MasterChef Junior (2013) s03e07 Episode Script
The Crème de la Crème…Brulee
- Last week - Two covers, table 8.
One octopus, one ravioli.
Yes, Chef! A heated team challenge, put the kids in charge of a high-end restaurant.
- Service, please.
- One octopus up! - Beautiful.
Andrew captained the blue team to victory Well done.
But it was the end of Kayla and Ayla's MasterChef dream.
Continue cooking with your head up high.
- Bye.
- Tonight Who loves raspberries? The final four battle for a place in the ultimate culinary showdown.
Ready to light things up? But only the two hottest young home cooks can fire themselves into the finale I was born to be here.
I was born to do this.
- To compete for $100,000 - Oh, my God.
I want that prize, and I'm here to take it home.
And the title of MasterChef Junior.
Right now, you have one foot in the finale.
This is so amazing that I'm in the top four now.
I've made sushi, homemade sausage, salmon en croute, even alligator.
I'm definitely really proud of myself.
Let's go, guys.
The semifinals.
I'm the only girl here, and I think that's kind of crazy, because I think girls are better than boys, but I want to bring it home for the girls, and I feel like my dishes prove I can do it.
I feel that, at the beginning, since I wasn't very vocal, not a lot of people viewed me as a competitor, but I think, at this point in the competition, I've definitely made it clear that I'm here to win.
I am so close to getting to the finale.
That means everything.
I put my heart into my food.
I put myself on the plate more than anybody here.
I am gonna fight and fight and fight until I get that trophy.
Welcome, Jimmy, Jenna, Andrew, and Nathan.
You four young home cooks have made it here to the semifinals of MasterChef Junior.
And after tonight, two of you young home cooks will earn your place in the MasterChef Junior grand finale.
It's now time for tonight's epic semifinal battle to begin.
Now, all of you, listen carefully.
Under here, I have a dessert.
In fact, one of my favorites.
It is an incredible Crème brûlée.
Back in New York, I go to this French restaurant, and for my birthday, I always get a crème brûlée for my dessert.
So I know what it should look like.
Crème brûlée literally translates to "burnt cream.
" It's a rich, beautiful custard with a layer of crunchy, caramelized sugar on top.
That simple caramelized sugar is the secret of a perfect crème brûlée.
Now, to get that textbook top isn't easy.
But that's exactly what you're gonna have to do in this next difficult challenge.
I'm about to show you exactly how it's done.
I've never actually had a crème brûlée myself.
In San Diego, I don't eat at a lot of fancy restaurants like this, especially French ones, so I'm a little bit nervous.
Right.
A perfectly cooked crème brûlée.
Take your sugar, lightly sprinkle the sugar on top, and then just give that a little shake.
Take your blowtorch.
This is where it takes skill.
You have to be quick moving your blowtorch.
Too long in one spot, then you've ruined that texture of that delicious custard.
When it's finished, you want a crispy, caramelized, perfectly golden sugar topping.
My thoughts on dessert, I think they're pretty tedious and annoying, but it's cool to get to burn things.
Like, burning sugar, that's, like, fun.
Here are two that we do not want to see and we will not accept tonight.
This one is under, no crisp.
This one, that's solid.
That has way too much sugar.
It's over-caramelized.
And it will just be a constant sugary disruption in the mouth.
Now, on your station are You will have ten minutes to brûlée as many of these crèmes as you possibly can.
The person with the most finished, perfect crème brûlées will be the winner of the challenge.
That person will get a huge advantage, and that advantage could help you claim a spot in the MasterChef Junior grand finale.
Please head to your stations.
Are you four young home cooks ready to light things up? Yes, Chef.
Your ten minutes Starts Now.
All right, guys, what is the strategy for doing this? We're talking about accuracy and volume.
The most important thing now is to make sure they're all covered evenly with sugar.
The secret is to tip the sugar on, shake it down each end.
If it's not put on there evenly, it will caramelize uneven.
It's, like, so tricky to get the right amount of, like, color.
If you go for one second too long, then you can burn the crème.
But if you pull it off too early, then it could be underdone.
It's the flame going in and out, and that's how you gauge the temperature of that caramel, where you can really get it bubbling.
Slow and steady wins the race, and I need to torch each and every one really good and perfect.
My strategy is to do two at a time.
I'm going faster than the speed of light.
I'm going whoo, whoo, whoo.
I'm banging these crème brûlées out.
Torch power.
Just under five minutes to go.
Halfway, guys.
Andrew seems to have found his rhythm, though, no? Jimmy and Andrew, they're almost neck and neck, I'd say.
- They're really, really even.
- Jenna looked organized.
Tidy, controlled.
I think that Nathan's putting too much sugar on, so by the time it's really starting to caramelize, it goes over.
- It takes too long to burn.
- I think Jenna's definitely gonna be my biggest competition in this challenge, because she's really good with baking.
But then again, Andrew might be very good too, because I know he's good at getting things done in a pretty quick manner.
One minute to go.
Come on, hold to task.
Get those blowtorches working overtime.
This is the biggest challenge ever.
The final advantage before the finale is gonna be pretty big, and I want that advantage.
Here we go.
One minute to go.
Come on, hold to task.
Get those blowtorches working overtime.
This is the biggest challenge ever.
The final advantage before the finale is gonna be pretty big, and I want that advantage.
Here we go.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
And stop.
Blowtorches off.
- Well done.
- Good job.
The judges will now determine how many perfect crème brûlées each junior home cook has completed.
They will only accept a perfectly golden brown brûlée worthy of being served in one of their restaurants.
The winner of this challenge will receive a major advantage in the next elimination round, in which two home cooks will go home and two will move on to the MasterChef Junior finale.
Right.
First up, Nathan.
Can you please come down? I'm pretty confident.
I finished 13 crème brûlées.
I'm hoping that I get at least half, but I noticed a few of them were burnt.
Nathan.
Of the 20 that we laid out for you, you managed to fire 13.
But You only had One perfect.
Your blowtorch was so close.
It was burning these big clumps of caramel.
Nathan gets one perfect.
I'm a confident guy, but I'm not gonna lie right now, I'm a little bit nervous.
I mean, these judges are gonna be hard on us.
Jenna, please step forward.
So, Jenna, do you feel that you have more than one perfect crème brûlée? I think I have more than one perfect crème brûlée.
You brûléed 15.
Your total number of absolutely perfect crème brûlées is - Four.
- Four is kind of low.
I mean, I really thought that half of mine, at least, should have been good.
I mean, I would eat 'em.
At the beginning, I think that you were scared of that flame, because you didn't get enough color until you started getting towards the middle.
The next young home cook is Jimmy.
Please come down to the front, Jimmy.
Okay, Jimmy.
How many perfect brûlées do you think you nailed? I think I nailed, like, five.
Five.
You delivered Eight.
Congratulations.
You are now in the lead.
That's, like, so awesome, 'cause I am now in first place by a lot to get a big advantage in the next round.
Finally, Andrew, please come and join us.
Jimmy gets eight perfect ones, and that's double the amount of Jenna's, so I'm shaking in my boots right now.
Andrew, tonight you were the only person using two blowtorches.
The good news is, you completed 20 brûlées.
Out of those 20, how many do you think you nailed to perfection? - I think I nailed nine of 'em.
- Nine.
That's what you'd need.
That's the magic number in order to take that advantage away from Jimmy.
