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00:01Previously, on the Ultimate Baking Championship...
00:03The goal is to be elegant.
00:05The chefs focused all their time and attention
00:07on chocolate.
00:09These are not setting.
00:12Poimont finally nabbed the top spot
00:14with a triple chocolate entremet.
00:16You have really brought that elegance.
00:18And Adalberto's time in the kitchen came to an end.
00:21You are an unbelievably talented chef.
00:25We really are gonna miss you here in the kitchen.
00:36But it's crazy that we are now in the quarterfinals.
00:39It's getting real.
00:40Quarterfinals is like crazy to say that.
00:42Yeah.
00:43How are you feeling?
00:43Having a score of 30 in the first place at 48,
00:46there's a big gap there.
00:48Yeah.
00:48Are you still here?
00:49I know the scores go away,
00:50but now it's just not being in here now.
00:54Last week I almost went home,
00:55which was, you know, pretty upsetting
00:57that I went from the top of the leaderboard
00:59to the bottom of the leaderboard.
01:01And so I just gotta pick myself up and move on.
01:04Just five of you remain.
01:06As we like to say here,
01:08you know you're only as good as your next dessert.
01:10So those rankings from last time,
01:13they're history.
01:14Thank God.
01:16Your past is behind you.
01:18And your future,
01:19well that might just involve winning $50,000
01:22and the ultimate baking championship gold medal.
01:25That's crazy.
01:25But to get there,
01:27you need to focus on the present,
01:29making it through today
01:30without falling off the leaderboard.
01:32So let's get to it.
01:33If there's one ingredient that defines
01:35the entire world of desserts,
01:37it's sugar.
01:39Now, as sugar is such a cornerstone of pastry,
01:42today you're gonna be facing one epic challenge.
01:46Oh, my God.
01:49So here to explain what's expected of you
01:52in this mega challenge are two sultans of sugar.
01:55First up, Duff Golden.
02:00Hi, chefs.
02:01Hi.
02:01It's good to see you all back in the kitchen.
02:03Joining Duff as a judge today,
02:05he is a legendary chef
02:07who has served as Dean of Pastry Art
02:09of the International Culinary Center
02:11for three decades.
02:14Wow.
02:15And is a James Beard Award winner
02:17for Pastry Chef of the Year,
02:20Jacques Torres.
02:23Oh, my God.
02:25Oh, my goodness.
02:26He is a master pastry chef from France.
02:30He is Mr. Chocolate.
02:31He is incredibly talented,
02:33probably one of the best sugar sculptures,
02:36chocolate sculptures,
02:37confectioners in the world.
02:39Hello, chefs.
02:40Hello, chefs.
02:41You guys all good?
02:42I've never seen you look this nervous before.
02:44Well, Duff and Jacques,
02:45the goal is to get these chefs
02:47to demonstrate their mastery of sugar.
02:49So how do you propose we do that?
02:51Go big.
02:52We want you to create a dessert
02:54that features a dramatic sugar piece.
02:57We'll be looking for a sugar piece
03:00that is incorporated into your dessert as a whole.
03:03Go crazy and amaze us.
03:06Now, chefs, for inspiration,
03:08you're going to each be randomly assigned
03:10a theme based on five natural elements.
03:15Now, your assigned element must be reflected
03:17in the design of your sugar work.
03:20So, let's have the leaderboard reveal
03:23the randomly assigned themes.
03:26For you.
03:29Ah, that's cool.
03:30Yeah, okay.
03:31Cool.
03:33That's a good one.
03:34Since this test is going to combine your skills
03:35and your master challenges,
03:37you'll receive two sets of scores
03:38for your dessert displays.
03:40Up to 10 points per judge
03:42for your technical skill working with sugar,
03:44and up to 15 points per judge
03:46for the flavor, execution,
03:48and technical difficulty of your desserts.
03:51This is an elimination challenge, of course.
03:54One of you will be going home
03:55at the end of judging.
03:57Chefs, you have three hours
04:00to prove your mastery
04:01of pastry's most essential ingredients.
04:03Three hours.
04:03With one extraordinary sugar work top dessert.
04:08So, let the baking begin.
04:23Let's do this, shall we?
04:26My theme is fire.
04:30I just broke an egg in my pocket.
04:32This is Molly in a bucket for you right here.
04:36I forgot I put them in there.
04:38Don't do that.
04:40You know, if there was one theme
04:42matching up with a certain baker,
04:44it's you.
04:46Molly got fire.
04:48Reckless.
04:49Fire.
04:49I know.
04:49It's all encompassing.
04:51That's how it's meant to be.
04:52I do too.
04:53You've never competed before.
04:54I have never competed before.
04:55You're in the quarterfinal.
04:56I know. It's crazy.
04:57How do you feel?
04:58I'm really proud of this.
04:59Growing up, my older brother and I
05:01used to watch these competitions
05:02at my dad's house all the time.
05:04I have wanted to be on something like this
05:06since I was a little girl.
05:08So being top five is just unreal.
05:11It's so exciting.
05:12And I'm just unbelievably proud of myself.
