Masterchef (2010) s02e10 Episode Script

Previously on MasterChef, one home cook exploded in the kitchen.
I don't think my dish is the worst dish here.
I think you're wrong.
His arrogance-- it's stinking up this kitchen.
And a new rivalry erupted.
I told Jennifer I think she's a bitch, and I'll cook her under the table any day of the week.
At the end of the day, one more homecook's MasterChef dreams came to a bitter end.
Jenny, your time is done in MasterChef.
Tonight, the cooks are thrown into the lion's den.
You're not gonna work like a little pig in my kitchen.
Gordon Ramsay has lost his mind.
I want that mess cleaned up.
Worst dish I've ever seen in MasterChef.
And on top of that, that is the worst dish that has ever left my kitchen.
Now just 12 cooks remain to battle it out in front of three culinary heavyweights.
stupid cake.
At stake--$1/4 million, and the title cake! Of MasterChef! The remaining 12 amateur cooks have been brought to the rooftop of an elite Hollywood hotel.
Let's go.
Come through.
They'll be split into opposing teams for today's high-end catering challenge.
The losing team will face a pressure test where one more cook's MasterChef dream will die.
Welcome to London West Hollywood.
This hotel has a special place in my heart, 'cause it houses my Los Angeles restaurant.
You are gonna be cooking for a Hollywood party right here.
All right.
You'll be split into two teams, and each team will have to conceptualize, prepare, and cook different hors d'oeuvres for our v.
I.
P.
Guest list.
The courses are Vegetable, beef, and a dessert.
All of you are gonna be cooking in my Michelin-star kitchen downstairs.
Yes! Yes! We had two stunning dishes from our last challenge.
Based on that, Ben and Christian will be picking your teams.
Let's go.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
I couldn't have asked to be a team captain for a better team challenge.
I can't wait to just start the game and take Ben down.
Ben, first choice.
Chef, I've seen at least one contestant so far produce a presentation like this.
I'm really, really hoping I'm gonna be on Ben's team.
I think Christian's amazing, but he's really aggressive in the kitchen.
My first selection is definitely going to be Suzy.
Suzy.
Wow.
Wow, wow, wow.
First-round draft pick.
The fact that Ben chose me first shows that I am one of the top dogs in MasterChef.
Christian, who is it, please? Adrien.
Okay, Ben Starr.
Tracy.
Tracy.
Wow.
All right.
I'm gonna go with Alejandra.
Okay, good.
Jen.
Wow.
Derrick.
Wow.
Esther.
I'm going with, uh, Giuseppe.
All right, Giuseppe.
I'm with the boys today.
Whoo! I'm last again, almost, and I'm thinking, "please, I do not want to be on Christian's team.
" I've seen this person produce incredible miracles under pressure, and that person is Christine.
Christine.
Christine for the full house-- all-girl team.
Not all.
Okay.
Nobody wants to pick me.
That's fine.
I don't know why, because I'm 2-0, and I perform really well on these team challenges.
So all it is is just fueling my fire right now.
Ben! Yes, chef.
Looks like you've got Charlie's Angels there.
I had a feeling Ben was gonna be picking a lot of the girls, which is fine.
Girls--um, I like 'em, but they're a little bit more dramatic than guys.
And I think when it comes to being in a kitchen, you can't really have a lot of drama.
You've got 90 minutes to prep three stunning hors d'oeuvres.
We have 90 minutes to cater a Hollywood party.
Hello! Can somebody bring a straitjacket over here? Gordon Ramsay has lost his mind.
Your time starts now.
Off you go.
Run.
Each team has 90 minutes to devise and create from the ingredients in Chef Ramsay's kitchen.
Each one of you is gonna take ownership of a single course.
I am not a dictator.
If you want your team to produce brilliant results, you have to empower them to do something that they're passionate about.
First course is veggie.
Does anybody have-- I can do veggie.
You can do veggie? Gazpacho.
Okay.
Beef.
Yes? Beef.
Me beef? Sure.
Do you want rib eye, short ribs, or filet? Filet.
Filet.
Christine's doing an open-faced Wellington, a little bit of puff pastry, mushrooms, filet, creme fraiche--done.
Last course is Esther's beautiful, dainty chocolate profiteroles.
Listen, I'm your bitch.
I'm here to support you.
Let's go, guys.