Andrew, you completed Four.
And I get only four.
Ah, Jimmy wins.
I messed that one up.
So, with eight perfect crème brûlées, congratulations to Jimmy.
Well done, bud.
Jimmy, because you won the crème brûlée challenge, you are about to receive a huge advantage in this upcoming semifinal challenge.
But before you find out exactly how you will determine everybody else's fate, you're all gonna find out what you're going to be making in the next challenge.
All four of you are going to have to make an even fancier restaurant-level dessert than those crème brûlées.
Oh, my God, desserts again.
I mean, this is bad news.
But we're not just talking about any desserts.
We're talking about a luxurious dessert that features a very specific type of fruit.
I'm talking about All four of you are going to have to make an even fancier restaurant-level dessert than those crème brûlées.
We're talking about a luxurious dessert that features a very specific type of fruit.
I'm talking about - What? - Yes, raspberries.
Was that a joke? Did you just Ddid you just dump raspberries on me? - Delicious.
- There's one in my hair.
I've never been dumped with 10,000 raspberries on my head before.
I didn't see that coming.
What? Come on, then.
Who loves raspberries? Not anymore.
That was so cool.
Guys, there's so many desserts that you can make with raspberries.
The options are truly limitless.
We've chosen four.
Four very different, very technically challenging, classic raspberry desserts.
And, Jimmy, you get to determine who has to make what.
This advantage is definitely really big, because if I play this advantage right, I can definitely make it into the finale.
First up, you have what we consider to be the simplest of these four stunning raspberry desserts: a beautiful raspberry napoleon.
It comprises of three delicate layers of delicious puff pastry cradling two layers of pastry cream, showcasing those beautiful, amazing raspberries.
This dish is all about balance and finesse.
If you don't have those, this simple dessert can become a complete disaster.
Next up, we have another classic dessert that's even more complex.
It's one of the most popular desserts in the U.
K.
, and it's becoming increasingly loved over here in this country: a stunning raspberry trifle.
Gorgeous layers of ladyfingers that have been soaked in a sweet yet tart raspberry compote that's followed by layers of aromatic vanilla bean custard, finished with whipped cream.
It needs to be as beautiful as it is delicious.
Next up, in order of difficulty, a raspberry mousse with a raspberry compote.
The flavors have to be perfect, and the balance has to be just right, and you have to nail the light, fluffy texture of that delicious mousse.
Finally we have the most difficult, technically challenging classic raspberry dessert of the four tonight: a phenomenal, luxurious raspberry tart.
Stunning raspberries coated in a delicious glaze layered over beautiful custard, all nestled in a crisp, perfectly golden pastry shell.
One element out of place, and this most highly complex dessert becomes an epic failure.
Jimmy, please step up here.
Please take the raspberry tart.
So, Jimmy, in your hands, you have what we certainly consider to be the most difficult, technical dessert of all four raspberry desserts.
Now, you could keep it for yourself, or you could put that in the hands of any one of the three competitors that are facing you.
I'm going to give it to the person who I want to kind of get out of competition.
- Here you go, Nathan.
- Thank you, sir.
Nathan, he's, like, known for his desserts.
He's a dessert chef, and I think he's the strongest chef overall.
So I wanted to give the toughest dessert to my toughest competitor.
So, Jimmy, please take the raspberry mousse.
Please go ahead and hand it to one of your competitors.
- Thanks, Jimmy.
- You're welcome.
The mousse is a very delicate dessert, and Andrew is really crazy in the kitchen, so I think that's gonna play in when he tries to put out his dish.
Jimmy, you're left with two, a simple, elegant, raspberry napoleon or that stunning trifle.
So please, pick up both desserts and then decide which one you're giving to Jenna.
I kind of don't want the napoleon because it's really complex.
It has a lot of components, and it's gonna be pretty hard to pull off in an hour.
- Wow.
- I gave Jenna the napoleon because it's the easiest.
She is my friend, so I wouldn't like her to go home, but then I think that I can definitely beat her in the finale.
Right.
You all now know which classic raspberry dessert you'll all be making.
Please, all four of you, head to your stations.
This is the semifinals.
My dish has to be, like, better than perfect.
They're only accepting the best dishes tonight.
At your stations, you all have a bowl of beautiful raspberries.
Along with those raspberries, you also have access to a limited pantry of ingredients to help make the dish that's good enough to get you into the finale of MasterChef Junior.
There's only three people in my way of getting that trophy.
I want that prize, and I'm here to take it back to New York City.
You guys will have one hour to make that raspberry dish that Jimmy chose for you.
Two of you will move on to the most epic culinary fight of your lives, and two of you will be going home.
I really need to nail the tart, because I'm so close to getting into the finale.
$100,000 would change my family's life, because we're not necessarily the richest family, and winning this would be better than anything I could ever hope for in my entire life.
Is everyone ready to make the best classic raspberry desserts of your entire lives? Yes, Chef! This is it; this is to get into the finale, top two.
I was born to be here.
I was born to do this.
I'm not going back to Jersey without the MasterChef title.
Your one hour to get yourself in the finale Starts Now.
- Oh, my God.
- Flour.
I need lemon juice.
I need heavy cream.
So it's raining raspberries here in the MasterChef kitchen.
The biggest day in these four home cooks' lives.
There's a lot at stake tonight.
There's a finale spot.
Pressure, big-time.
How are they gonna handle it? Who knows? But they have got four technical desserts to pull off.
I feel right now for Nathan with that tart.
You got to make that pastry, got to let it rest before you can roll it, before you can cook it.
So there's a 25-minute, which you know is so difficult to pull off.
So after the tart, the next choice was the raspberry mousse.
- Explain why that's so hard.
- What I'm worried about with Andrew and the mousse tonight is, you have to refine the balance of sweetness to tartness.
You have to be absolutely exact, because if this mousse goes into the fridge and sets, you can't pull a mousse back and make it lighter.
Once it's done, it's done.
So he's got to be careful.
Okay.
Jimmy had the choice of the napoleon.
Why do you think he gave it to Jenna? If those pastry disks aren't cooked evenly and you start layering that thing, you've got a leaning tower of Pisa that's gonna look a disaster.
Oh, darn it.
I'm amazed that Jimmy took the trifle, because, you know, that compote on the bottom, soaking those sponge fingers, if it's too dry, there's nothing worse than a dry trifle.
And then you got that pastry cream, needs to be light, fragrant, delicious.
It is not an easy dish to replicate.
- Right, young man, how you feeling? - Great, Chef.
In just under 45 minutes from now, two of you are going home, and two of you are going through to the finale.
Jimmy gave you the hardest dessert to pull off tonight.
- How'd it make you feel? - Actually, happy, in a way, because knowing that I'm such a big competition to some people - It spurs me on to become better.
- That's what I like to hear.
Getting into the finale, winning it, fast track, I mean, what does it mean? My family doesn't have a lot of money.
We don't have necessarily a large house.
How much do you have in your bank account? - $200 savings.
- And what have you been saving up for? I am saving up for my family, and if I win this, I won't even have to worry about saving anymore.
Beautiful.
You have got, young man, and to get yourself into the finale.
- Good luck.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Jimmy, how we doing? - We're doing good.
So why did you choose the trifle? I've never made a trifle before, but all the components in it I have made before.
Like, I've made raspberry compote before, and then I heard that it was one of Gordon's favorite dishes.