05:15What are you going to make?
05:16Talk to me.
05:16So my goal is to kind of make like a bonfire.
05:19And then I'm going to do like a yule log in the middle,
05:22like a log roasting and fire.
05:23Yeah.
05:24It's going to be s'mores team.
05:25Oh, what are the flavors of this yule log?
05:26It's going to be graham crackers cake,
05:29a peanut nougat,
05:30it's like a peanut butter s'more,
05:31and then a chocolate mousse.
05:32And then how are you showing the fire?
05:34I'm going to build like a coliseum of flames going up and around it.
05:38Out of sugar?
05:38Out of sugar.
05:39Okay. What techniques are you using?
05:40I'm going to use poured.
05:41I'm going to use cold.
05:43And then I'm going to use this thing that's called rock sugar.
05:46Cool.
05:46Do you do these techniques with sugar a lot in your...
05:48I haven't done this since college.
05:52Which is crazy.
05:53We're going back to school.
05:54Oh, Molly. Whoa.
05:56Sugar and me, we are not...
05:58Not that we're not friends,
05:59I just haven't practiced it a lot
06:01and I'm not as proficient in it as I would like to be.
06:04All right, Molly. Good luck.
06:05Thank you, Jesse.
06:05I want to do a graham cracker sponge,
06:07so I'm going to replace the flour with the graham cracker in my sponge,
06:11and I think that it will give the toasty flavor
06:13and also that s'mores flavor.
06:15I do think this is going to be a little bit risky
06:17because I haven't added a ground-up cookie into a cake batter before,
06:21so it could work, it could not work.
06:23I really want to make sure this is nice, flat.
06:26But I really want to be able to show the judges
06:29that even though I'm not as proficient in sugar work,
06:31I can still do a very nice baked dessert.
06:37Juan, what's going on?
06:38What are you making for your sugar piece?
06:40Good. For my sugar piece, I'm going to be doing dandelion.
06:42Dandelion, got it.
06:44Dandelion, there you go.
06:47I have air.
06:48Air is a really kind of, like, difficult one
06:50because, like, you really cannot show air.
06:54I don't even know how air looks like.
06:56I'm like, you cannot even grab air.
06:58At least you can touch the water.
06:59You can see how fire looks.
07:01Air doesn't really have a body.
07:04I have pretty much the hardest element of all.
07:07So when you think of a dandelion, you think of it blowing around the air.
07:11So I'm going to show that, but also with some of the movements
07:13that we would think that air will bring.
07:15The best strategy that I have in this competition is just
07:17stay true to myself, focus on what I'm doing,
07:19and continue working hard to start climbing back up the leaderboard.
07:24So far, I feel like I've been bringing a lot of dark flavors.
07:27So this time I'm going to play more lighter because we're talking with air,
07:31so we really want to play with that feeling.
07:32So I'm going to be doing a light lemon cake with a nougat spread
07:37and then a lemon cremeux.
07:39So it's going to be really bright, really citrusy.
07:42It's going to play really well, especially with the dandelion.
07:51Dandelion. Did you hear him?
07:54Can you hear him?
07:55I'm only calling it that from now on.
08:03How did you feel getting water?
08:05It's the one I wanted the most.
08:06You wanted water the most?
08:07I did because it allows for movement and fluidity of the sugar.
08:10Do you like water? You spent a lot of time in it?
08:11I don't know how to swim.
08:12So I'm from New England, so I don't know how to swim.
08:14I hope he doesn't sink.
08:15I won't sink either, so there's that.
08:18Very buoyant, man.
08:19The trash talk going on right now in the quarterfinal.
08:22There we go. That's all right.
08:24Okay, tell me about your dessert.
08:26So I'm making a tart, an almond tart with an almond frangipan insert,
08:29and then I'm going to do a blueberry compote, mascarpone,
08:33mousse, almond, freeze-dried blueberry crunch,
08:35and a lavender blueberry at a fui on top.
08:37But how's this thing actually going to look?
08:39I'm going to do like an inverted raindrop,
08:40so it doesn't look like the tart fell and the water splashed up on it.
08:43Wow.
08:44With four other very talented chefs,
08:46who's your biggest competition?
08:48$50,000 on the line here.
08:50The guy standing behind me right now.
08:51Juan, what is it about Juan?
08:52He just is a very well-rounded chef,
08:54and I just am amazed about everything he's been creating lately.
08:57Ah, thank you.
08:58You're welcome.
08:58Your old boss saying it.
09:00Well, that's a big, big, big compliment.
09:01Thanks, Chris, so much for this.
09:02Good luck.
09:04Right now I'm making the tart dough for my blueberry almond tart.
09:07So the whole inspiration is of a doughnut that I was eating as a kid,
09:11and I dropped into a puddle of water, and I made that,
09:13and I just remember that from, you know, till this day.
09:16So that's the inspiration is the blueberry almond doughnut,
09:18and then the sugar show piece is the puddle that fell in.
09:25Everybody's so amazing here, and it's not about who is the best.
09:28What's gonna win is whoever is going to make a mistake.
