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The Ultimate Baking Championship - Season 1 - Episode 07: Mastery of Sugar
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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 on chocolate.
00:09These are not setting.
00:10Ooh.
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 going to miss you here in the kitchen.
00:36It's crazy that we're 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, but now it's just not being in here now.
00:54Last week, I almost went home, which was, you know,
00:57pretty upsetting that I went from the top of the leaderboard
00:59to the bottom of the leaderboard.
01:01And so I just got to pick myself up and move on.
01:04Just five of you remain.
01:06As we like to say here, you know you're only as good as your next dessert.
01:10So those rankings from last time, they're history.
01:14Thank God.
01:16Your past is behind you.
01:18And your future, well, that might just involve winning $50,000
01:22and the ultimate baking championship gold medal.
01:25But to get there, you need to focus on the present,
01:29making it through today without falling off the leaderboard.
01:32So let's get to it.
01:33If there's one ingredient that defines the entire world of desserts,
01:37it's sugar.
01:39Now, as sugar is such a cornerstone of pastry,
01:42today you're going to be facing one epic challenge.
01:46Oh, my God.
01:49So here to explain what's expected of you in this mega challenge
01:53are 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, he is a legendary chef
02:07who has served as Dean of Pastry Arts
02:09of the International Culinary Center for three decades.
02:14Wow.
02:15And is a James Beard Award winner for 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.
02:29He is Mr. Chocolate.
02:31He is incredibly talented,
02:33probably one of the best sugar sculptures,
02:36chocolate sculptures, confectioners 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 to demonstrate
02:47their 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.
03:27How are you?
03:29Uh, what else?
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,
03:36you'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 of pastry's
04:01most essential ingredients.
04:02Three 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.
04:45Molly got fire.
04:48Reckless.
04:49Fire.
04:49It's all-
04:50It's all encompassing.
04:51Yeah.
04:51I know 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, Molly.
04:56I know, it's crazy.
04:57How do you feel?
04:58I'm really proud of myself.
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, and I'm just
05:13unbelievably proud of myself.
05:15What are you going to make?
05:16Talk to me.
05:16So, my goal is to kind of make
05:18like a bonfire, and then I'm going
05:20to do like a yule log in the middle,
05:22like a log roasting in fire.
05:23It's going to be s'mores team.
05:25Oh, what are the flavors of this yule log?
05:26It's going to be graham cracker cake,
05:29a peanut nougat, so I got peanut butter s'more,
05:31and then I'm chocolate mousse.
05:32Then how are you showing the fire?
05:33I'm going to build like a
05:35coliseum 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 pulled,
05:43and then I'm going to use this thing
05:44that's called rock sugar.
05:46Cool.
05:46Do you do these techniques
05:47with sugar a lot in your...
05:48I haven't done this since college,
05:52which is crazy.
05:53We're going back to school.
05:54We're going back to 12 years ago.
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
06:02as I would like to be.
06:04All right, Molly, good luck.
06:04Thank you, Jesse.
06:05I want to do a graham cracker sponge,
06:07so I'm going to replace the flour
06:09with 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
06:20into a cake batter before,
06:21so it could work, it could not work.
06:23Really 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,
06:40I'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.
07:00Air doesn't really have a body.
07:04I have pretty much the hardest element of all.
07:07So when you think of a dandelion,
07:09you think of it blowing around the air.
07:11So I'm going to show that,
07:12but also with some of the movements
07:13that we would think that it would bring.
07:15The best strategy that I have in this competition
07:17is just stay true to myself,
07:18focus on what I'm doing,
07:19and continue working hard
07:21to start climbing back up the leaderboard.
07:24So far, I feel like I've been bringing
07:25a lot of dark flavors.
07:27So this time, I'm going to play more lighter
07:30because 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
07:35with a nougat spread
07:37and then a lemon cremeau.
07:39So it's going to be really bright,
07:41really citrusy.
07:42It's going to play really well,
07:43especially with the dandelion, danda...
07:46Dandelion.
07:47Danda.
07:47Dandelion.
07:48Especially with the dandelion.
07:51Dandelion.
07:53Did 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
08:08and fluidity of the sugar.
08:10Do you like water?
08:10I don't know how to swim.
08:12So I'm from New England.
08:13I 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,
08:21the quarterfinal.
08:22There we go.
08:23That's all right.
08:24Okay, tell me about your dessert.