Yeah, so you're trying to, like, suck up? No, I just want to impress him.
So what's your approach to the trifle? I'm gonna put the ladyfingers on the bottom, a layer of pastry cream on that, and then I'm going to put the whipped cream on top and do some decorations.
All right, good luck.
Just over 25 minutes to go.
Jenna, tell me about the napoleon.
So I've made a pastry cream, the puff pastry, and hopefully, if I have time, I'm gonna do a raspberry whipped cream as well.
- These are the ones you're gonna use? - Yeah.
I really hope you're not underestimating how difficult this napoleon can be.
- Do you feel confident? - Being the only female left, I feel so much pressure, and I think a lot of people in the competition underestimate me.
I really want to win for the girls and for New York.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Right, looks like you've been attacked by a punnet of raspberries.
- Look at the mess on you.
Man.
- Yeah.
- What's in here? - Raspberries, sugar, egg yolks.
Have a taste.
What's the first thing that comes to mind? - It's too sweet.
- It's just a mouthful of sugar.
Where's the mousse? The mousse is in the blast chiller right now.
When you taste your mousse and you know it's so sweet, why do you attempt to set it? I tried to add more raspberries, and I didn't taste it after that.
- Andrew, this is the semifinal.
- Yes, Chef.
I am freaking out right now.
Like, I have 15 minutes left.
I need to make another mousse, but I don't have time.
It's not enough time to set.
This can cost me the finale.
This can cost me winning this whole entire competition.
Oh, my God.
- This is the semifinal.
- Yes, Chef.
Losing the semifinal is worse than losing two or three weeks ago.
Getting this close, you just kick yourself for the rest of your life.
Oh, my God.
This is bad.
My mousse tastes too sweet.
I don't have time to start over, so I add more raspberry puree, but I don't know if it has time to set.
Come on, focus.
You have, young man, just under 15 minutes.
Let's go.
I am so close to getting to the finale, but this is gonna come down to the absolute last second.
What's going on? Andrew has completely shot himself in the foot.
I mean, after tasting his mousse, the sugar content in there is ridiculous.
He could miss out on the finale because of this.
Oh, my God.
Looking at Jimmy, you know, his pastry cream could be spackle to, like, build a house.
It is so pasty.
Now, what about Nathan? How's that tart coming? Yeah, the guy's composed.
I mean, tart's come out.
It's rested.
It's got a nice little crisp color on the outside, and his pastry cream is delicious.
- How's it going, Nathan? - Straight up focused.
Jenna's napoleon is pretty good, but she's moving very slowly.
She's miles behind.
Could you imagine if Jenna misses her spot in the finale because of time management? Jenna, you haven't even started assembling? Nope.
Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, we got to go.
Darn it.
You got to get it plated.
You got to get it assembled.
- I know.
- It's the semifinal.
This is to get you in the finale.
You better get it done.
- No.
- One minute to go.
Pastry cream, where is it? - You okay, Jenna? - Yes, I'm good.
I'm perfectly fine.
Finishing touches, guys.
Come on, speed up.
Where is my raspberry whipped cream? Hurry up.
Ten seconds remaining.
Go, go, go.
Five.
four, three, two, one.
And stop! Hands in the air.
- Hands in the air, guys.
- Wow.
Well done, all of you.
Good job.
Okay, for this MasterChef Junior semifinal challenge, you all had to make a raspberry dessert that Jimmy chose for you.
Two of you will be moving on to the MasterChef grand finale, and two of you, sadly, we will have to say good night to.
It is now time for us to taste your desserts.
First up Jimmy.
Even though this is one of the simpler ones, Gordon's gonna be really tough on it, because this is a dessert that he's had many times before, but I think he's gonna like it.
Okay, first of all, my big question to you, young man, is this dish good enough to get you in the finale? I think so.
Even though the layers are a bit sloppy, I think that the taste will overpower that.
Okay, describe the dish.
So you have a raspberry trifle with raspberry coulis on the bottom, ladyfingers and fresh raspberries, pastry cream, and on top of that is whipped cream.
Visually, from the top, yep, it looks gorgeous.
The idea is to go down, twist and scoop, and you see all those wonderful layers on the spoon.
Now It's got that rustic charm.
The cream is tasty, and you've got the ratio right.
However, a little bit too acidic.
Needs to be a little bit sweeter at the bottom, and it needs less liquid, little bit more sponge finger texture.
But, by and large, young man, for a dessert that's a classic in Britain, which you've never visited, I'm impressed.
- Good job.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
I'm so surprised that you picked the trifle, because without the advantage of being familiar with it, does it seem like a risk worth taking in the semi-finale of MasterChef? Well, I think at this point, it's either go big or go home, so I'd rather go big, and that's why I choose the trifle.
Well, you certainly went big with this dessert going out of your comfort zone.
I think it's quite good.
I don't find it too acidic.
If anything, I would love to have more of the ladyfingers.
Something a little bit more substantial.
But that being said, I taste the cream.
I taste the coulis.
I think that you did one hell of a job.
- Thank you, Jimmy.
- Thank you.
Next up, Andrew, please.
I decide to serve my second mousse, because it's better than the first one.
It may not be perfectly set, but the compote is there.
It's not too sweet, and I hope this is enough to get me into the finale.
First of all, visually, it looks like you've been paintballing with raspberries.
Look at the mess of you.
Describe the dish.
It's a raspberry mousse with a raspberry compote and a raspberry whipped cream with lime zest.
you were about to leave the competition with a mousse that was so sweet - Yeah.
I almost felt like booking an appointment at the dentist.
- Did you change it? - I did change it.
I added much more raspberry just so it can balance out.
I think I improved on it.
Yeah.
So let's cut straight to the chase.
Yeah.
The compote at the bottom Is So let's cut straight to the chase.
The compote at the bottom is absolutely Delicious.
Amazing.
A sort of puree of light, fragrant fresh raspberries at the bottom.
It's got that nice richness to it.
So congratulations for pulling back on the sweetness.
But the texture of the mousse, slightly too wet.
I think, had you got to this earlier and tasted it earlier and set it longer, then you could've had the perfect raspberry mousse.
Thank you.
- Andrew, how you doing? - Um, I'm doing good.
I think it's very commendable that you didn't stick with something that you knew wasn't perfect and went back and started tweaking, and that shows me - that you're at a different level than you were a week, two weeks ago.
You're starting to think more like a chef.
It's balanced as far as flavor.
I like that you went and added the lime as well, so it brightens it up.
The only problem with the mousse, obviously, it needs to be fluffy and airy and light, and, you know, what we have here is shy of that.
But it's super delicious.
Great job.
Next we would like to taste Jenna's dish.
Please come on up.
I know that what I put on the plate is my best work, and I think it's perfect.
The only thing wrong is the plating.
This is for the semifinals.
I'm hoping that the judges will be able to look past the horrible plating and try and appreciate the dish tastes good.
So what's the dish? This is a napoleon with a raspberry whipped cream and a regular pastry cream.
Our napoleon had more piped cream on top and a couple of berries and a dusting and a mint leaf, and what happened to all that? Time got away from me.
You'd think, in the semifinal, Jenna, that you would let time get the better of you is surprising to me.
- What happened? - I'm a perfectionist, and everything that I wanted to put on the plate, I wanted to be perfect.