09:31So I got hurt.
09:33So, you know, I need to make sure everything is related to hurt,
09:37decoration-wise and taste-wise.
09:40I'm gonna use, like, hurtie flavor.
09:42So I'm gonna make a matcha-layered cake, green tea, mousseline,
09:46and then I'm gonna make the yuzu jelly,
09:49because matcha goes well with yuzu.
09:51And then I'm gonna cover it up with sugar decoration.
09:55The beginning of the competition,
09:57I didn't really think I would go that far,
09:59because when I saw, like, all the other amazing bakers,
10:03I'm like, this is going to be a tough competition.
10:05But look, I'm already in quarter-final,
10:08and last time, I win the challenge, I get first place.
10:12So I really feel like I can really have my chance in this competition.
10:16I'm putting my yuzu, I'm not gonna put too, too much.
10:20Just enough.
10:22My life is basically all about baking.
10:24Like, endless days, endless week, no day off,
10:28no going out with friends or family.
10:31And winning this competition, I go back to France, you know,
10:34to see my mom, my niece, my sisters.
10:37That would really help me, you know, to enjoy more my life.
10:40And then, you know, go back to work stronger.
10:43All right.
10:44Let's finish to build that cake.
10:48Corner hut.
10:49Beautiful.
10:53Florencia, how are we doing?
10:54Hi, Jessica.
10:55Good, I just creeped up on you there.
10:56You got a really interesting theme in space.
10:58Yes, I do.
10:59How are you representing that?
11:00So visually, what I want to represent is the galaxy.
11:04Ah.
11:05So I'm gonna play on a lot of purples, a lot of blues,
11:07and some sprinkles of white.
11:09Wow.
11:10What kind of dessert are you gonna make?
11:11I did a non-baked cheesecake.
11:13It's gonna have a chocolate crumble on the side,
11:15ricotta and cream cheese mousse,
11:18berries compote with rosemary,
11:20and then vanilla cake sold with cassis.
11:23Wow.
11:24And, of course, you know, the good news is,
11:25you only have Jacques Torres here.
11:27I know, right?
11:28Like, yeah, on top of everything.
11:30Yeah.
11:30Well, you're in the quarterfinals.
11:31Yeah.
11:32This was going to happen.
11:33Yeah.
11:33But make this great,
11:34and you'll be in the semifinals.
11:36Yeah.
11:36Hope to see you next week.
11:38Yeah, I hope so too.
11:38Okay.
11:39Thank you, Jesse.
11:41I really didn't know what to expect
11:43when I first started this journey.
11:45We started in 16 chefs,
11:47and we are down to five now.
11:49I consider them all extremely amazing,
11:52and it definitely feels like I've come a long way
11:56since I was a kid,
11:58eating pastry cream in Italy.
12:00Two hours left to show your mastery of sugar.
12:03Two hours.
12:04Let me get this.
12:05Got it. Thank you.
12:08This cake is just very, very fragile,
12:11so you just have to be really careful.
12:14I think it will work for a roulade.
12:16Yeah, it'll have the structure of the nougat
12:17on the inside that will help kind of hold it together.
12:20It doesn't have a ton of structure,
12:22but I don't know if this is going to work,
12:24so we will see.
12:28Oh, boy.
12:30I'm not really able to pull the cake off of the parchment,
12:32which shouldn't be happening.
12:34I'm going to have to redo this entire thing.
12:36Remaking this roulade will set me back
12:39and take time away from making my showpiece.
12:42I'm just, I'm stressing a little bit.
12:51The cake is just breaking, which is a bummer.
12:54Stress.
12:55I am incredibly hard on myself,
12:57and I think it's a reason why I'm as technically skilled as I am.
13:00I hold myself to a really high standard,
13:02and when I slip from that standard,
13:05and I know how I slip from that standard,
13:07it is just so frustrating to me.
13:10Like, come on, Molly.
13:11Why are you doing these silly, silly things that you know you shouldn't do?
13:14Feeling good?
13:15My cake didn't set.
13:17It'll set.
13:17It'll set.
13:18Yeah, I know.
13:19Especially on the quarterfinals.
13:21So I'm making my new cake batter,
13:23and this time I'm flavoring it with cinnamon and honey
13:25instead of graham cracker powder.
13:29So these chefs have this really interesting theme they work with.
13:33Earth, fire, water, air, and space.
13:34What are you looking for when you finally judge these creations?
13:38My guess is you want to see innovation.
13:40You want to see what they do with that sugar.
13:44Do they take a safe road,
13:46or are they a little bit more innovative?
13:49Do they use different techniques?
13:50And you can do a lot of different techniques with sugar.
13:53You put it.
13:54You can also pour the sugar in a mold,
13:57but it takes years of experience.
13:59Sure.
14:00And it's hot, and it breaks more than glass.
14:03So you have to be very careful and delicate.
14:05Wow.
14:05Only 90 minutes to finish your sugar show pieces.
14:16For my sugar work, I'm using isomalt and regular sugar.
14:19And I'm then going to color different shades of blues and whites.