Ben is running his team in a democratic fashion.
But on the red team, Christian's making all the calls.
All right, vegetable? Gazpacho.
Christian has a menu mapped out in his head, and that's what we're going with.
Some of his ideas, I'm wondering if they're a little too risky or edgy.
Beef--we'll do a little tartare.
Yes.
A little pepper-- we'll torch it.
I'm in charge of the beef tartare, and I've never made beef tartare.
I mean, hell, I've never even eaten beef tartare.
It's a risky thing, 'cause, you know, it's raw meat.
And for the dessert? We'll do profiterole with filling.
Okay, let's do this, guys.
Christian and Ben, please.
Ben! Ben! Yes, chef! Two seconds, please.
Christian, let's go.
Quick.
So Gordon calls me and Ben over, um, for a little powwow to go over our menus.
Ben! Let's go, Ben! Come on! Now! I don't have time for this ! I just had to yell at Ben to get over there, because he's wasting my time.
If Gordon can yell in the kitchen, I think, uh, I can yell in the kitchen, too.
Talk to me about the dishes.
Vegetable--we have a gazpacho shooter.
Christian.
They must have been listening to us, 'cause, um, Adrien went with a gazpacho.
Okay, so are you two copying each other? No, chef.
The list of ingredients here is extraordinary, I mean, really extraordinary.
Desserts.
On a high-- what is it? Esther is on desert.
She's doing very dainty chocolate profiteroles with a lattice of chocolate on top.
Wow.
Ambitious.
Um, a profiterole, again, and, um Wow.
It's the same dishes competing.
Have the balls to change Mm-hmm.
If it's not hitting perfection.
You're the captains for a reason.
Good luck.
Thank you.
Thanks, guys.
Listen, we don't have to change courses here.
All we have to do is make sure ours tastes better.
Esther, look at me.
Look at me.
You're not gonna work like a little pig in my kitchen.
Yes, chef.
I want that mess cleaned up.
I'm cleaning everything up right now.
Despite Gordon's fear of similar menus, Adrien and Suzy are both going ahead with their gazpachos.
I've done gazpacho a couple of times before.
I'm gonna keep it simple and keep it, like, really delicious and fresh.
Adrien, how we doing? Doing all right.
I need to adjust my seasonings.
I'm doing a gazpacho again, but I'm doing a duo.
Are you doing them at the same time or layered? Yeah.
It's going in the same cup, so just layered.
Make sure they're the same thickness.
Obviously, this looks like puree, and this one's thinner.
So just be careful about that.
Not only do I find out that Adrien's doing a gazpacho, uh, but he's doing a duo.
He's like the one-upper.
I'm so screwed.
Meanwhile, Christine is trying to ensure her cooked beef dish beats Derrick's raw beef tartare.
I just went through a pressure test where I had to cook a filet, so hopefully I can do it again.
! Only concern is that I overcook, which I hope I don't do.
Do I cut out--cut out a thick steak like that? Oh, that's fine.
I have Derrick on the beef, and raw meat's very risky.
But I'm sticking with my plan, and, uh, you know, that's what chefs do.
Esther is going up against Giuseppe on the dessert course.
He's ditched a disastrous batch of profiteroles and is now switching to fruit tarts.
The profiteroles didn't come out right.
I didn't have, uh, a scale, so I had to go by eye, and that is very hard, man.
You can't make it.
Mama Mia.
Esther also managed to mess up her first batch of profiteroles.
Attempt number two isn't going much better.
There is something wrong with this flour.
Esther, what's that for? I'm making the batter again.
Something went wrong.
I could tell right when I touched them.
Okay, you're making a choux pastry for dessert.
Yes.
Concerns? Uh, yeah, I mean, I'm deeply concerned Concerned that they'll take Right.
to cool down.
Right.
Are you mad? If I don't have the dessert ready on time, then we forfeit the dessert course, and all those votes will automatically go to the red team.
If it's not cooked in the center, you're screwed.
Right.
I just need Gordon to get out of my face.
for the Hollywood cocktail party must be served in just 30 minutes, but Gordon isn't happy with progress so far.
I mean, I'm deeply concerned.
If it's not cooked in the center, you're screwed.
Right.
One-bite wonders, yeah? Let's go.
Both teams are putting final touches to their gazpachos.
I want you guys to try this.
Okay.
More salt? Yeah.