- You think this is perfect? - Yes.
Do you think this is perfect? Not the plating, but yes.
Uh, Jenna, your dish looks like it has been dropped from the ceiling like the raspberries earlier.
But with one minute, I'm amazed you got anything on the plate.
Why two creams? That's what fascinated me.
I thought that making two creams would show you that I have a little bit more technique rather than just some basic skills.
The raspberry cream, delicious, light.
You have a really nice puree running through it.
Pastry cream, nice.
And it's not as sweet as I thought it would be, because you've got the acidity and the sweetness, so the two creams work.
Delicious.
However, 60 minutes, this should have been the most perfect napoleon.
I was expecting you to dust the top of the layer with powdered sugar, caramelize it with the blowtorch, and really making it look like a Jenna Stunning dessert.
Your raspberry napoleon needs to be eaten with a blindfold.
It looks a mess, but it tastes pretty decent.
- Good job.
- Thank you.
Last up, Nathan.
I had the hardest one, the tart, which is the most technical and hardest to pull off.
So I'm really scared, because this is the most important and biggest moment of my MasterChef experience.
So before I even go into it, visually, if I ordered it at a restaurant or saw it in the case, I would definitely want to try it.
Jumps out at you.
So tell me exactly what you made here.
I made a raspberry tart with a raspberry coulis.
Beautiful, flaky.
Wow.
Look at that.
It's like a super tiny tart.
- Wow.
- Beautiful.
That is so good.
So good.
The crust is nice and flaky.
That tart goes to 11.
Jimmy gave you the most difficult of the four, and I think that you turned it into a lesson for everybody.
I'm confident that you could've done any of these four.
- You should be very proud.
Good job.
- Thank you, Chef.
Visually, it looks beautiful.
What did you put in the pastry to make it that crisp? The cold butter, because if your butter's warm, it really won't have the flaky consistency.
The pastry's delicious.
I mean, it's crisp.
It's seasoned beautifully.
The pastry cream is perfect.
You understand the taste, and you know know to make it.
So right now, whether the three standing behind you like it or not, you have one foot in the finale.
- Great job.
- Thank you, Chef.
Right.
You four are the best of the best.
But only two of you can move forward into the MasterChef Junior grand finale.
Please chat amongst yourselves, because right now, we need the most serious chat amongst ourselves.
Excuse us.
Great job.
Great job.
Great job.
First off, Nathan.
- Definitely a contender for the finale.
- Yeah, absolutely.
- It was the hardest one to do.
- Yet without a doubt, he nailed it.
You know you're in the finale.
- Don't deny that.
- You never know.
When Andrew got the raspberry mousse, he went like this, "Yes!" - Right.
And then, again, took it for granted, because that texture wasn't perfect.
- But the flavor was good.
- Jenna's dish.
I thought it was amazing, but I think that not having the time to pull it together at the end cost that dish.
Jimmy, it wasn't that bad.
He got the compote right.
It's just the tartness and the acidity.
So, I mean, really, it's coming down to Jenna and Jimmy or Andrew, right, for that second spot.
- It's very tough.
- Yeah, very tough.
- Good luck.
- Good luck, guys.
You four are the best young home cooks in all of America.
And we have the difficult task of picking just two to move into the MasterChef Junior grand finale.
The first young home cook who will have a chance to take home the title of MasterChef Junior is Congratulations Nathan.
Well done.
The most difficult dessert to pull off, yet you did it, hands down.
Great job.
Please head up to the gallery and await your fellow finalist.
Good job, Nathan.
I'm so excited that I'm going to the finale.
I've been dreaming about this moment since MasterChef Junior was invented, and I really want to make my family proud.
Jenna, Jimmy, and Andrew, it's almost been impossible to make this decision, but thousands of young chefs tried to get where you are standing right now.
You've beaten them all.
One of you will join Nathan and face him in the MasterChef Junior finale.
Two of you, I'm sorry to say, will be leaving.
The person that will be battling Nathan in the greatest culinary fight of their young lives, That person is Congratulations Just three of you left.
Jenna, Jimmy, and Andrew.
One of you will join Nathan up in the gallery and face him in the grand MasterChef Junior finale.
Two of you, I'm sorry to say, will be leaving.
I want to make it to the finale so badly, because it's one step closer to, like, achieving my food dream to have a food empire kind of like Gordon Ramsay.
I want to be in the finale.
I've made it this far, and I don't want to go back to New York.
There's so much more that I want America to see and I want the judges to see in me.
I am seriously, honestly, deep down in my heart, I am passionate, and I want to win.
I want to go to that finale.
I want to show people that I have what it takes to be the next MasterChef Junior.
The person joining Nathan in the MasterChef Junior finale Is Andrew.
Oh, my God.
- Well done.
- Thank you.
The way that you brought that raspberry mousse back to a absolute delight, very few professional chefs could have pulled that one off with literally - Well done.
- Thank you.
Please say good-bye to Jenna and Jimmy and head up to the balcony.
- Nice job.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
Oh, my God, I'm in the finale of MasterChef Junior.
This means everything to me.
I worked so hard to get here.
I This is what I'm born to do, and I'm so happy.
Jenna, Jimmy, two very gallant efforts, let me tell you.
- Jimmy, you've been amazing.
- Thank you.
Your attitude is professional, and you still haven't peaked.
You must continue cooking, because you'll go places.
Thank you.
Jenna, you've done an amazing job.
- How do you feel? - Really sad that I'm leaving, but I'm really proud of myself.
You've been brilliant.
It was a real pleasure to get to know you guys.
I think this is one of the great groups that's ever come through this kitchen, and I consider it my privilege to be a part of your journey at MasterChef.
Thank you.
Well done, you two.
Come up over here.
Come and say good-bye.
Oh, Jimmy.
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.
- Take care, bud, yeah? - Thank you.
- See you again, yeah? - Yeah.
Well done, man.
Group hug.
Group hug.
Right.
Jenna, who do you think is gonna become America's next MasterChef Junior? - Andrew.
- Jimmy? Nathan, California all the way.
- Well done, guys.
Thank you guys so much.
- Take care.
Good to see you.
- Thank you guys.
- Thanks, guys.
- Take care.
- Thank you.
I'm really proud of myself for making it this far.
It's mine! It's been such a challenging experience, but everything was just really fun.
You have hair now! - It's a blend of pork butt and kangaroo.
- No.
I think I've grown so much just as a cook.
Great dish.
Absolutely stunning.
I'm only 12 years old, and now I know how to brûlée a crème brûlée, make a trifle, and so much more.
Probably the best sushi we've ever had in this kitchen.
My favorite moment on MasterChef Junior was the first mystery box.
That is absolutely delicious.
Thank you.
I think my favorite thing about this whole experience is just all the friends that I made, and I got to run one of LA's top restaurants.
One on, one up! That's so awesome.
One, two, three, red team! Being here is about the experience, not as much about winning.
And being the last girl is such an honor.
I'm just really proud of myself and what I've done.
I may not have gotten that big MasterChef trophy, but I'm gonna stay happy, not be sad, and just keep cooking.
Next week It doesn't get any bigger than this.
Andrew and Nathan go head-to-head in the ultimate culinary battle.
I definitely want this more than I've ever wanted anything.
On the line, $100,000 - Incredible.
- You just want to eat more of it.
This kind of a dish is the future of cooking.