14:22So I'm going to be making my interpretation
14:24of something falling into water,
14:26which is going to be my dessert.
14:27It's going to be a base made out of sugar
14:29and then bubbles for the water sitting on top of that.
14:32This encapsulation of the raindrop,
14:34the tart will sit in the center
14:35and then I'm doing different techniques with sugar.
14:37And I'm going to start casting the big pieces
14:39that I know are going to take a while to set.
14:41So I'm using these two molds to make a base
14:43and the half spheres are going to turn into bubbles,
14:45which will then keep them both separated.
14:48Right now, I'm actually going to pour over the bowl
14:51and slowly let it kind of fall
14:53because I want it to look like the raindrop
14:54that the tart falls into.
14:55When I unmold it, that'll be kind of the big plop.
14:58So like when you drop something in water,
15:00it all kind of goes like this.
15:01When you see a raindrop,
15:02you don't just see a raindrop and it doesn't show up.
15:04So like when you add water,
15:05you need to add the layers of texture.
15:07So by building it up on itself,
15:08it looks like raindrops.
15:13Ah, perfect.
15:14For my cake, I'm going to be assembling it with a ring mold,
15:16putting the layers one by one until I get to the top.
15:20We worked so hard to make it this far.
15:23I definitely don't want to do all that work in vain.
15:26I want to stay so much in this competition,
15:28not just for me,
15:29but for the people who believe in me the most,
15:32especially my boyfriend, Mike.
15:33He's been one of my biggest supporters.
15:36You like it?
15:36That's really good.
15:38And I just couldn't be more happier to have him in my life.
15:49All right.
15:50So I'm going to put the green.
15:53I want to make a green honeycomb.
15:55My sugar element,
15:57I'm going to create a dome
15:59that I'm going to put on the top of the cake
16:01to relate to the earth.
16:02And then I'm going to do some green vines
16:05that are just going all over.
16:07And inside the dome,
16:08I'm going to have a matcha honeycomb
16:11to show the grass inside the earth.
16:14I'm going to bring my sugar to 155,
16:17put the green coloring,
16:18and then put baking soda.
16:19It's going to be very fluffy.
16:22It worked.
16:23I'm going to create some vines with pulled sugar.
16:27So basically,
16:28I'm pouring it on the seed path.
16:30And as soon as it starts setting,
16:32I just try to create a bowl.
16:34Wow, it looks so cool.
16:35Then I start to pour out
16:37very fine decoration of sugar
16:39to create the vine all around the cake.
16:50Florencia, how's it going?
16:52I have the sugar going for my casting one
16:55and then for the low one.
16:58Nice.
16:59For my sugar work,
17:00I'm hoping to create the solar system.
17:02So I'm going to have kind of a pedestal
17:04where I'm going to have my cake on.
17:06And then I want to do a display on the back
17:09looking like a galaxy.
17:10Some blown planets in different colors
17:12and I'm going to try to attach them there.
17:14So we'll see, we'll see.
17:16For the first part,
17:17I'm going to do pour sugar for my backdrop
17:19with the colors of the galaxies
17:21and as a base.
17:23And then I'm going to have pulled sugar
17:26for the rings
17:27and I'm going to do blown sugar
17:29for the planets.
17:31Now this looks like a lot of sugar
17:33and it's not.
17:34It's not, you have to use so much.
17:37Right now I am building the base of my showpiece.
17:41I will be creating a white sugar showpiece
17:43that will resemble the movement of the earth
17:45by utilizing the dandelion.
17:48So I'm going to be pouring the sides
17:50and my base.
17:52But I'm also going to be pulling dandelion stems
17:54and I'm also going to be using the ribbon technique
17:57around the showpiece.
17:58I just want a little bit to swirl.
18:00I'm going to be putting my sugar into my ring mold
18:03with two colors.
18:05That way I add some movement into it
18:06and then I use these noodles
18:09to give me the shape of the dandelion.
18:12Hey guys, everything good?
18:15Eh.
18:15You on time?
18:16Not really.
18:18It's not easy.
18:18Struggling here.
18:19Oh, this cake is so much better.
18:21I should have just done this
18:22from the freaking beginning.
18:23It's so damn hard-headed sometimes.
18:26So I've got my second sponge.
18:28It's looking great.
18:28I'm going to add my chocolate mousse and my nougat.
18:32And now it's time to work on my sugar pieces.
18:34I need to do it quickly and do it well.
18:38I'm going to need more isomalt.
18:40For my poured sugar, I'm using isomalt.
18:43My dessert will be sitting on a poured sugar disc
18:45surrounded by different elements of flames
18:48and lava rocks to really emulate the ashes.
18:51I really want this to look like a campfire,
18:54look like scolding fire.
18:56I want someone to be able to look at it
18:57and be like, ah, that's a campfire.
18:59I have a bunch of different molds.
19:00I have a circle mold.
19:01I have a few flame molds.
19:03This is going to be through a little fiery swirl
19:05in the bottom.
19:09Now I'm moving on to my lava rock sugar.
