marsala ice cream.
This is actually my favorite dish I've made since I've been here.
For Seth, in front of Sylvia, to not even attempt it is embarrassing for pastry Chefs, period.
How come you didn't even try to do the wedding challenge? Well, I knew I was gonna be in the bottom three, so I actually decided to have fun and just try to get back to being myself.
It was a wedding cake competition.
You should have made an effort.
If I have 100 guests, I'd need 100 of 'em.
Hello.
The flavors-- I made a passion fruit, vanilla, and lime soak for the cake.
I actually made a vanilla cream and orange diplomat cream.
And it also has some fresh raspberries inside.
Nice and light.
Thank you.
Cheers.
Heather.
I wanted to keep the flavors fairly light, and I incorporated lemon and orange zest into my buttercream.
I just wanted to keep it very classic.
Summery.
Thank you.
Morgan.
Down in the South, my favorite wedding cake is Italian cream cake.
So I made a coconut rum syrup to soak the cake with, and then I filled the layers with cream cheese icing and toasted pecans.
Morgan, what do you think of wedding cakes? Well, I absolutely adore yours.
Good answer.
Very political.
Hi, Malika.
Hello.
Tell us about your cake.
What happened here? Um Malika's starting to tear up.
And there's times and places where it's okay to show your emotions.
I don't know what's going on with Malika.
I don't know what's going on with Seth.
But I've never been this upset about a dessert not coming out.
Well, first of all, I'm sorry I wasn't able to complete it.
My cake was just so soft, but it's got a coconut custard inside infused with cardamom and vanilla with a raspberry jam.
I want to taste that.
So do I.
Serve it out.
Okay.
So you've never made a wedding cake before? This is, unfortunately, the first time.
But you learn from it.
It's always positive.
Thank you.
I feel much better.
You're very welcome.
Thank you so much.
Okay, Sylvia, tell us how you thought our Chefs did in the wedding cake challenge.
I think, given the conditions they worked under, they did a fabulous job.
Whose were your three least favorite cakes? Seth, even though you don't do wedding cakes as a rule, even if it flopped, it would have been an effort.
When something challenges you, don't back off.
Malika, I thought, under the circumstances, your cake was quite delicious.
But I'm sorry.
It didn't work out.
And just remember, it's not death.
It's only a cake.
Okay.
And, Eric, your pistachio cream cake, I didn't like the way the icing was put on, and, you know, when you slice a cake, I want to see even layers and even fillings.
Basically, the easiest thing you can do is get the layers even.
This is the most embarrassing moment of my life.
Hands down.
No contest.
So who are the top three? Well, there are three that I thought were really pretty terrific.
I liked Erika's cake because I thought Erika did some very nice detail work.
And I thought the flavors were delicious.
I thought Morgan's cake was absolutely lovely.
Very clean, very fresh-looking.
The fillings were good and tasty.
And I also felt that Heather h's cake was lovely.
I think it was very delicate.
I loved her little pink dogwood flowers on it.
Very feminine and elegant.
So of those three, which is the winner today? There is one that I think I would want to use for a wedding.
And that would be Erika's.
Congratulations, Erika.
You have immunity in the elimination challenge.
Erika won, but, aesthetically, that's not a type of cake that I would go for.
This is back-to-back win for me, and it feels great.
So my fellow Chefs, if they're gunning for me, they can come on.
I'm ready.
For this elimination challenge, we're gonna divide you into teams.
Please grab the cookie jar and take a cookie.
Glee.
Malika.
Pep.
Pep.
Glee.
Glee and pep.
What the are we gonna do here? Pep.
Pep.
Pep.
Glee.
Glee.
Glee.
Please divide into the two groups with the same cookies.
Pretty much everyone on our team had a altercation with Seth the last elimination challenge.
Not a good beginning to this team challenge.
To help explain this elimination challenge, we've invited a few special guests.
Top Chef, Top Chef we are here on Top Chef , my God.
Top Chef have to keep him calm.
Heather too.
They're having a peanut butter meltdown.
It's sabotage time? All right.
I can do that.
To help explain this elimination challenge, we've invited a few special guests.