So we can put, um, just, like, a dash of this on the bottom and then the red over the top.
Giuseppe, how's it going now? All right.
All right, that doesn't-- you don't sound positive, buddy.
Over here.
Over here.
Look at this.
Hey, look at this guy.
Okay.
Um It needs-- it needs something green.
Do we have mint or basil? Tastes awesome.
It's good? All right.
While Giuseppe is delighted with his red team dessert, Esther on the blue team is having more problems with her second batch of pastry dough.
What is all that in there? Yeah, my choux dough-- it doesn't work.
That's all choux dough? Yeah.
It's .
How much did you make? I was trying to do enough for, like, 100, and, um, , just in case some burned, but I am gonna make a third batch of dough, and this time it's gonna work.
I know I can do this.
I have to do it.
Derrick is up against Christine in the beef hors'ovres.
As the blue team puts the finishes touches on their mini beef Wellington, Chef Ramsay is concerned with the size.
Is that right, the pastry being that thick on there? This is very, very thick.
I have an extra pastry dough circle on top, and Gordon comes by and he's like, "tis supposed to be an hors d'oeuvre, not a freakin' whatever.
" So he's like, "this is too thick.
" Do you want to pull the top layer off? There's a lot of pastry there Just like that, guys, for very little beef.
Go.
Do it.
Let's go.
Red team, who's serving? Red team, who's serving? Uh, it was supposed-- Who's serving from the red team? I'm not sure, chef.
Not sure.
.
The lights are on, but everyone's off to Italy.
I have nightmares at night of Gordon.
With time running out, Joe is worried the red team's beef dish is beyond redemption.
You're gonna serve a raw-- raw meat? We're--we're gonna sear it off with the torch-- with the torch? Yes.
I've never seen anyone blowtorch raw beef Okay.
In a tartare.
I think you're taking a big risk serving raw beef to this whole big crowd of random people.
After screwing up her profiterole dough twice, Esther has finally mastered batch number three.
These are good.
I put the third dough in the oven, and they look beautiful.
I'm so relieved.
The final task is to pipe in a perfectly mixed chocolate mousse filling.
Ben.
Yes, chef.
The mix is broken.
Just taste the mix.
It's like eating a mouthful of olive oil, butter-- broken, greasy.
I've done this dough three times, and you're telling me the filling's wrong now? Suzy.
Yeah.
Show me the bag.
Here you go, chef.
Yeah.
You're piping it, and you're piping broken mousse.
This whole course has been a frickin' disaster.
Yes, chef.
'Cause that is disgusting.
They're not gonna let us serve this.
With the filling ruined and time running out, the blue team must come up with a new dessertFast.
Let's do fruit.
Yes.
Strawberries, kumquats, basil.
Perfect.
Done.
Go.
The only thing we have time to make is berries.
That's it.
And do we even have time to do that? You okay, Ben? I'm losing it here.
Ben, what is the dessert now, please? Lightly macerated seasonal strawberries and kumquats and a chiffonade of basil.
So how do they eat them out of the cup? Is it a spoon, teaspoon-- what is it? It's a fruit shot.
I can sell anything, chef.
I'm taking it up there.
I really think that this whole challenge is gonna come down to dessert, and if this is what it's going to be with only minutes left on the clock, we are screwed.
Blue team--they actually put together at the last moment a sloppy dessert-- some fruit put in some paper, and you're supposed to just shove it down like this.
Come on, this is a high-life people.
You have to give them something that looks elegant.
Last minute! Blue team, come on! See those ones right there? Put some basil on those.
Yeah.
All right, stay focused, girls.
Okay, let's go! Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Good.
Well done.
Bring 'em up front! Kumquat fruit salad with cream.
That's the worst dish I've ever seen compiled in MasterChef.
And on top of that, that is the worst dish that's ever left my kitchen.
I could cry.
I could fricking cry.
For this Hollywood cocktail party challenge, the red and blue teams have each made 300 hors d'oeuvres.
The guests will try each of the team's three courses and vote for their favorites.
Whichever team wins the most courses will be the winner.
First up--the vegetarian course.
Suzy's tomato mint gazpacho for the blue team is taking on Adrien's duo of gazpachos for the red team.
I've got a chilled mint gazpacho.
This is really a head-to-head.
His dish doesn't look as pretty as mine.
It's kind of heavy-handed.