19:13I'm going to make some sugar rocks
19:15to go around the outside of my roulade.
19:17I take real sugar and add in black royal icing
19:21and it starts to bubble and change and grow.
19:23It kind of looks like molten lava.
19:26It worked.
19:27It looks like a brain.
19:29Yay.
19:30Something worked for me today.
19:32Only one hour left now.
19:33Ay yi yi.
19:35That went by fast.
19:37So I'm unmolding that droplet form.
19:44It broke.
19:46We have a little bit of an issue here.
19:48I don't know yet.
19:50Damn.
20:01There isn't time left to make it again.
20:02I have a big enough piece
20:04that I can just have the splashes in the back.
20:06I'm going to move on though to the next thing.
20:09I kind of make divots in a sheet tray of sugar
20:12and that allows me to pour it in.
20:14I'm able to then let them set
20:15and kind of twist them and form them into different shapes.
20:18And then I'm pouring some pieces over ice
20:20to create kind of a coral effect.
20:22I'm letting it set.
20:23I'll do that a couple of times
20:24to get a couple of different pieces.
20:27Do you have more ice, Amal?
20:29Here you go.
20:34All right.
20:35So a little bit of glue.
20:37I'm making the dome.
20:39I have a bowl wrapped up with plastic wrap
20:41and then I have a ring of the same size of my cake.
20:47So basically I'm pouring a little bit of sugar
20:50on the plastic wrap
20:51and then with the dome I'm just pushing down.
20:54And as it goes, the dome is creating.
20:57And it looks so pretty.
20:59Amal, I've seen you do something like this before.
21:01You know?
21:02I tried first time I got it.
21:04On the first try?
21:05Yeah.
21:05It worked first time.
21:06Who is your biggest individual competition here, do you think?
21:09One chef that really...
21:11I mean, for now, always Juan was my biggest competition.
21:14Juan is always on the top, you know?
21:16Like, he's really creative.
21:17I know he's doing amazing.
21:19He mastered all the skills.
21:20How bad do you want to get into the semifinals
21:22for a chance to win that 50k?
21:23I mean, I came all the way to America
21:25and I'm all the way in the quarter-final.
21:27I mean, I need to keep going.
21:29I can't leave now.
21:29We're off to a good start.
21:30This looks absolutely great.
21:32Just keep it up.
21:32Thank you so much.
21:33We're seeing you the best, Clément.
21:36Ah!
21:37Still pretty hot.
21:39I'm going to start on my pool sugar.
21:41I'm going to do some shapes.
21:43It's going to be representing the rings
21:45that are around the planet.
21:4830 minutes, chefs.
21:51The elimination is on the line.
21:55Hot.
21:56It's hot.
21:58It's very hot.
22:00Hot.
22:01Hot.
22:02It's hot.
22:03Hot, hot, hot.
22:04Hot.
22:05Hot.
22:08I would lose a finger to win this competition.
22:15It's so hot.
22:16Hot.
22:17So for my sugar pieces, I'm going to focus on creating a really elegant but nice structure
22:22and then start decorating around.
22:24For this dandelion, I'm going to be pulling sugar.
22:27I'm also going to be using the ribbon technique.
22:31The dandelion has these really tiny steams that I'm going to have to glue one by one.
22:36So there's so much detail into this piece.
22:38And I hope that the judges can see my understanding from sugar.
22:43Any little piece can really break it.
22:45And that's the last thing I want.
22:47It's looking really nice.
22:49Whew.
22:51Caliente.
22:51Molly, how much have you burned yourself?
22:55You can laugh at me.
22:56It's okay.
22:57So I'm getting my flames pulled.
22:59That looks like a nice little flame, doesn't it?
23:01To get my sculpture put together, I take the big two flames that I poured and make sure
23:06they're glued on nice and structurally sound.
23:09And then I take all of my little whole sugar flames and put them around and I start adding
23:14in the rock.
23:15It looks like it could be fire.
23:21So for my show piece, I'm going to make the base.
23:23I'm going to make spheres to kind of elevate a two layer cake stand and essence made out
23:27of sugar.
23:27So I'm adding the coral pieces and the pieces that I've casted in sugar and the bubble sugar
23:31because I want to create that movement.
23:32I want to create that effect of power.
23:34It's not very smooth.
23:35It's very kind of chaotic.
23:36And that's the idea I'm going for.
23:37I had some setbacks, but I feel like it looks like the water.
23:41So I want to keep going again to prove it to myself that I'm still good.
23:44I still got this and I want to win the prize, take my mom on vacation and just show my
23:48gratitude
23:49to somebody who has been the rock of my life for the past 38 years.
23:53I got into pastry because I used to go to the bakery that my mom still works at.
23:58And I remember that I used to bother her and bug her at 3 in the morning to go and
24:02spend
24:02time with her at the bakery.
24:03Inevitably, I'd fall asleep on the flour bags.
24:05That's kind of where my love started.
24:07I just felt there was something magical about the idea of simple ingredients put together
24:12with time and care and passion and they come out to a great product in the end.
24:20Let me get this cake.