Top Chef, Top Chef we are here on Top Chef oh, my God.
Top Chef, Top Chef we are here on Top Chef in High School, that was me.
Glee Club all the way.
I just saw these kids, and I could just point to you which one was me.
Just Desserts Top Chef red velvet cupcakes Top Chef give me some apple pie and ice cream Top Chef sweet chocolate souffle Top Chef Just Desserts We love chocolate and we love cake! So come on all you Chefs and bake, bake, bake! Please welcome the St.
Monica's High School Rainbow Riders and Mariners Pep Squad.
The Mariners are hoping to go to Cheerleading Camp this summer.
And the Rainbow Riders have an opportunity to perform in New York City.
For your next elimination challenge, you'll be throwing a bake sale to raise money for the squads.
I'm really excited about this challenge.
I was a geek in High School.
I've done band camp, so I know it's gonna mean so much to them.
You'll have three hours to bake here in the Top Chef: Just Desserts kitchen.
Tomorrow, you'll have 30 minutes to prep on site.
The bake sale will be from 3:00 to 5:00.
The school will give out 490 tickets, each worth $1 to students and teachers from the Grade School and the High School.
Each person on your team is responsible for one bake sale item.
The winning team is the one that raises the most money.
And to sweeten the pot, the winning team will receive $5,000, furnished by Dawn Hand Renewal.
If we won the $5,000, I think that'll definitely be the icing on the cake.
Good luck.
See you tomorrow.
Bye, guys.
Bye! We have to be approachable enough for kids and for a bake sale, but we have to be refined enough for the judges.
I think our team is perfect for the Glee Club because we really are a bunch of misfits.
Seth is clearly the jock.
I'm the theater geek.
Yigit is, like, the artsy kid.
Danielle, I think, was, like, the valley girl.
Like, "oh, my God.
Let's go to the movies and then make out in the back of your car.
" And Heather C.
is like the girl who just got broken up with over and over and over again.
You know, the one who's always crying.
So we're talking, like, High School kids and High School parents.
I'm gonna do Eric's brownies with some toffee.
We've decided to kind of stay back from our very pastry Chef ideas and really try and focus on an actual bake sale.
I definitely have had my struggles in some of my challenges, but with every challenge, you have to set a positive mind and set goals again.
It has to be very kid-friendly.
Yes.
I was thinking of doing a gianduja financier.
A financier is a cake that is named for the financial district in Paris.
The financiers could walk around eating their little cakes, and no crumbs are getting on their suit.
That's the only thing I feel confident doing for a bake sale.
Okay.
All right.
At the last elimination challenge, I was in the bottom three, so I'm gonna make the thing that I know I can do the best job of.
I won't go home for this dish.
Strawberry shortcake.
I was gonna do, like, a chocolate cream, some marshmallow bits.
I thought, like, whoopie pies.
If he's doing something marshmallow and you're doing chocolate and marshmallow, that's gonna be, like, the same thing.
You should do a cookie.
I don't want to make a cookie.
I want to do whoopie pies.
I think that that would be a winning dish and something that I would feel comfortable doing.
I'm kind of freaking out a little bit.
I don't know what I'm doing.
Heather C.
, she doesn't know what to do.
And I've done a lot of bake sales.
And we can't have a bake sale and not have a cookie.
I can do it.
I can do peanut butter cookies.
Do 'em.
And then-- dip it in chocolate.
Do something interesting with it, though.
I'm not really the biggest fan of my team.
But I was the athlete in High School.
So I am a team player.
And I decide to do a peanut butter cookie.
Okay, guys, we need to get going! Let's go.
I know for a fact that we're gonna put out a great product.
You know, Eric is a Baker.
And, elementary school, I had my own little business called Erika's treats.
I would sell cakes or cookies to my teachers.
And I'm gonna do my family recipe of chocolate chip walnut cookies that I used to sell as a kid.
Eric, is this yours? Yeah.
I'm going to make a peanut butter and krispy bar.
Malika's working on brownies.
Morgan's working on cupcakes, and Heather is working on her dulce de leche cookies.