And the title of America's next MasterChef Junior right here.
You're looking at him.
The winner is
One octopus, one ravioli.
Yes, Chef! A heated team challenge, put the kids in charge of a high-end restaurant.
- Service, please.
- One octopus up! - Beautiful.
Andrew captained the blue team to victory Well done.
But it was the end of Kayla and Ayla's MasterChef dream.
Continue cooking with your head up high.
- Bye.
- Tonight Who loves raspberries? The final four battle for a place in the ultimate culinary showdown.
Ready to light things up? But only the two hottest young home cooks can fire themselves into the finale I was born to be here.
I was born to do this.
- To compete for $100,000 - Oh, my God.
I want that prize, and I'm here to take it home.
And the title of MasterChef Junior.
Right now, you have one foot in the finale.
This is so amazing that I'm in the top four now.
I've made sushi, homemade sausage, salmon en croute, even alligator.
I'm definitely really proud of myself.
Let's go, guys.
The semifinals.
I'm the only girl here, and I think that's kind of crazy, because I think girls are better than boys, but I want to bring it home for the girls, and I feel like my dishes prove I can do it.
I feel that, at the beginning, since I wasn't very vocal, not a lot of people viewed me as a competitor, but I think, at this point in the competition, I've definitely made it clear that I'm here to win.
I am so close to getting to the finale.
That means everything.
I put my heart into my food.
I put myself on the plate more than anybody here.
I am gonna fight and fight and fight until I get that trophy.
Welcome, Jimmy, Jenna, Andrew, and Nathan.
You four young home cooks have made it here to the semifinals of MasterChef Junior.
And after tonight, two of you young home cooks will earn your place in the MasterChef Junior grand finale.
It's now time for tonight's epic semifinal battle to begin.
Now, all of you, listen carefully.
Under here, I have a dessert.
In fact, one of my favorites.
It is an incredible Crème brûlée.
Back in New York, I go to this French restaurant, and for my birthday, I always get a crème brûlée for my dessert.
So I know what it should look like.
Crème brûlée literally translates to "burnt cream.
" It's a rich, beautiful custard with a layer of crunchy, caramelized sugar on top.
That simple caramelized sugar is the secret of a perfect crème brûlée.
Now, to get that textbook top isn't easy.
But that's exactly what you're gonna have to do in this next difficult challenge.
I'm about to show you exactly how it's done.
I've never actually had a crème brûlée myself.
In San Diego, I don't eat at a lot of fancy restaurants like this, especially French ones, so I'm a little bit nervous.
Right.
A perfectly cooked crème brûlée.
Take your sugar, lightly sprinkle the sugar on top, and then just give that a little shake.
Take your blowtorch.
This is where it takes skill.
You have to be quick moving your blowtorch.
Too long in one spot, then you've ruined that texture of that delicious custard.
When it's finished, you want a crispy, caramelized, perfectly golden sugar topping.
My thoughts on dessert, I think they're pretty tedious and annoying, but it's cool to get to burn things.
Like, burning sugar, that's, like, fun.
Here are two that we do not want to see and we will not accept tonight.
This one is under, no crisp.
This one, that's solid.
That has way too much sugar.
It's over-caramelized.
And it will just be a constant sugary disruption in the mouth.
Now, on your station are You will have ten minutes to brûlée as many of these crèmes as you possibly can.
The person with the most finished, perfect crème brûlées will be the winner of the challenge.
That person will get a huge advantage, and that advantage could help you claim a spot in the MasterChef Junior grand finale.
Please head to your stations.
Are you four young home cooks ready to light things up? Yes, Chef.
Your ten minutes Starts Now.
All right, guys, what is the strategy for doing this? We're talking about accuracy and volume.
The most important thing now is to make sure they're all covered evenly with sugar.
The secret is to tip the sugar on, shake it down each end.
If it's not put on there evenly, it will caramelize uneven.
It's, like, so tricky to get the right amount of, like, color.
If you go for one second too long, then you can burn the crème.
But if you pull it off too early, then it could be underdone.
It's the flame going in and out, and that's how you gauge the temperature of that caramel, where you can really get it bubbling.
Slow and steady wins the race, and I need to torch each and every one really good and perfect.
My strategy is to do two at a time.
I'm going faster than the speed of light.
I'm going whoo, whoo, whoo.
I'm banging these crème brûlées out.
Torch power.
Just under five minutes to go.
Halfway, guys.
Andrew seems to have found his rhythm, though, no? Jimmy and Andrew, they're almost neck and neck, I'd say.
- They're really, really even.
- Jenna looked organized.
Tidy, controlled.
I think that Nathan's putting too much sugar on, so by the time it's really starting to caramelize, it goes over.
- It takes too long to burn.
- I think Jenna's definitely gonna be my biggest competition in this challenge, because she's really good with baking.
But then again, Andrew might be very good too, because I know he's good at getting things done in a pretty quick manner.
One minute to go.
Come on, hold to task.
Get those blowtorches working overtime.
This is the biggest challenge ever.
The final advantage before the finale is gonna be pretty big, and I want that advantage.
Here we go.
One minute to go.
Come on, hold to task.
Get those blowtorches working overtime.
This is the biggest challenge ever.
The final advantage before the finale is gonna be pretty big, and I want that advantage.
Here we go.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
And stop.
Blowtorches off.
- Well done.
- Good job.
The judges will now determine how many perfect crème brûlées each junior home cook has completed.
They will only accept a perfectly golden brown brûlée worthy of being served in one of their restaurants.
The winner of this challenge will receive a major advantage in the next elimination round, in which two home cooks will go home and two will move on to the MasterChef Junior finale.
Right.
First up, Nathan.
Can you please come down? I'm pretty confident.
I finished 13 crème brûlées.
I'm hoping that I get at least half, but I noticed a few of them were burnt.
Nathan.
Of the 20 that we laid out for you, you managed to fire 13.
But You only had One perfect.
Your blowtorch was so close.
It was burning these big clumps of caramel.
Nathan gets one perfect.
I'm a confident guy, but I'm not gonna lie right now, I'm a little bit nervous.
I mean, these judges are gonna be hard on us.
Jenna, please step forward.
So, Jenna, do you feel that you have more than one perfect crème brûlée? I think I have more than one perfect crème brûlée.
You brûléed 15.
Your total number of absolutely perfect crème brûlées is - Four.
- Four is kind of low.
I mean, I really thought that half of mine, at least, should have been good.
I mean, I would eat 'em.
At the beginning, I think that you were scared of that flame, because you didn't get enough color until you started getting towards the middle.
The next young home cook is Jimmy.
Please come down to the front, Jimmy.
Okay, Jimmy.
How many perfect brûlées do you think you nailed? I think I nailed, like, five.
Five.
You delivered Eight.
Congratulations.
You are now in the lead.
That's, like, so awesome, 'cause I am now in first place by a lot to get a big advantage in the next round.
Finally, Andrew, please come and join us.
Jimmy gets eight perfect ones, and that's double the amount of Jenna's, so I'm shaking in my boots right now.
Andrew, tonight you were the only person using two blowtorches.
The good news is, you completed 20 brûlées.
Out of those 20, how many do you think you nailed to perfection? - I think I nailed nine of 'em.
- Nine.
That's what you'd need.
That's the magic number in order to take that advantage away from Jimmy.
Andrew, you completed Four.
And I get only four.