I've got this, like, cool, chilled gazpacho with, like, this flower on top that's, like, edible and beautiful.
And it's, like, a really "sexy" dish for, like, this party.
Okay, so, let's try each one.
Let's shoot 'em.
Let's do it.
Cheers.
You have a very beautiful smile So you have one point already.
Thank you.
I think it's too salty for me.
Too salty? A little too salty, yeah.
Okay.
And Adrien-- a double gazpacho.
Everyone taste one each.
The balance of the sweetness and the saltiness is very good.
Thank you.
The green doesn't want to liberate itself from the glass.
Maybe this will work.
No, but the thing is you cannot serve that in a restaurant, because it doesn't go down.
For the meat course, the blue team is serving a mini beef Wellington.
And the red team has a torched beef tartare.
I have a play on beef Wellington.
Cheers, guys.
You got it in a bite? No, she didn't do it in a bite.
Do you see? That's the problem with the 2-bite hors d'oeuvre.
Eventually you'll get a piece of portobello mushroom It's good.
Dribbling out of your lip.
Okay, now we'll go to the red team.
This is the classic take on beef tartare--torched.
One bite.
Cheers to one bite.
Cheers.
Good? Very fresh tasting.
Yeah, it's got a nice tang to it.
Got a little more, yeah, tang.
All right, so you gotta think about it, 'cause we're gonna ask you to vote.
This is very big.
Finally, it's time for dessert.
Can the blue team's 5-minute fruit cup stand a chance against Giuseppe's elegant fruit tart? Hello, ladies, we have your first bite of springtime here.
Fresh, local strawberries with kumquats, just a hint of basil, and a little bit of whipped cream.
It's a guilt-free way to end your evening.
Give it a try.
It's a shooter.
Just take it right in, all in one bite.
Try to keep it in your mouth.
Mmm.
And then from the red team-- Giuseppe, what did you make? All right, we have a pastry with a sweet mascarpone cheese, raspberries, blueberries, and a little touch of agave.
If I don't win this this time, I'm gonna be completely devastated, I swear to God.
They were both amazing Okay.
But that one did it for me.
Oh, man, I was shocked.
She liked Ben's dessert better.
I can't believe it.
I have to go with the red, actually.
Oh.
That was a little difficult to eat, but this was just nice and classic for me.
And it was good, and the texture was there.
Split decision.
Thanks, guys.
All three courses have been served.
The guests mark their voting cards as the party winds down.
When we hit a hiccup, we kept going.
I could not feel more proud of my girls at this point.
Each and every one of them performed flawlessly.
Two, three--blue! (Announcer the votes have been counted.
(Announcer the votes have been counted.
The first team to win two of the three courses will win the challenge, while the losers will face the dreaded pressure test where at least one person will be eliminated from MasterChef.
As far as looks and taste, I think we nailed it, and we're gonna win.
The first course was a delicious vegetable course.
One gazpacho more classic, one gazpacho double-flavored with guac on the bottom and tomato on top-- one team came up ahead on the gazpacho challenge, and it with 64% of the vote.
Red team.
So the red team-- a little bit more complex, perhaps, a little bit sexy in design.
We really liked the way it looked, the double flavor, so excellent job.
All right, the beef.
Derrick, you look excited.
I was just excited for beef, you know.
All right.
Well, you were in charge of your team's beef hors d'oeuvre, the tartare of tenderloin.
Blue team, we had the beef Wellington.
Who was in charge of that? I was.
Christine.
This is where it gets interesting.
One team somehow was able to garner 100% of the votes.
Wow.
What? Every guest that dined tonight that enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres Enjoyed the blue team's.
Oh, my God.
You win.
Rock out, girl.
People underestimate me as a cook.
When you put me against the wall, then I will usually come out fighting.
You just never know what I'm gonna bring.
Red team, for me, the tartare was bland.
It needed help.
I knew the tartare was risky.
But I didn't expect a full sweep, and nobody did.
It's neck and neck, onto the blue team, one to the red team.
And it's all down to the desserts.
Blue team, you came up with a seasonal spring fruits with a cream.
Red team You came out with a puff pastry.
When it comes down to the dessert, I'm feeling like it's over.
It would take a miracle for our fruit cup to win over Giuseppe's.
It was a very narrow margin.
The winners of the dessert course With 53% of the vote.