Even though I'm so excited that it's a bake sale, and I know that's my thing, the wedding cake challenge pretty much destroyed me.
I cannot go home for the bake sale.
I cannot lose it for my team.
Did you take all the peanut butter? Yes.
Just clear your mind.
It is okay.
It's not okay.
Yes, it is.
Because we don't have a choice.
I'm not sure how many pounds of peanut butter I'm gonna need.
It's a competition, you know.
Don't feel badly, girl.
It's sabotage time? All right.
I can do that.
Morgan gets really angry, and he was like, "well, I'm gonna take all the butter.
" Even though it may not be the best way to work through this challenge, he's looking out for me, and it's pretty cool.
If somebody wants to share peanut butter, they can have the butter back.
It's completely ridiculous.
Peanut butter is kind of a specialty ingredient.
Butter is a staple.
We're acting like we're in High School at this point.
Are we okay with water and flour, or did you bogart those too? All the water and flour's gone too.
Oh.
I grabbed all of my ingredients at the start.
Eric, I'm not trying to anybody over.
Grabbing all the peanut butter turns into a very big ordeal.
So when I was done scaling everything out and there was peanut butter left over, I brought it over to Eric.
And I'm really just trying to stay away from the drama.
If you guys need some butter, you let me know.
Can you do a mixer of nutell and peanut butter? And peanut butter? Yeah.
There's not enough peanut butter to make my peanut butter krispy bars.
So I decide to mix half nutella, half peanut butter.
I hope that works.
I'm just not gonna have time to brown the butter for this.
And if I don't brown my butter, it's not a financier.
And I think Johnny Iuzzini is gonna know that.
"Why didn't you use browned butter in your financier? Do you do it a different way?" I like it to taste a little , actually.
It's my special technique.
Seth! Happy.
Happy thoughts.
I definitely feel pretty misunderstood by my compatriots at this point.
And I'm trying to keep kind of under the radar, so I think things are gonna calm down naturally on their own.
I got it.
I got it.
I got it.
Wiggle.
Just wiggle.
I know.
I'm gonna.
I can wiggle it too.
Just do what you got to do.
Seth, I want you to keep one thing in mind, dude.
Hmm.
It's a bake sale.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know.
Have to keep him calm.
Heather too.
Keep him calm, because we need to stick in this.
I know.
I'm making a milk chocolate pudding cup with a slight infusion of fresh ginger.
Zac is making strawberry shortcakes.
Danielle is making coconut caramel cupcakes.
Heather C.
Is making peanut butter cookies.
And Seth is making financiers.
Oh, no! ! I just put coffee extract instead of vanilla.
Nah, that's not possible to fix.
It's a coffee financier.
I don't think most kids know what a financier cake is, let alone the flavors of having coffee.
The whole dish, I'm kind of like, "eh.
" It's a coffee dish, but not, like, overwhelming.
Oh, come on.
What's up, Chefs? Hey.
Hey, Johnny.
Hi, Chef.
Mr.
Eric.
Hi, Chef.
How are you? That's one way to open a Yeah, that's how we do it.
My big snafu is that we ran out of peanut butter.
I don't have enough.
So I'm gonna improvise hopefully with some nutella.
Well, that's good.
That's a similar texture.
Yeah.
Well, good luck to you and your team.
Thank you very much, Chef.
My boy Zac.
Hello, Chef.
What's all this? Uh, biscuits.
Doing strawberry shortcake.
For a bake sale? Bake sale.
Yeah.
Sounds ambitious for a bake sale.
He seemed surprised that I'm making shortcake at a bake sale, but it doesn't seem strange to me.
Malika.
How's everything? Everything's okay.
I had a little, rough quickfire, but Why, what happened? A little wedding cake disaster.
It's just a matter of staying focused and, like, remember why you're here and taking those deep breaths.
Thank you, Chef.
See you later.
Okay.
I still feel very emotional about not having my cake work.
And I've had such a rough year in my life.
My restaurant closed, and I am in the process of a divorce, so I'm starting to get this feeling-- cookin in a competitive environment, this is not for me.