24:22I had my honeycomb and, you know, put my dome on the top of the cake and I was like,
24:27wow, that looks so cool actually.
24:28That looks even better than what I was imagining.
24:31How are you doing, Juanito?
24:32I'm finishing my tan.
24:34La, la, la, la, la.
24:35Dandelion.
24:36Dandelion.
24:37Just ten minutes left now in this quarterfinals challenge.
24:43I'm feeling pressure right now.
24:46Pushing as much as I can.
24:47I realized that I'm not going to have enough time to make the planet because it's taking
24:51me way longer to do everything.
24:53And it's not going to look like what I had envisioned.
24:56At least I have some rings ready.
24:59I still have the backdrops.
25:03Oh no.
25:05My base cracked.
25:07My backdrop was going to stand nicely because of the base.
25:11For the first time I have no backup plan and my mind is blanking.
25:16I have my pulled rings and all I can do is place those.
25:19I'm very frustrated.
25:21I'm on the verge of crying.
25:24Jeez.
25:25I have the backdrop so I really want to find a way to make it stand because at least they
25:31can see some dimension to it.
25:33Five minutes left.
25:35Oh boy.
25:41Tastes like lavender.
25:42And blueberry.
25:50That looks good.
25:52Looks like a cloud.
25:56Oh my god.
25:57At this point I can see that my mousse is not setting.
26:01And it's a little troubling to me.
26:04I am feeling stressed.
26:08I'm just not feeling like this is my day.
26:12So instead of just putting meringue on the top I decide to encase the entire cake inside
26:18of meringue as a protective barrier to kind of try and keep everything inside the cake.
26:24I am just trying to finish my vision here with the cake and pray that everything stays standing.
26:32Come on.
26:32How's it looking?
26:33It looks good.
26:39Two minutes.
26:45Oh, the sugar is falling on Florencia's dessert.
26:50Ay, ay, ay.
26:52I really don't know how to stick it.
26:57It's not staying.
27:06One minute.
27:09Ay, Dios mÃo, tal.
27:12I'm happy.
27:15All right.
27:19That's it.
27:20Time for the judges to taste your sweet creations.
27:24I'm looking around at Juan and Chris's show pieces.
27:28They are so beautiful and so detailed.
27:30Now I'm just worried I didn't quite do enough.
27:36You have a cake and a good piece of it.
27:38No, it's a hard one.
27:39I'm just frustrated.
27:40You know, it's not like...
27:41We both did not have easy days.
27:42Yeah, yeah.
27:43Ah.
27:45The sugar piece is not great.
27:46Of course, I'm hoping for the flavors of the dessert to be great.
27:50Ah.
27:51We'll see.
27:58That was intense.
27:59How was that?
28:00Not my favorite.
28:01That was intense.
28:02So, judges, you'll be scoring the chefs on their skills and mastery of sugar.
28:06That means you'll have up to 10 points each for their skills in sugar and up to 15 for
28:10the dessert.
28:10Let's bring in the first chef.
28:13Chef Juan.
28:14I'm about to face stuff in Jack Torres and it is really stressful because we are here about
28:20to go to the semifinals and any little thing can bring you to the bottom of that chart and
28:26you don't want that.
28:28It's kind of like difficult to know how air looks like, but I think air is a really delicate
28:35type of element.
28:37I took the inspiration by the dandelion because for me I just love the way that it just flies
28:42away.
28:43By choosing a dandelion and showing like the effects of air, showing what air is doing
28:50to its environment, putting it in context was so smart.
28:54I love that.
28:54Thank you, Chef.
28:55The interpretation is well done.
28:58You take some risk here.
28:59This is fragile.
29:01This is very delicate.
29:03A little hit on the side and things will collapse.
29:05And it's a very smart move to do what you did representing air.
29:10That's not an easy thing.
29:11Thank you, Chef.
29:13All right.
29:13Juan, whenever you're ready.
29:15At the bottom we're going to have a citrus vanilla reconstructed streusel with a citrus
29:20cake.
29:21Then on top of that there is the nougat spread, then lemon cremeux and then a lemon meringue.
29:29You put a lot of work in there.
29:31You know, five different layers plus the chocolates and good flavor.
29:36They work well together.
29:38We have some crunchiness.
29:40We have some softness.
29:41Air, again, a very light cake.
29:44A little bit on the sweet side for me.
29:48This tastes absolutely delicious.
29:50Big lemon flavor, delicious crunch on the bottom.
29:54Congratulations, Juan.
29:58It was good.
29:59Good job.
30:00Good job, Juan.
30:02Beautiful.
30:05Chef Chris.
30:07This was meant to resemble like dropping something into water and that splash of disappointment
30:13as it happens.
30:15I think that you represent the water very, very well.
30:18I like your sugar presentation.
30:21And the different techniques that you use.
30:23Good job.
30:23Thank you very much, Chef.
30:25Whenever you're ready, Chef.
30:26It is a almond flour pate sucre with frangipane and blueberries, a blueberry compote, a vanilla
30:31mascarpone cream, blueberry chard, and then a blueberry pate of fruit dusted in lavender
30:37sugar.