Ah, Jimmy wins.
I messed that one up.
So, with eight perfect crème brûlées, congratulations to Jimmy.
Well done, bud.
Jimmy, because you won the crème brûlée challenge, you are about to receive a huge advantage in this upcoming semifinal challenge.
But before you find out exactly how you will determine everybody else's fate, you're all gonna find out what you're going to be making in the next challenge.
All four of you are going to have to make an even fancier restaurant-level dessert than those crème brûlées.
Oh, my God, desserts again.
I mean, this is bad news.
But we're not just talking about any desserts.
We're talking about a luxurious dessert that features a very specific type of fruit.
I'm talking about All four of you are going to have to make an even fancier restaurant-level dessert than those crème brûlées.
We're talking about a luxurious dessert that features a very specific type of fruit.
I'm talking about - What? - Yes, raspberries.
Was that a joke? Did you just Ddid you just dump raspberries on me? - Delicious.
- There's one in my hair.
I've never been dumped with 10,000 raspberries on my head before.
I didn't see that coming.
What? Come on, then.
Who loves raspberries? Not anymore.
That was so cool.
Guys, there's so many desserts that you can make with raspberries.
The options are truly limitless.
We've chosen four.
Four very different, very technically challenging, classic raspberry desserts.
And, Jimmy, you get to determine who has to make what.
This advantage is definitely really big, because if I play this advantage right, I can definitely make it into the finale.
First up, you have what we consider to be the simplest of these four stunning raspberry desserts: a beautiful raspberry napoleon.
It comprises of three delicate layers of delicious puff pastry cradling two layers of pastry cream, showcasing those beautiful, amazing raspberries.
This dish is all about balance and finesse.
If you don't have those, this simple dessert can become a complete disaster.
Next up, we have another classic dessert that's even more complex.
It's one of the most popular desserts in the U.
K.
, and it's becoming increasingly loved over here in this country: a stunning raspberry trifle.
Gorgeous layers of ladyfingers that have been soaked in a sweet yet tart raspberry compote that's followed by layers of aromatic vanilla bean custard, finished with whipped cream.
It needs to be as beautiful as it is delicious.
Next up, in order of difficulty, a raspberry mousse with a raspberry compote.
The flavors have to be perfect, and the balance has to be just right, and you have to nail the light, fluffy texture of that delicious mousse.
Finally we have the most difficult, technically challenging classic raspberry dessert of the four tonight: a phenomenal, luxurious raspberry tart.
Stunning raspberries coated in a delicious glaze layered over beautiful custard, all nestled in a crisp, perfectly golden pastry shell.
One element out of place, and this most highly complex dessert becomes an epic failure.
Jimmy, please step up here.
Please take the raspberry tart.
So, Jimmy, in your hands, you have what we certainly consider to be the most difficult, technical dessert of all four raspberry desserts.
Now, you could keep it for yourself, or you could put that in the hands of any one of the three competitors that are facing you.
I'm going to give it to the person who I want to kind of get out of competition.
- Here you go, Nathan.
- Thank you, sir.
Nathan, he's, like, known for his desserts.
He's a dessert chef, and I think he's the strongest chef overall.
So I wanted to give the toughest dessert to my toughest competitor.
So, Jimmy, please take the raspberry mousse.
Please go ahead and hand it to one of your competitors.
- Thanks, Jimmy.
- You're welcome.
The mousse is a very delicate dessert, and Andrew is really crazy in the kitchen, so I think that's gonna play in when he tries to put out his dish.
Jimmy, you're left with two, a simple, elegant, raspberry napoleon or that stunning trifle.
So please, pick up both desserts and then decide which one you're giving to Jenna.
I kind of don't want the napoleon because it's really complex.
It has a lot of components, and it's gonna be pretty hard to pull off in an hour.
- Wow.
- I gave Jenna the napoleon because it's the easiest.
She is my friend, so I wouldn't like her to go home, but then I think that I can definitely beat her in the finale.
Right.
You all now know which classic raspberry dessert you'll all be making.
Please, all four of you, head to your stations.
This is the semifinals.
My dish has to be, like, better than perfect.
They're only accepting the best dishes tonight.
At your stations, you all have a bowl of beautiful raspberries.
Along with those raspberries, you also have access to a limited pantry of ingredients to help make the dish that's good enough to get you into the finale of MasterChef Junior.
There's only three people in my way of getting that trophy.
I want that prize, and I'm here to take it back to New York City.
You guys will have one hour to make that raspberry dish that Jimmy chose for you.
Two of you will move on to the most epic culinary fight of your lives, and two of you will be going home.
I really need to nail the tart, because I'm so close to getting into the finale.
$100,000 would change my family's life, because we're not necessarily the richest family, and winning this would be better than anything I could ever hope for in my entire life.
Is everyone ready to make the best classic raspberry desserts of your entire lives? Yes, Chef! This is it; this is to get into the finale, top two.
I was born to be here.
I was born to do this.
I'm not going back to Jersey without the MasterChef title.
Your one hour to get yourself in the finale Starts Now.
- Oh, my God.
- Flour.
I need lemon juice.
I need heavy cream.
So it's raining raspberries here in the MasterChef kitchen.
The biggest day in these four home cooks' lives.
There's a lot at stake tonight.
There's a finale spot.
Pressure, big-time.
How are they gonna handle it? Who knows? But they have got four technical desserts to pull off.
I feel right now for Nathan with that tart.
You got to make that pastry, got to let it rest before you can roll it, before you can cook it.
So there's a 25-minute, which you know is so difficult to pull off.
So after the tart, the next choice was the raspberry mousse.
- Explain why that's so hard.
- What I'm worried about with Andrew and the mousse tonight is, you have to refine the balance of sweetness to tartness.
You have to be absolutely exact, because if this mousse goes into the fridge and sets, you can't pull a mousse back and make it lighter.
Once it's done, it's done.
So he's got to be careful.
Okay.
Jimmy had the choice of the napoleon.
Why do you think he gave it to Jenna? If those pastry disks aren't cooked evenly and you start layering that thing, you've got a leaning tower of Pisa that's gonna look a disaster.
Oh, darn it.
I'm amazed that Jimmy took the trifle, because, you know, that compote on the bottom, soaking those sponge fingers, if it's too dry, there's nothing worse than a dry trifle.
And then you got that pastry cream, needs to be light, fragrant, delicious.
It is not an easy dish to replicate.
- Right, young man, how you feeling? - Great, Chef.
In just under 45 minutes from now, two of you are going home, and two of you are going through to the finale.
Jimmy gave you the hardest dessert to pull off tonight.
- How'd it make you feel? - Actually, happy, in a way, because knowing that I'm such a big competition to some people - It spurs me on to become better.
- That's what I like to hear.
Getting into the finale, winning it, fast track, I mean, what does it mean? My family doesn't have a lot of money.
We don't have necessarily a large house.
How much do you have in your bank account? - $200 savings.
- And what have you been saving up for? I am saving up for my family, and if I win this, I won't even have to worry about saving anymore.
Beautiful.
You have got, young man, and to get yourself into the finale.
- Good luck.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Jimmy, how we doing? - We're doing good.
So why did you choose the trifle? I've never made a trifle before, but all the components in it I have made before.
Like, I've made raspberry compote before, and then I heard that it was one of Gordon's favorite dishes.