All right, Chefs.
Good luck.
I'll see you tomorrow.
30 minutes! 30 minutes! Ah! Keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle, please.
Why the hell did I decide to do strawberry shortcake? That was dumb.
Did you wrap a brownie tray? We're missing one.
I got 'em! Five minutes, everybody! Hot! Hot! Hot! The peanut butter cookies taste good.
But I'm also still very nervous.
Because I'm thinking maybe it's a little too simple.
30 seconds! Here.
That was everything, right? That's everything for me.
Sugar! Sugar, sugar! Holy .
I just my pants.
I actually feel pretty good, 'cause the other team's dishes, maybe they made overall more bake-sale-appropriate stuff.
Ours has a little bit more elegance to it.
So I'm hoping that that's gonna work in our advantage.
I am definitely too old for this .
So we go back to the house, and it's been tough for me today, so I'm starting to really think about what cooking means to me and what it's starting to mean to me in this competition.
You know You're what? You know, there's two things that keep me going in life.
First is my children.
The other is food.
I'm not happy cooking in this environment.
Oh, Malika.
She's having insecurities about her skills, about why she's here.
I know the past couple days have been really rough for her.
And I'm getting worried that she really wants to leave.
Oh, my God, though.
At this stage in my life, I just want to do whatever I want to do that makes me feel good.
With all the hell I've been through the last year.
My palate is the one thing I have 100% confidence in.
I think that I can, like, put together flavors in my head that would never exist if I didn't think of 'em.
I like Seth.
He's in a tough place in his life.
He doesn't understand a lot about himself.
It doesn't make him a Pastry Chef.
I believe he's got all the potential in the world to come out the other side a better person.
I'm definitely pissed at myself for getting in the bottom on two contemporary plated desserts in a row.
But, like, now that I got my head back on, like, I feel like I'm ready to cook some sick food and blow the doors off it, you know.
Today, our challenge is to raise money through a bake sale for the Glee Club and the Pep Squad of St.
Monica's High School.
My team, we're raising money for the Glee Club.
And we're competing against the other team, which is the Pep Squad.
Eight minutes! What are we putting on this? That's our ticket box.
We have to have it there.
So the guests at our bake sale give us a ticket, and we either box a dessert for them or they eat it right there.
Wins the challenge.
We got two minutes, you guys.
When she gets the big glasses done with the pareils in, follow her with two scoops of ice cream.
Okay, let's keep our calm.
Let's not look frantic, please.
Okay, right now, I'm not calm.
Just keep working, please, Seth.
16 seconds! 15! Just keep cutting.
Just keep cutting.
White cluster, white cluster, white cluster.
It's up at the top.
Five seconds.
Do we have everything? It's over.
Here we go.
Top Chef, we are here on Top Chef Seth has already made it clear that he can't interact with children or he'll cuss too much.
What's going on? Yigit? Everyone, get your smile on.
Our elimination challenge is to do a bake sale.
Our team has the Glee Club.
And kids are, in essence, our judges, because they get to try all the samples of all the desserts.
And those which they like the best, they get to come back and give us a ticket for the ones they want to buy.
Come on in.
There's plenty of room.
Yeah, guys, come and step on down.
Step on down.
One ticket per item.
Yigit, can you help me out with one thing? Just call out orders.
You got it.
You got it.
I think everyone's really kicking ass and doing their work, and I'm really happy to see that Seth is working really hard and he's pulling his share.
I got it.
I got it.
You don't have to explain.
I'm doing it.
Cool.
We have cupcakes.
They have milk chocolate cream inside.
It's really fun to be back in a school environment.
I was thinking about perhaps leaving the competition yesterday, but it's another day.
And I'm gonna set myself in a positive mode and move forward so I can kick some butt for my team.
Let's go! Let's win this! All right? Whoo! Seth, Seth, Seth, when they come, we got to be like, "go, Glee!" Okay? I'm counting on you guys.
I'm in the-- I'm in the push zone.
Top Chef, Top Chef we are here on Top Chef We are here on Top Chef Top Chef, we are here on Top Chef Top Chef, Top Chef if we win, you win.