30:40I like the cream.
30:41I like the blueberry.
30:42But the tart shell, too thick on the bottom.
30:46It's not under baked, but it's under baked.
30:48You know what I mean?
30:49Like it's texture wise, you know, I would not call this uncooked, you know, but it just
30:54needs a little more heat, a little more caramelization, a little more flavor, a little less moisture.
31:00Yep.
31:00You know, a little more crunch.
31:01You know, the shell is 50% of the tart, you know, flavor wise.
31:05I will just change the techniques of the dough and caramelization.
31:10You're right.
31:10That's very important.
31:12Thank you very much, Chef.
31:13All right.
31:13Chef Chris, thank you.
31:15I'm feeling like I'm going to be in trouble.
31:17Yes, there was some feedback and critique, which was completely valid.
31:21So, yeah, kind of it's in the judges' hands now.
31:28I feel kind of bad because I know I'm not delivering a product I wanted.
31:33So my hopes are not high.
31:35Florencia, good to see you.
31:36Hi.
31:37So I got a space team.
31:39For the sugar piece, I casted some sugar, pulled some.
31:44I wanted to do the planets around it, but I had difficulties, so I didn't got to do that.
31:50It's sad because I think that the planets will add a lot of volume and a lot of mystery to
31:57it.
31:58I do appreciate that you use different techniques in there.
32:01You have a pouring sugar, you put a little color in it, and you have some pulled sugar that you
32:07put around.
32:07And that actually represents space pretty well.
32:11It looks really cool.
32:13And the background, it looks like, you know, when you're looking at the colorized photos from, like, the Hubble or
32:19the Webb Telescope.
32:21Thank you so much.
32:22All right, Florencia, whenever you're ready.
32:24For the cake, I did a non-bake cheesecake.
32:27Inside there is layers of berries compote with rosemary.
32:31And then the cheesecake itself with cream cheese and ricotta.
32:35And then a vanilla cake soaked with cassis liqueur.
32:42Damn, that's good.
32:44This is a good cake.
32:46I love the cassis, I love the berries, I love the cheesecake.
32:50The crust brings some crunch to it and some more flavor on one side, but then it goes very well
32:55with the cheesecake.
32:57I like that dessert.
32:58I'm going to have more.
32:59Perfect.
33:01It's really delicious, and I think because you have something that's so rich, like a no-bake cheesecake,
33:06man, the cassis really cuts through, the berries cut through.
33:10Good choice of food.
33:11Thank you, Chef.
33:12She felt like she lacked in the design, but the flavor she nails, it's just as important.
33:18Plus, also, she showed technique.
33:20Correct.
33:21All right, Florencia, thank you so much.
33:23Thank you, Chef.
33:24Thanks, Florencia.
33:25Mmm.
33:27I enjoyed that.
33:28Man, that was a good cake.
33:29Hey, they loved your cake.
33:33Clement.
33:35Earth can be many things.
33:37It can be the soil, it can be the grass, but when I think about Earth, I see, like, the
33:41sky and then the greens, the things growing, the forest.
33:45It just feels like this precious little bubble full of life.
33:51That's kind of what Earth is.
33:52I feel like that's what you're getting here.
33:54It just, it feels really good.
33:56I like the movements and I like the visual.
33:59All right, Clement, when you're ready.
34:01So, since I got Earth, I wanted to make Earthy flavor.
34:04So, I did the matcha japon.
34:08Inside, I did the tea mousseline.
34:11And to give some brightness to the cake, I did the yuzu jelly because it pairs well also with matcha.
34:20The mousseline, I love it.
34:21I actually like that it's got a little body to it.
34:23It's got a little more-
34:24Mousseline.
34:25A little more oomph to it.
34:26Yeah, it's really nice.
34:27Nice job, chef.
34:29The yuzu, it's about 25% here in percentage of your cake.
34:34I will lower that to 10%.
34:35So, make it a little bit thinner because it is pretty strong.
34:39I mean, you taste it, I'm sure.
34:40It is pretty strong.
34:41So, just a little bit thinner when you eat everything together, then everything mix very, very well.
34:46Thank you so much.
34:47Well done.
34:48Merci, Clement.
34:49Merci.
34:53Welcome back, Chef Molly.
34:55So, I had fire.
34:57I wanted to make something that sort of emulated a log inside of a fire.
35:02So, you have poured sugar pieces here, some pulled sugar flames here, a little bit of lava on the bottom,
35:08and then some kind of brimstone lava rock too.
35:12I think the rocks is a really cool idea.
35:14That's very sort of campfire, right?
35:17You put the rocks around, you got the fire in the middle.
35:19Sugar-wise, it's good.
35:21I think it's relatively simple.
35:24Mm-hmm.
35:25This is not reckless Molly.
35:27I feel like another, you know, three or five of those big flames, you know, you could have done some
35:34that were smaller,
35:35stuck it to the back of the other one so it's kind of coming off, you know, here.
35:39Sure.
35:39I just, I want a little more fire.
35:41A little more dimension.