Red team.
I feel great.
I gave actually the victory to my team.
This is a beautiful Hollywood ending.
It couldn't be better than that.
Being in Gordon's kitchen and winning the challenge is awesome.
Good job.
I'm proud of my team, proud of me, and we nailed it.
No pressure test for us.
I feel like a failure as a leader, because they were trusting me to lead them to a win.
It came down to dessert, and it was Esther's fault that we lost.
Blue team, you'll be facing a very demanding pressure test.
Get some rest.
Good night.
Let's go.
Come over, guys, please, let's go.
Since my beef Wellington was so amazing last night, it just blows that I'm standing here.
I'm angry, because it's not my fault.
My team is facing a pressure test.
Had I been able to deliver the dessert I wanted to, I don't think we would be here today.
Red team, you were the real stars last night, and you will not be facing a pressure test.
Make your way up to the gallery.
Watch and learn.
I feel amazing that I don't have to go on to the pressure test, 'cause nobody has any idea what it's gonna be, but we do know that somebody's going home, and I know that that somebody is not me.
Okay, for this pressure test, you all will have to create one of these-- a stunning, delicious, eye-capturing layered cake A masterpiece built on textures, taste, and visual impact.
I've been baking since about age ten, so I'm extreme comfortable baking cakes.
You'll have two hours to make a cake with a minimum of six layers of sponge.
Why six layers? Why--why do you need to eat six layers of cake? Okay, on to your stations, please.
And remember, whoever has the worst layered cake in this pressure test-- at least one of you will be leaving MasterChef.
Two hours From now! Off you go.
In this pressure test, the cooks will have two hours to produce a delectable six-layer cake.
The judges will be looking for perfect construction and presentation as well as amazing taste.
I'm just gonna go with a standard vanilla chiffon cake.
I'm gonna do a cream cheese frosting and maybe add a little bit of basil and strawberry flavoring to that.
I'm gonna do an ice cream sundae, basically, in a layer cake, so we're gonna do banana.
We're gonna have a little bit of hazelnut.
So that's kind of the game plan right now.
Six layers.
For a professional chef, that's a tall task, right? Right, right.
You have to have the technicality of baking-- architecture, construction, flavor profiles.
Chemistry.
The base of the cake has to be a thick layer so it stands up when you slice that wedge.
Mm-hmm.
The layers in between don't have to be as thick as the bottom base Right.
Otherwise it becomes top-heavy.
It's gonna topple.
All right, Ben.
How are we doing? Hello.
It's gonna be an awful elimination today.
Who do you think now is at risk of going home? I don't want anybody to go home.
From personal conversations, Tracy hasn't baked a lot.
Hey, Tracy.
How are you today? There's a lot of talk about you being, uh, a little unexperienced in making desserts I'm actually not the top baker in this competition.
Who do you think is gonna struggle here? Um, me.
Christine, talk to me about your cake.
I'm gonna do a raspberry, strawberry and apricot jam in the middle.
Jam? That's nice.
Yes, preserve.
Okay, good.
But I'm gonna pipe a little icing on the outside, so it doesn't go Pffft.
Christine, 30 seconds with you, I need a bottle.
I have some rum.
All right, Suzy, what are you doing? I'm doing a chocolate sponge cake and in between I'm doing a raspberry whip and then a pecan crust on the sides Okay.
And a ganache on top.
Super simple, no garnish, no nothing.
Yeah.
All right, Ben Yes, chef.
How are you feeling? I'm feeling very good, Chef.
I'm making a cake that I've made many times.
This is a pumpkin carrot sponge.
In between the pumpkin, what are you putting in there? I'm doing a cream cheese frosting, and I'm gonna candy some hazelnuts to coat the outside and give it kind of a nice rustic but still elegant .
Hi, Esther.
How are we doing? Chef, how are you? What's wrong? You seem s- so quiet and down and defeated.
I'm a little down.
What's wrong? I'm not defeated.
I'm just focused.
Okay, good.
You have as good a chance as anybody in this kitchen to pull it out and to win.
Okay, folks, one hour left, and one person is going home.
While the cakes are cooling, the cooks are able to prepare their icing, which will be critical to the construction and flavor of their final cake.
On the sponge cake side, everyone seemed to bake 'em, get 'em out of the oven, and are slicing them pretty good.
I got quite excited about Ben Starr's pumpkin carrot.