Yes! So you got to help.
You got to help sell.
Go, Glee! Strawberry shortcake! Whoo! Let's go, gold team.
Let's go! When I say green, you say team! I think probably, out of any challenge, I want to win this one.
I was, like, slammed in the locker all through middle school.
So these are my peeps.
I got to represent.
I just want you to look at the stack of sample cups, all right? That is creativity, and that is what cheerleaders don't have, guys.
Go, Glee! One of you guys, here.
Here are samples, okay? Just put 'em on a plastic.
We're here for the kids.
We're here to raise money for them.
But Seth has already made it clear that he can't interact with children or he'll cuss too much or something.
I don't know what the Is going on.
Yigit! Ohi'm cursing already.
White chocolate pudding? Go ahead.
He wanted You want that? Thank you.
Hi, Pep Squad.
Hello.
I'd like to introduce you to our judges for this challenge-- Johnny Iuzzini, your head judge, Dannielle Kyrillos, editor-at-large for daily candy, and, of course, Sylvia Weinstock.
Hello.
I think our collective desserts rock.
Hopefully, they'll impress the judges, but, in this challenge, it's not just about us.
We're trying to win this for the Pep Squad.
I made a chunky chocolate chip walnut cookie.
And it's a family recipe that I've been making since I was eight years old.
And I thought this would be a great time to share it with everybody.
This is a peanut butter krispy bar.
Krispy treats on the bottom with peanut butter and nutella in the middle, and on top is a chocolate glaze.
I made a black and white cupcake.
Very similar to what the kids eat at my son's birthday parties.
Cool.
Those are the last two in existence.
Oh.
Sold out.
Sold out.
Malika? I made some toffee Fudge brownies.
Baking these brownies, thinking of my boys, really made me feel great.
I'm hoping it'll be a big seller here at the bake sale.
Finally, Heather.
My cookie, it's a butter cookie with a little bit of a dulce de leche cream.
Hopefully, they'll like it.
Thank you guys so much.
Thank you.
Thank you guys so much.
All right! We rocked it! If the gold team wins, then we get to go to cheer camp.
We haven't been able to do that, and we really want to do it, 'cause it's really exciting.
Here you go, sir.
Okay, can I have a ticket? Erika's cookie.
Already I can tell it's really well baked.
Soft.
'S chewy.
But golden and crispy on the edges.
I know.
Right? Oh, you like rice krispies? If you want to try some of that? Those krispy treats really add a layer of texture and a lightness.
I like it.
Brownies.
He said give me some brownies.
You can't have a bake sale without having brownies.
You have to have brownies.
I'm very happy to see all the texture.
You guys have some good food? Yeah.
Okay, what was your favorite? The brownie from the Pep Squad.
Do you want to know something really obvious? What's that? Gold's gonna win.
Oh, I hope so, man.
I hope so.
Thank you.
I think we're gonna win.
We're going to cheer camp.
Hi, guys.
Hi, Gail.
How are you? Good.
I did a classic strawberry shortcake.
And since the Rainbow Riders is the name of the Glee Club, we did rainbow sugar on top.
I went with the classic peanut butter cookie.
Definitely something that you would see at a standard bake sale.
So I wanted to keep it very straight and American.
I'm still disappointed that I didn't do the whoopie pie.
These cookies--I think it's, you know, gonna be okay.
I just hope that they like them.
Yigit.
I made a chocolate caramel pudding.
And I also snuck in the tiniest hint of ginger and some housemade vanilla marshmallows.
Danielle.
I did coconut cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream.
Seth.
Financier.
And they've got a little orange creamsicle sauce on them.
Seth is definitely going for lots of intense flavors, and I think his dessert was a bit much for the kids.
Thank you guys so much.
Thank you.
Thank you, Chef.
Go, glee! Green team definitely had the best desserts.
This was good.
This was good.
Already you can see when you try to cut through Zac's dessert, it just exploded.
The biscuit's a little bit dense.
That's it.
No more shortcake.
Do you want some chocolate pudding? Let's move on to Yigit's chocolate pudding with hazelnut and ginger crumble.