Yeah, so you're trying to, like, suck up? No, I just want to impress him.
So what's your approach to the trifle? I'm gonna put the ladyfingers on the bottom, a layer of pastry cream on that, and then I'm going to put the whipped cream on top and do some decorations.
All right, good luck.
Just over 25 minutes to go.
Jenna, tell me about the napoleon.
So I've made a pastry cream, the puff pastry, and hopefully, if I have time, I'm gonna do a raspberry whipped cream as well.
- These are the ones you're gonna use? - Yeah.
I really hope you're not underestimating how difficult this napoleon can be.
- Do you feel confident? - Being the only female left, I feel so much pressure, and I think a lot of people in the competition underestimate me.
I really want to win for the girls and for New York.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Right, looks like you've been attacked by a punnet of raspberries.
- Look at the mess on you.
Man.
- Yeah.
- What's in here? - Raspberries, sugar, egg yolks.
Have a taste.
What's the first thing that comes to mind? - It's too sweet.
- It's just a mouthful of sugar.
Where's the mousse? The mousse is in the blast chiller right now.
When you taste your mousse and you know it's so sweet, why do you attempt to set it? I tried to add more raspberries, and I didn't taste it after that.
- Andrew, this is the semifinal.
- Yes, Chef.
I am freaking out right now.
Like, I have 15 minutes left.
I need to make another mousse, but I don't have time.
It's not enough time to set.
This can cost me the finale.
This can cost me winning this whole entire competition.
Oh, my God.
- This is the semifinal.
- Yes, Chef.
Losing the semifinal is worse than losing two or three weeks ago.
Getting this close, you just kick yourself for the rest of your life.
Oh, my God.
This is bad.
My mousse tastes too sweet.
I don't have time to start over, so I add more raspberry puree, but I don't know if it has time to set.
Come on, focus.
You have, young man, just under 15 minutes.
Let's go.
I am so close to getting to the finale, but this is gonna come down to the absolute last second.
What's going on? Andrew has completely shot himself in the foot.
I mean, after tasting his mousse, the sugar content in there is ridiculous.
He could miss out on the finale because of this.
Oh, my God.
Looking at Jimmy, you know, his pastry cream could be spackle to, like, build a house.
It is so pasty.
Now, what about Nathan? How's that tart coming? Yeah, the guy's composed.
I mean, tart's come out.
It's rested.
It's got a nice little crisp color on the outside, and his pastry cream is delicious.
- How's it going, Nathan? - Straight up focused.
Jenna's napoleon is pretty good, but she's moving very slowly.
She's miles behind.
Could you imagine if Jenna misses her spot in the finale because of time management? Jenna, you haven't even started assembling? Nope.
Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, we got to go.
Darn it.
You got to get it plated.
You got to get it assembled.
- I know.
- It's the semifinal.
This is to get you in the finale.
You better get it done.
- No.
- One minute to go.
Pastry cream, where is it? - You okay, Jenna? - Yes, I'm good.
I'm perfectly fine.
Finishing touches, guys.
Come on, speed up.
Where is my raspberry whipped cream? Hurry up.
Ten seconds remaining.
Go, go, go.
Five.
four, three, two, one.
And stop! Hands in the air.
- Hands in the air, guys.
- Wow.
Well done, all of you.
Good job.
Okay, for this MasterChef Junior semifinal challenge, you all had to make a raspberry dessert that Jimmy chose for you.
Two of you will be moving on to the MasterChef grand finale, and two of you, sadly, we will have to say good night to.
It is now time for us to taste your desserts.
First up Jimmy.
Even though this is one of the simpler ones, Gordon's gonna be really tough on it, because this is a dessert that he's had many times before, but I think he's gonna like it.
Okay, first of all, my big question to you, young man, is this dish good enough to get you in the finale? I think so.
Even though the layers are a bit sloppy, I think that the taste will overpower that.
Okay, describe the dish.
So you have a raspberry trifle with raspberry coulis on the bottom, ladyfingers and fresh raspberries, pastry cream, and on top of that is whipped cream.
Visually, from the top, yep, it looks gorgeous.
The idea is to go down, twist and scoop, and you see all those wonderful layers on the spoon.
Now It's got that rustic charm.
The cream is tasty, and you've got the ratio right.
However, a little bit too acidic.
Needs to be a little bit sweeter at the bottom, and it needs less liquid, little bit more sponge finger texture.
But, by and large, young man, for a dessert that's a classic in Britain, which you've never visited, I'm impressed.
- Good job.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
I'm so surprised that you picked the trifle, because without the advantage of being familiar with it, does it seem like a risk worth taking in the semi-finale of MasterChef? Well, I think at this point, it's either go big or go home, so I'd rather go big, and that's why I choose the trifle.
Well, you certainly went big with this dessert going out of your comfort zone.
I think it's quite good.
I don't find it too acidic.
If anything, I would love to have more of the ladyfingers.
Something a little bit more substantial.
But that being said, I taste the cream.
I taste the coulis.
I think that you did one hell of a job.
- Thank you, Jimmy.
- Thank you.
Next up, Andrew, please.
I decide to serve my second mousse, because it's better than the first one.
It may not be perfectly set, but the compote is there.
It's not too sweet, and I hope this is enough to get me into the finale.
First of all, visually, it looks like you've been paintballing with raspberries.
Look at the mess of you.
Describe the dish.
It's a raspberry mousse with a raspberry compote and a raspberry whipped cream with lime zest.
you were about to leave the competition with a mousse that was so sweet - Yeah.
I almost felt like booking an appointment at the dentist.
- Did you change it? - I did change it.
I added much more raspberry just so it can balance out.
I think I improved on it.
Yeah.
So let's cut straight to the chase.
Yeah.
The compote at the bottom Is So let's cut straight to the chase.
The compote at the bottom is absolutely Delicious.
Amazing.
A sort of puree of light, fragrant fresh raspberries at the bottom.
It's got that nice richness to it.
So congratulations for pulling back on the sweetness.
But the texture of the mousse, slightly too wet.
I think, had you got to this earlier and tasted it earlier and set it longer, then you could've had the perfect raspberry mousse.
Thank you.
- Andrew, how you doing? - Um, I'm doing good.
I think it's very commendable that you didn't stick with something that you knew wasn't perfect and went back and started tweaking, and that shows me - that you're at a different level than you were a week, two weeks ago.
You're starting to think more like a chef.
It's balanced as far as flavor.
I like that you went and added the lime as well, so it brightens it up.
The only problem with the mousse, obviously, it needs to be fluffy and airy and light, and, you know, what we have here is shy of that.
But it's super delicious.
Great job.
Next we would like to taste Jenna's dish.
Please come on up.
I know that what I put on the plate is my best work, and I think it's perfect.
The only thing wrong is the plating.
This is for the semifinals.
I'm hoping that the judges will be able to look past the horrible plating and try and appreciate the dish tastes good.
So what's the dish? This is a napoleon with a raspberry whipped cream and a regular pastry cream.
Our napoleon had more piped cream on top and a couple of berries and a dusting and a mint leaf, and what happened to all that? Time got away from me.
You'd think, in the semifinal, Jenna, that you would let time get the better of you is surprising to me.
- What happened? - I'm a perfectionist, and everything that I wanted to put on the plate, I wanted to be perfect.
- You think this is perfect? - Yes.
Do you think this is perfect? Not the plating, but yes.