However, there's no aeration in the cake Sure.
So it's a weighted mass.
Yeah, it's like an orange doorstop.
It's about that thick, and it looks heavy as hell.
Yeah.
Esther is still whipping her frosting.
Yeah, that's not a good sign.
If you're just whipping your frosting now, by the time you pipe it on the cake, it's gonna be melted butter, you know? Yeah.
So they really have some risk with timing now.
We're coming up to 30 minutes left.
You should now start constructing the layers.
The key is just to keep this damn cake up.
Doing just little adjustments here to make sure it's level.
Christine, how many is on there? You're missing two layers, yeah? Yeah, I have it right here, chef.
Okay, good.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
I just layer it up, and I'm really not paying attention to how thick the icing is and how thick the jam is.
Just over 15 minutes to go.
stupid cake.
That's it, Tracy, all the way around.
Let the palette knife do the work.
I'm liking the consistency.
I'm liking the layers.
It's--it's standing up there nicely.
Then I realize I've made a crucial error.
No, it's not on.
I didn't put the thing underneath.
You know those little cake rounds that help you move the cake from place to place? Yeah, I forgot it.
Put 'em next to each other, then you can slide it over.
I literally lift the cake up and put it onto this glass round.
However, the shape of it is just not the same.
Five minutes to go.
Your cakes should now be assembled and you should be putting your finishing touches on there.
I'm freaking out a little bit.
Time is running out, and I'm just trying to get the caked filled.
I'm throwing icing in there.
I'm throwing curd in there.
I'm throwing fresh fruit in there, and I've lost count of the layers.
Last minute! Really? My icing is melting everywhere.
Start putting those final touches.
I'm in a mad dash to even give them a cake I can present.
This is just stupid.
Ten, nine, eight, seven Six, five, four, three, one, and stop! it.
Stupid Cake.
Five, four, three, two, one, and stop! it.
stupid cake.
That has been the most difficult pressure test ever so far in the history of MasterChef.
And from here, they look amazing.
But at least one of you will be leaving MasterChef.
Okay, Ben Starr, let's go.
All right, Ben.
Yes, Chef.
Are you okay? I'm wonderful.
Talk to me.
I-I've been perfecting this cake for five years, and I believe this is the first time I have had the ingredients to be able to give you something that represents me truly as a cook.
Okay.
And the ability to finally do that in this competition is overwhelming for me.
Great, okay, good.
Describe the cake.
Chef, this is a pumpkin carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and candied hazelnuts.
Here we go.
Oh, my God.
I swear to God, that looks phenomenal Thank you, chef.
Absolute sublime.
That is extraordinary Absolute magic on a fork.
I'm just letting it finish.
My mouth just had an orgasm.
Sorry.
I feel like I have finally spoken to the judges my language, and they've understood it for the first time.
This is Ben Starr.
This is what I want to do with the rest of my life.
Suzy, let's bring it up.
My cake looks amazing.
It's decadent.
It's luscious.
And I hope they love it.
Today I made a ganache and pecan-encrusd cake with chantilly cream on top.
Each layer also has just a chantilly whip with a hint of raspberry as well.
When you mentioned crusted, uh, it definitely is that.
Crusted.
This one's like-- we're gonna kinda have to do one of these numbers, like The chantilly--I really wish there was more of it, just some more mouthfeel to kind of balance out with the cake.
You know, when I saw you putting the ganache on top of the cake, it was, like, perfect.
And then you went, and you put this-- I don't even know what this is.
It looks like kinda mold growing up a tree on the outside.
So there was a minimalistic kind of perfection to this cake that kinda went to hell.
I mean, this is-- it's gross.
I literally just got served, like, a piece of humble pie.
And I'm realizing that there are people in this competition that could possibly be, like, way better than me.
Okay, Tracy, come on up.
I'm thinking, please, God, just let the cake stand long enough for them to cut it and put it on their plate.
I made a sweet basil and citrus-infused syrup and blended that in with a sweet cream cheese.
So, Tracy, there's two things I notice.
"A"--the asymmetrical construction of the cake, and "B" is the frown on your face.
It's good.
I think that the orange zest and basil really kind of makes it pop a little bit and gives it some brightness and flavor.
It's simple, clean, and, um, intriguing.
Thank you.
Jennifer, let's go.