Holy cow.
That's super gingery.
The green team had some really good stuff, and then they had some really bad stuff.
Psych 'em up.
Turn on the rainbow power, man.
I'm about to turn it up.
I don't feel like Seth gave us a bake sale item.
It is not a kids' dessert.
It's too sophisticated.
Cupcake? Sure.
I like the icing.
I like the idea of coconut.
I think the cake is dry.
We have a winning smile.
Yay! Let's talk about Heather's peanut butter cookies.
Kids at a bake sale go crazy for peanut butter cookies.
She really kept it simple.
Maybe too simple.
Absolutely.
We need one of those samples for the principal, please.
Otherwise, he's calling my mom.
There you go, sir.
Enjoy.
All right, well, let's find out who raised the most money today.
Oh, we get along great.
I want to win.
But the most important thing for the bake sale is to send these kids to Carnegie Hall.
How do you like going to school here? Those things mean so much to kids, and to take a trip like that would be awesome.
Thanks, everyone, for an amazing bake sale.
The team that raises the most money for their squad wins this challenge.
The results are in, and it's very, very close.
Only $10 separates the two teams.
Glee Club, you raised $240.
Pep team, you raised 200 And 50 dollars.
Go! Bake! Win! Go, bake, win, yeah! The Pep Squad won by ten.
That really sucks.
To be that close really sucks.
And now one of us is getting the boot tonight.
It was a good day.
Well, that's not all.
We know how hard you've all been working.
Glee Club, we know you really want to go to New York City to perform, and, Pep Squad, we know you really want to go to Cheering Camp this summer.
So we're adding another zero to both amounts to enable you to do that.
And one more thing.
Everyone here has been so great to us, and, as a thank you, we're going to donate $5,000 to St.
Monica's High School, furnished by Dawn Hand Renewal.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We had so much fun.
Thank you.
Chefs, we'll see you all back at judges' table.
The kids get to go to New York City, and we get to go to judges' table.
You should go home because you are a .
But I'm cooking better food than you, so I'm not gonna go home.
Great.
Good for you.
It's delicious, and your Sucked, so whatever.
All the girls just love Morgan.
Oh, they got Glee sweaters.
Morgan was definitely putting on the salesman charm.
Mais bien sur.
Allez vite.
Morgan is our superman, and, uh, he's a cutie pie and the girls love him.
They made, like, really good cupcakes.
I hate this room, I hate this part so much.
Well, congratulations, Chefs.
How did you guys enjoy today's bake sale? I loved it.
We work really well as a team.
We had a great time, we just worked really quickly together.
Well, you did raise the most money, so you won as a team together.
But we do need to pick a winner tonight.
And for us, it came down to three desserts.
Eric, the way you incorporated a rice krispy treat, you know, you did it in a mature way-- using a little bit of salt which I tasted, and then the layers and layers.
I loved the glaze on it, it was beautiful and smooth.
So you took an item that no bake sale would be complete without, and you just elevated it.
You made it look pretty, you made it taste so rich and so indulgent, and it was a home run.
Thank you.
Malika, you made a toffee Fudge brownie.
Is this a recipe you've made before with your kids? I do do brownies with my children, but this actual recipe was Eric's.
I used a base that he gave me and then kind of added my own twist to it.
So the toffee twist was yours.
Yes.
Adding the toffee was unique and distinct, and it really elevated the brownie.
I think you made it your own.
Thank you.
And last, but certainly not least Erika.
You can't go wrong with a big, giant chocolate chip cookie.
I'll tell you, I think you can go wrong with a big chocolate chip cookie, if it's not a good one.
Oh.
But yours was the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.
Oh, thank you.
I want the recipe.
Oh, that's awesome.
Well, Sylvia, as our guest judge, please announce the winner.
In general, all the desserts were absolutely delicious.
I would like to pick all five of you on all that.
Thank you.
But the winner is Eric.
Yes.
Going to the judges' table and being on top is-- it's still, like, I don't believe it.
Like, I don't believe it happened.
Congratulations, Eric.
Thank you, very much.
I know that other people are making elaborate dishes.