08:26So I'm making a tart,
08:27an almond tart with an almond frangipan insert,
08:29and then I'm going to do a blueberry compote,
08:32mascarpone, mousse almond,
08:33freeze-red 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's going to look like the tart fell
08:42and 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
08:56he'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
09:06for my blueberry almond tart.
09:07So the whole inspiration is of a donut
09:09that I was eating as a kid,
09:11and I dropped it into a puddle of water,
09:12and I made that,
09:13and I just remember that from, you know,
09:15till this day.
09:16So that's the inspiration,
09:17is the blueberry almond donut,
09:18and then the sugar showpiece
09:19is the puddle that fell in.
09:25Everybody's so amazing here,
09:26and 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
09:34everything 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,
09:44green 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
09:52with a 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,
10:01all the other amazing bakers,
10:03I'm like, this is going to be a tough competition.
10:05But look, I'm already in quarterfinal,
10:08and last time, I win the challenge.
10:11I get first place,
10:12so I really feel like I can really have my chance
10:15in this competition.
10:16I'm putting my yuzu.
10:17I'm not gonna put too, too much.
10:20Just enough.
10:22My life is basically all about baking,
10:24like, endless days,
10:26endless week,
10:27no day off,
10:28no going out with friends or family.
10:31And winning this competition,
10:33if I go back to France, you know,
10:34to see my mom, my niece, my sisters,
10:37that would really help me, you know,
10:39to enjoy more my life,
10:40and then, you know,
10:41go back to work stronger.
10:43All right.
10:44Let's finish to build that cake.
10:48Corner hot.
10:49Beautiful.
10:53Florencia, how are we doing?
10:54Uh, hi, just good.
10:55Yeah, I just creeped up on you there.
10:56You got a really interesting theme.
10:58Yes, I do.
10:59In space.
10:59How are you representing that?
11:01So, visually,
11:01what I want to represent is the galaxy.
11:05Ah.
11:05So, I'm gonna play on a lot of purples,
11:07a 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,
11:16ricotta and cream cheese mousse,
11:18berries compot with rosemary,
11:20and then vanilla cake,
11:22salt with cassis.
11:23Wow.
11:24And, of course, you know,
11:25the good news is you 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, yeah.
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, Francesca.
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,
11:53and it definitely feels like
11:54I've come a long way
11:56since I was a kid
11:57eating pastry cream in Italy.
12:00Two hours left
12:01to show your mastery of sugar.
12:03Two hours.
12:04Oh, my gosh.
12:05Got it. Thank you.
12:08This cake is just very,
12:10very 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
12:17of the nougat in the inside
12:18that will help kind of hold it together.
12:21It 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
12:32off of the parchment,
12:32which shouldn't be happening.
12:34I'm going to have to redo this entire thing.
12:36Remaking this roulade
12:38will set me back
12:39and take time away
12:40from making my showpiece.
12:42I'm just...
12:42I'm stressing a little bit.
12:51The cake is just breaking,
12:53which is a bummer.
12:54Stress.
12:55I am incredibly hard on myself,
12:57and I think it's a reason
12:58why I'm as technically skilled as I am.
13:01I 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
13:13that you know you shouldn't do?
13:14Feeling good?
13:15My cake didn't set.
13:17It'll set.
13:17It'll set.
13:18You know, I know.
13:19Especially on the quarterfinals.
13:21So I'm making my new cake batter,
13:23and this time I'm flavoring it
13:24with cinnamon and honey
13:25instead of graham cracker powder.
13:29So these chefs have this really interesting theme
13:32they work with.
13:33Earth, fire, water, air, and space.
13:34What are you looking for
13:36when 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,
14:01and 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 showpieces.
14:16For my sugar work,
14:18I'm using isomalt and regular sugar.
14:19I'm then going to color
14:20different shades of blues and whites.
14:22So I'm going to be making
14:23my interpretation of 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,
14:49I'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,
14:57that'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,
15:03and 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,
15:15I'm going to be assembling it with a ring mold,
15:16putting the layers one by one
15:18until I get to the top.
15:21We 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,
15:30but for the people who believe in me the most,
15:32especially my boyfriend, Mike.
15:33He's been one of my biggest supporters.
15:35You like it?
15:36That's really good.
15:38And I just couldn't be more happier
15:40to 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 seapath,
16:30and as soon as it starts setting,
16:32I just try to create a bowl.
16:34Wow, it looks so cool.
16:36Then I start to pour out
16:37very fine decoration of sugar
16:39to create the vine all around the cake.
16:50Laurencia, how's it going?
16:52I have the sugar going
16:53for 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.