What is it? It is a play on a banana split.
So you have your strawberries on top, your nuts on the side, your banana on the inside, your chocolate on the inside.
That looks amazing.
The chocolate goes brilliantly with the sponge, and it's sweetened by the strawberries.
And it tastes delicious.
Great job.
Esther, please come forward.
It's a lemon raspberry cake.
It's filled with a lemon curd, fresh raspberries.
And then there's a sponge cake brushed with a raspberry and lemon syrup.
It's very, very sweet, almost overly so.
Something about layer cake shows the level of finesse Right.
In the construction, but it looks like it's been put together in a panic.
I'm struggling with the lack of balance.
It's got that sort of overpowering acidic but sweetness to it, and it doesn't really work.
I'm frustrated, because I could've done that so much better.
I ran out of time.
Okay, Christine.
It's layers of apricots, raspberries, strawberries, and a little bit of hazelnut liqueur, just layer upon layer.
It seems a little bit Kind of, uh Sweet-on-sweet, one-dimensional, no contrast, like, uh, boring.
Okay, Christine, the frosting on the outside is what? It's buttercream.
Sponge is perfect.
The cake's lacking personality.
And it's pretty sort of run-of-the-mill.
All of you, come down, please.
I'm really disappointed in myself.
Like, this is by far the worst I've ever done, and it sucks that it was during a pressure test.
Two hour to produce a stunning six-layered delicious cake.
Sadly, at least one of you will be leaving MasterChef.
Right.
Tracy, step forward.
Jennifer, step forward.
Ben Starr, step forward And take you, Tracy, and Jennifer upstairs.
Congratulations.
Let's go.
Okay, Esther, Christine, Suzy, clearly all three in the bottom half.
Suzy, it wasn't your best shot.
Christine, on the back of your performance with the beef Wellington, the cake didn't match anywhere near what you produced in the last challenge.
Esther--awkward, it didn't really work, and a bizarre texture.
Christine, step forward, please.
Oh, my God.
You've done a lot inside this competition.
And at times, you've really handled the pressure brilliantly.
The three of us are proud of you.
And I'm sure right now your dad and your son are equally as proud of you.
I'm sorry.
After the six-layer cake pressure test, it's down to the last three.
One of them will be going home.
Christine.
You've done a lot inside this competition.
And at times, you've really handled the pressure brilliantly.
Christine, I'm sorry, take your apron Upstairs to the balcony.
I think I almost peed myself.
People keep underestimating me.
I'm still here to win it, so you just better watch it.
Oh, my God.
At this point, I think I just got hit by a truck.
And I've got this feeling inside of me, that, like, this is my time.
Esther, Suzy, we've got the neural engineer versus the lawyer.
It's down to me and Suzy.
I quit my job, I'm here, and this opportunity means the world to me.
I'm not ready to go home.
Suzy, what frustrated all three of us was the fact that you had something on the verge of stunning, but the add-ons and the pecans just didn't work.
You don't know where to draw the line in the sand.
Esther, you're a very technical, intelligent cook.
But you looked out of your depth across those two hours.
Esther, step forward.
Oh, my God.
Esther Take your apron off.
Your time is done in MasterChef.
Promise I'm promising.
Stay on that journey.
I will.
I'm not gonna give up.
I'm not gonna go back to being just a lawyer.
It takes a lot of courage and conviction to quit your job, but it's absolutely worth it when you're pursuing your passion.
Food excites me.
And I feel empowered leaving MasterChef.
The world is my oyster.
Suzy, sometimes across these challenges, you go in denial.
And there's parts of you that produce sort of fake ideas that unfortunately don't really wash.
So we tell you to make you better, and you seem to ignore that advice.
Take the advice, run with it, and come back strong.
You may be walking on thin ice, but the ganache was delicious.
Take your apron upstairs and join the rest of them.
Let's go.
I never, ever, ever in my life ever want to do a pressure test again.
That was my hell.
That was honestly the worst feeling I've ever had in my life.
That was so much disappointment in myself.
I'm never gonna be in there again.
Next time on MasterChef The biggest mystery box we've ever had.
One cook's aggression is unleashed.
I'm not here to make friends.
And one judge's temper boils over.
Show these people the same respect they show you.
If not, I'm gonna personally come over there and throw you out of here.
And another home cook's MasterChef dreams will come to an end.
I am speechless.