And I'm a Baker, so I wanna prove that what I do is valid.
So to win Wow, you know.
I have a win.
You can all return to the stew room, but please send back the losing team.
Thank you.
And I still want the recipe.
Not a problem.
I won.
Bake sale, man.
The bake sale.
Bake sale.
Yes.
Baker won the bake sale.
They'd like to see the rest of you.
Good luck, guys.
Unfortunately, you were the losing team.
How was working as a team together? It went better than expected.
I definitely think some people had more of an impact on it than others in a positive way.
Four of us made a lot of stuff and also interacted with the kids.
AndSeth, I never saw him speak to anyone.
And he kind of, you know, did what he likes to do, which is, you know, if it's not his thing he's not gonna make an effort.
I personally appreciate Seth for stepping up and prepping all of our desserts.
Not just my desserts.
Everyone's desserts.
And I just have to say I was so proud to be on the team th you, bro.
Right up until I got thrown under the bus, I actually felt super great about what I did today, and about what all our team did.
I'm always going to be myself, and I'm always going to make my food.
If someone wants to say I'm throwing them under the bus, that's fine.
But if you wanna know my opinion, I'm gonna tell you.
Yigit, was I good for the team or bad for the team? Today, I think we worked well together.
But at--you know, what happened yesterday, and what happened today are two completely different circumstances.
What happened yesterday that was disorganized? We had ten minutes to plan for 3,700 desserts.
We were not organized as a team.
I actually wanted to do something different, and I wanted to actually do something with chocolate, and ended up doing, you know, the cookie.
Heather, you weren't forced into anything.
I'm--I wasn't-- I'm not-- why do we have to do this? Someone's gotta go home, why can't we do it honorably? But I'm not trying to say--I mean I'm not-- I'm seriously not standing here saying that anyone forced me-- you're making people on the team who have supported you-- supported you emotionally and labor-wise-- you know, you had that list-- guys we had such a good time and we had so much fun doing this whole thing right until now.
If we just not argue with each other and just do this honorably.
We had to have a cookie.
It's a bake sale, we had to have a cookie.
Choosing a delicious, simple, classic cookie was a great idea.
It's a question of execution.
Which we haven't even talked about yet.
Okay, so let's talk about the food.
Let's start with Seth.
A mocha financier with orange Creamsicle sauce.
Creamsicle sauce.
I was hoping I could do something the kids could get into that they'd never got into before, and it would improve their relationship with food.
And I feel super successful about it.
Seth, I think you have to get out of your mind that it's your role to educate people.
Your role is to make delicious food and to make people happy.
That said, your financier was perfect.
Do I think it was a great bake sale dessert? Not really.
Yeah, okay.
Heather.
I liked the cookies.
And the samples, you know, came out well.
I thought the cookie was good.
I think it was ordinary.
I don't think it showed any creativity.
That you could have played with that a little more.
Added some dimensions to it, so that it was not an ordinary, everyday kind of cookie a housewife can knock out.
It seemed maybe a little overbaked.
Danielle.
You made a coconut cupcake with salted caramel.
Danielle, did you eat your cupcake? Yes.
I liked it.
I thought the cake was dry.
Did you soak the coconut in anything? I just toasted it.
It should've been more moist.
Zac.
Strawberry shortcake.
I thought it was delicious.
But how do you eat that? It was actually served in the to-go containers so mom can take that, and give it to the kids in the back of the car, and it's not going anywhere.
Kids are not going in a car with that.
Not in my car anyway.
Zac, I was really excited when I walked in the kitchen yesterday and I saw your whole table covered in biscuit dough.
But what I really love about biscuits is the fact that they're fork tender.
And I needed a knife to cut through your biscuit today.
They definitely dried out overnight.
Yigit.
Chocolate and ginger pudding.
It was gingery.
The kick was a little bit strong.
I'm not gonna disagree with that.
How did the kids react? Actually, no one even mentioned the ginger or the fact that it was spicy.
People seemed to love eating it.
Your dessert actually sold the least amount of your team.
Wow.
I'm shocked to hear that.