Uh, Jenna, your dish looks like it has been dropped from the ceiling like the raspberries earlier.
But with one minute, I'm amazed you got anything on the plate.
Why two creams? That's what fascinated me.
I thought that making two creams would show you that I have a little bit more technique rather than just some basic skills.
The raspberry cream, delicious, light.
You have a really nice puree running through it.
Pastry cream, nice.
And it's not as sweet as I thought it would be, because you've got the acidity and the sweetness, so the two creams work.
Delicious.
However, 60 minutes, this should have been the most perfect napoleon.
I was expecting you to dust the top of the layer with powdered sugar, caramelize it with the blowtorch, and really making it look like a Jenna Stunning dessert.
Your raspberry napoleon needs to be eaten with a blindfold.
It looks a mess, but it tastes pretty decent.
- Good job.
- Thank you.
Last up, Nathan.
I had the hardest one, the tart, which is the most technical and hardest to pull off.
So I'm really scared, because this is the most important and biggest moment of my MasterChef experience.
So before I even go into it, visually, if I ordered it at a restaurant or saw it in the case, I would definitely want to try it.
Jumps out at you.
So tell me exactly what you made here.
I made a raspberry tart with a raspberry coulis.
Beautiful, flaky.
Wow.
Look at that.
It's like a super tiny tart.
- Wow.
- Beautiful.
That is so good.
So good.
The crust is nice and flaky.
That tart goes to 11.
Jimmy gave you the most difficult of the four, and I think that you turned it into a lesson for everybody.
I'm confident that you could've done any of these four.
- You should be very proud.
Good job.
- Thank you, Chef.
Visually, it looks beautiful.
What did you put in the pastry to make it that crisp? The cold butter, because if your butter's warm, it really won't have the flaky consistency.
The pastry's delicious.
I mean, it's crisp.
It's seasoned beautifully.
The pastry cream is perfect.
You understand the taste, and you know know to make it.
So right now, whether the three standing behind you like it or not, you have one foot in the finale.
- Great job.
- Thank you, Chef.
Right.
You four are the best of the best.
But only two of you can move forward into the MasterChef Junior grand finale.
Please chat amongst yourselves, because right now, we need the most serious chat amongst ourselves.
Excuse us.
Great job.
Great job.
Great job.
First off, Nathan.
- Definitely a contender for the finale.
- Yeah, absolutely.
- It was the hardest one to do.
- Yet without a doubt, he nailed it.
You know you're in the finale.
- Don't deny that.
- You never know.
When Andrew got the raspberry mousse, he went like this, "Yes!" - Right.
And then, again, took it for granted, because that texture wasn't perfect.
- But the flavor was good.
- Jenna's dish.
I thought it was amazing, but I think that not having the time to pull it together at the end cost that dish.
Jimmy, it wasn't that bad.
He got the compote right.
It's just the tartness and the acidity.
So, I mean, really, it's coming down to Jenna and Jimmy or Andrew, right, for that second spot.
- It's very tough.
- Yeah, very tough.
- Good luck.
- Good luck, guys.
You four are the best young home cooks in all of America.
And we have the difficult task of picking just two to move into the MasterChef Junior grand finale.
The first young home cook who will have a chance to take home the title of MasterChef Junior is Congratulations Nathan.
Well done.
The most difficult dessert to pull off, yet you did it, hands down.
Great job.
Please head up to the gallery and await your fellow finalist.
Good job, Nathan.
I'm so excited that I'm going to the finale.
I've been dreaming about this moment since MasterChef Junior was invented, and I really want to make my family proud.
Jenna, Jimmy, and Andrew, it's almost been impossible to make this decision, but thousands of young chefs tried to get where you are standing right now.
You've beaten them all.
One of you will join Nathan and face him in the MasterChef Junior finale.
Two of you, I'm sorry to say, will be leaving.
The person that will be battling Nathan in the greatest culinary fight of their young lives, That person is Congratulations Just three of you left.
Jenna, Jimmy, and Andrew.
One of you will join Nathan up in the gallery and face him in the grand MasterChef Junior finale.
Two of you, I'm sorry to say, will be leaving.
I want to make it to the finale so badly, because it's one step closer to, like, achieving my food dream to have a food empire kind of like Gordon Ramsay.
I want to be in the finale.
I've made it this far, and I don't want to go back to New York.
There's so much more that I want America to see and I want the judges to see in me.
I am seriously, honestly, deep down in my heart, I am passionate, and I want to win.
I want to go to that finale.
I want to show people that I have what it takes to be the next MasterChef Junior.
The person joining Nathan in the MasterChef Junior finale Is Andrew.
Oh, my God.
- Well done.
- Thank you.
The way that you brought that raspberry mousse back to a absolute delight, very few professional chefs could have pulled that one off with literally - Well done.
- Thank you.
Please say good-bye to Jenna and Jimmy and head up to the balcony.
- Nice job.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
Oh, my God, I'm in the finale of MasterChef Junior.
This means everything to me.
I worked so hard to get here.
I This is what I'm born to do, and I'm so happy.
Jenna, Jimmy, two very gallant efforts, let me tell you.
- Jimmy, you've been amazing.
- Thank you.
Your attitude is professional, and you still haven't peaked.
You must continue cooking, because you'll go places.
Thank you.
Jenna, you've done an amazing job.
- How do you feel? - Really sad that I'm leaving, but I'm really proud of myself.
You've been brilliant.
It was a real pleasure to get to know you guys.
I think this is one of the great groups that's ever come through this kitchen, and I consider it my privilege to be a part of your journey at MasterChef.
Thank you.
Well done, you two.
Come up over here.
Come and say good-bye.
Oh, Jimmy.
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.
- Take care, bud, yeah? - Thank you.
- See you again, yeah? - Yeah.
Well done, man.
Group hug.
Group hug.
Right.
Jenna, who do you think is gonna become America's next MasterChef Junior? - Andrew.
- Jimmy? Nathan, California all the way.
- Well done, guys.
Thank you guys so much.
- Take care.
Good to see you.
- Thank you guys.
- Thanks, guys.
- Take care.
- Thank you.
I'm really proud of myself for making it this far.
It's mine! It's been such a challenging experience, but everything was just really fun.
You have hair now! - It's a blend of pork butt and kangaroo.
- No.
I think I've grown so much just as a cook.
Great dish.
Absolutely stunning.
I'm only 12 years old, and now I know how to brûlée a crème brûlée, make a trifle, and so much more.
Probably the best sushi we've ever had in this kitchen.
My favorite moment on MasterChef Junior was the first mystery box.
That is absolutely delicious.
Thank you.
I think my favorite thing about this whole experience is just all the friends that I made, and I got to run one of LA's top restaurants.
One on, one up! That's so awesome.
One, two, three, red team! Being here is about the experience, not as much about winning.
And being the last girl is such an honor.
I'm just really proud of myself and what I've done.
I may not have gotten that big MasterChef trophy, but I'm gonna stay happy, not be sad, and just keep cooking.
Next week It doesn't get any bigger than this.
Andrew and Nathan go head-to-head in the ultimate culinary battle.
I definitely want this more than I've ever wanted anything.
On the line, $100,000 - Incredible.
- You just want to eat more of it.
This kind of a dish is the future of cooking.
And the title of America's next MasterChef Junior right here.
You're looking at him.
The winner is