35:42And those shapes can be a little bit more dramatic.
35:46Mm-hmm.
35:46A little bit thinner, a little bit more design.
35:50Fire here is hot, and I want to feel the heat from here.
35:55All right, you both ready to taste?
35:57Yeah.
35:57You have my attempt at a roulade.
36:00My inspiration for this, again, was s'mores.
36:02So you have a cinnamon sort of vanilla sponge, a peanut nougat, and then I finished it with milk chocolate
36:09mousse.
36:17You okay?
36:22Take a breath.
36:23Oh no, she's crying.
36:36I'm just, I'm really, it's nothing against you guys.
36:38I'm just really hard on myself, so.
36:40I get it.
36:41Okay.
36:41We're gonna restart here.
36:48I find your desserts on the sweet side.
36:52It's well-built.
36:53I like to have contrast.
36:55I have the contrast on texture here.
36:58I have the crunchiness.
37:00I would like to have maybe a little bit more acidic somewhere, a little contrast on flavors.
37:06The peanuts is really nice, and I think the texture of the nougat with the texture of the cake and
37:11the texture of the meringue is all really nice.
37:13It's so chewy and just like mouthy.
37:17You know, yum, yum, yum.
37:17I think it needs a little salt.
37:20Okay.
37:20To really bring out all those flavors, especially the toastiness on the outside and the peanuts on the inside.
37:25Yeah.
37:26But I think texture-wise, it's really fun.
37:28Well, thank you, Chef.
37:28You know, it's like a candy.
37:29I really appreciate that.
37:30It's nice.
37:31Thanks so much.
37:34If you feel like you're ready, you can input your scores.
37:38Not my best.
37:39That's okay.
37:40It happens.
37:41It does.
37:42Alright, the leaderboard has tabulated the final results.
37:45Let's not leave the chefs in suspense any longer.
37:48Let's find out who's in the semifinals.
37:50Okay.
37:50Okay.
38:00Chefs, overall you showcased your exceptional creativity, your talent and skill with the core component of all desserts, sugar.
38:09And one of you rose above the rest to the top of this leaderboard.
38:13And that chef is...
38:29You finally got back to number one.
38:32How does that feel?
38:34Oh, it feels great.
38:35It was a big challenge.
38:36It was really hard, but I'm glad that my dandelion paid off.
38:41Juan, you were the first Ultimate Baking Championship semifinalist.
38:49Now the big question.
38:51Who are the next two chefs joining you in the semifinals?
38:54Let's see.
38:59Florencia, Clément, you will also advance to the semifinals.
39:04What?
39:05I'm very shocked.
39:06I'm like, oh my god, this must be a problem on the screen.
39:10It was delicious.
39:13Well, congratulations to you too.
39:14It's well deserved.
39:16That, of course, leaves Chris and Molly.
39:21Chris, for the skills portion of your challenge for your sugar work, here's how the judges scored it.
39:29Okay, 17 points.
39:30And Molly, here's how you did.
39:3514 points.
39:37So right now, it's advantage Chris.
39:41So this is all going to come down to the Master Challenge desserts.
39:48Chris, say how many points you received.
39:5620 points for your Master Challenge.
39:58That brings your total to 37.
40:02Is that good enough to keep you in this kitchen?
40:05Molly, if you can beat 37 points, you're going to join the other semifinalists.
40:09And if not, your journey's going to end here.
40:13Let's go to the leaderboard.
40:2138 points.
40:23Molly, you're going to the semifinals.
40:26You're getting more tears.
40:30Chris, I really am sorry, man.
40:32No, it's been amazing.
40:33You are a sensational chef.
40:36And I know I speak on behalf of everyone when I say,
40:39we really are going to miss you here.
40:41It's been amazing.
40:42See you later.
40:42See you later.
40:44I mean, I think for me, this experience was to prove myself to be able to still do it.
40:49And for me, I did that.
40:52I stayed true to who I was.
40:54It was an exciting ride, but this is where my journey stops.
40:58It's been amazing to get them, all right?
41:00Good job, Chris.
41:04All right, you four, the semifinals await.
41:08You have one more cut to survive before the finale.
41:12What?
41:14Mamma mia.
41:15Mamma mia.
41:16All right.
41:18Steal yourselves.
41:19And we'll see you next time.
41:21Off you go.
41:22I feel really, really lucky.
41:27I mean, I did not put my best foot forward today.
41:30The fact that I get to stay and kind of redeem myself makes me really happy.
41:34But it was too close for comfort and I need to not do that again.
41:41Next time in the semifinals.
41:44Feeling stressed.
41:46There's a lot at stake.
41:47You're going to show us your mastery of frozen desserts.
41:51Blueberry swirl cream gelato.
41:53Charcoal ice cream.
41:53So beautiful.
41:54Mango sorbet.
41:56Really mango-y.
41:58Which three chefs will survive?
42:00I was not expecting my mouth to take me to Hawaii.
42:04Oh, mamma mia.
42:05Rogaine.
42:05I'll see you next time.
42:05I'll see you next time.
42:05Mac
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