You can go back to the stew room, we'll call you back when we've reached a decision.
Hello, team.
It was awful.
And I essentially feel like half my team is upset with me.
You for some reason felt the need to jump in there before they said anything and defend yourself, which is so incredibly selfish.
This is kind of a dysfunctional group.
I worried it might have come to blows.
My first time at the judges' table being in the bottom five.
Well, I've never been at the judges' table at all.
That's no excuse.
First there was Yigit, with his ginger and milk chocolate pudding.
Yigit wanted to teach kids about ginger.
I think he went a little overboard.
And I think the fact that he sold the least amount of the team proves that point perfectly.
Let's move on to Zac's strawberry shortcake.
It's not a biscuit, and a biscuit is tender.
He admittedly said that biscuit wasn't where he wanted it to be.
I stuck by my balls, I didn't throw anyone under the bus.
And I kept saying that I was part of you guys.
I think that's what we should have stuck to.
But I don't feel like I threw anybody under the bus.
Heather.
You could almost taste the resentment in her cookie.
She really didn't wanna do a cookie.
Heather took a backseat for her own dessert, in order to make everyone else's better.
Okay, but devil's advocate on that is she said "oh, I got stuck with the cookie.
Okay, let me just bang this out and get it out of the way.
" I wanted to be part of the team, and I wanted to take, like, everybody's advice, and I went with it, you know.
And that was my decision, I guess to do that.
The reaction was not to your choice.
It was to what you did with it.
It's not your choice, because Erika made a chocolate chip cookie, and they had no issue with that Seth's financier.
Seth's financier seemed really out of place at a bake sale.
I think Seth is the one Chef in the group that consistently stretches.
The guy never plays it safe.
Although sometimes the reason he doesn't play it safe is because he refuses to actually do the challenge.
Let's talk about Danielle's coconut cupcake with salted caramel frosting.
I think she has to rework the formula for her cupcake so it melts in your mouth.
But again, she took the same stance.
"I do what I know, I bake what I like, I'm true to myself.
" Okay.
Then be true to yourself all the way home.
I think when we started off with the bus-throwing, it changed the whole tone on the whole thing.
Here's the thing.
I think you are a piece of .
And the way you treat everyone in this competition, I think it's bull.
You didn't go into it going, "I'll stay in the back, someone needs to prep.
" You stayed in the back because you're like, "well, I can't-- I can't talk to anyone, I'll cuss at them, and" That's not why I did it.
That was a joke I made about it.
You think I'm gonna cuss at kids? It was a joke.
I said it three times because it was a funny joke.
You should go home because you are a .
But I'm cooking better food than you, so I'm not gonna go home.
Great.
Good for you and your creamsicle.
Yeah, it was delicious.
And your Sucked, so whatever.
So I think we've come to a decision.
I think so.
I do too.
Chefs, unfortunately, you are the losing team.
Yigit Your bake sale item was way too aggressive for kids.
Zac Yours was not appropriate for a bake sale.
And your biscuit was just off.
Danielle The most important part of a cupcake is the cake.
And yours was dry.
Heather But unfortunately, your cookie was just ordinary and uninspired.
Seth, once again, you cooked for yourself and not your clientele.
Heather Your dessert just didn't measure up.
Please pack your tools and go.
I could have done better.
I should have stayed true to myself and done what I really wanted to do.
Good luck, Chef.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
I'm a little upset to be going home.
I don't think it's fair because it was a bake sale and also a team challenge.
And I think I exhibited both of those.
Bye, guys.
My number one fan always is my fiancée James.
We're gonna plan our wedding and hopefully one day I'll have a bakery, and live happily ever after.
Next time on Top Chef: Just Desserts Coming through, hot.
Flaming.
Oh, Jesus.
I have a really short temper.
I don't care if I alienate everyone around me.
Seth is shaking and pacing.
It's really scary.
Weak sauce.
Yes, yes, yes.
Oh, lord Jesus almighty.
I don't think he has the maturity level to handle the amount of pressure.
We don't need that.
I just really wanna put all this behind.
For more about the recipes you've seen tonight go to bravotv.
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