17:15We'll see.
17:16For the first part,
17:17I'm going to do poured sugar
17:18for my backdrop
17:19with the colors of the galaxies
17:21and as a base.
17:23And then I'm going to have
17:25pulled sugar for the rings,
17:27and I'm going to do blown sugar
17:29for the planets.
17:31This looks like a lot of sugar,
17:33and this is not.
17:34It's not.
17:34You have to use so much.
17:37Right now,
17:38I am building the base
17:40of my showpiece.
17:41I will be creating
17:42a white sugar showpiece
17:43that will resemble
17:44the movement of the earth
17:45by utilizing the dandelion.
17:48So I'm going to be pouring
17:49the sides and my base,
17:52but I'm also going to be
17:53pulling dandelion stems,
17:54and I'm also going to be
17:55using the ribbon technique
17:57around the showpiece.
17:58I just want a little bit
18:00to swirl.
18:00I'm going to be pouring my sugar
18:02into my ring mold
18:03with two colors.
18:05That way,
18:05I add some movement into it,
18:06and then I use these noodles
18:09to give me the shape
18:11of the dandelion.
18:13Hey, guys.
18:13Everything 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
18:30and my nougat,
18:32and now it's time
18:33to work on my sugar pieces.
18:34I need to do it quickly
18:35and do it well.
18:38I'm going to need more isomalt.
18:40For my poured sugar,
18:41I'm using isomalt.
18:43My dessert will be sitting
18:44on a poured sugar disc
18:45surrounded by different elements
18:47of flames and lava rocks
18:49to really emulate the ashes.
18:51I really want this to look like
18:53a campfire,
18:54look like scolding fire.
18:56I want someone to be able
18:57to look at it and be like,
18:57ah, 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
19:04do a little fiery swirl
19:05in the bottom.
19:09Now I'm moving on
19:10to my lava rock sugar.
19:13I'm going to make
19:14some sugar rocks
19:15to go around the outside
19:16of my roulade.
19:17I take real sugar
19:18and add in black royal icing,
19:21and it starts to bubble
19:22and change and grow.
19:23It kind of looks like molten lava.
19:26It worked.
19:27It looks like a brain.
19:28Yay.
19:30Something worked for me today.
19:31Only one hour left now.
19:34Oh, yeah, yeah.
19:35That went by fast.
19:37Some unmolding back droplet form.
19:41Hmm.
19:44It broke.
19:45We have a little bit
19:47of an issue here.
19:48I don't know yet.
19:50Damn.
20:01There isn't time left
20:02to make it again.
20:03I have a big enough piece
20:04that I can just have
20:05the splashes in the back.
20:06I'm going to move on, though,
20:07to the next thing.
20:09I kind of make divots
20:10in a sheet tray of sugar,
20:12and that allows me
20:13to pour it in.
20:14I'm able to then
20:14let them set
20:15and kind of twist them
20:17and form them
20:17into different shapes.
20:18And then I'm pouring
20:19some pieces over ice
20:20to create kind of
20:21a coral effect
20:22and letting it set.
20:23I'll do that a couple of times
20:24to get a couple
20:24different pieces.
20:27Do you have more ice?
20:28I'm off.
20:29Here you go.
20:34All right.
20:35So a little bit of glue.
20:38I'm making the dome.
20:39I have a bowl wrapped up
20:40with plastic wrap,
20:41and then I have a ring
20:44of the same size
20:46of my cake.
20:47So basically,
20:48I'm pouring a little bit
20:49of sugar on the plastic wrap,
20:51and then with the dome,
20:52I'm just pushing down.
20:54And as it goes,
20:55the dome is creating,
20:56and it looks so pretty.
20:59Claymore,
21:00I've seen you do something
21:00like this before.
21:01You know,
21:02I tried first time I got it.
21:04On the first try?
21:05Yeah.
21:06It worked first time.
21:06Who is your biggest
21:07individual competition here,
21:08do you think?
21:09One chef that really...
21:11I know now,
21:12always Juan.
21:12It was my biggest competition.
21:14Juan is always on the top,
21:16you 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
21:21to get into the semifinals
21:22for a chance to win that 50k?
21:23I came all the way
21:24to America,
21:25and I'm all the way
21:26in the quarterfinal.
21:27I mean,
21:28I need to keep going.
21:29I can't leave now.
21:29You're off to a good start.
21:31This looks absolutely great.
21:32Just keep it up.
21:33Thank you so much.
21:33I wish you the best, Claymore.
21:36Ah!
21:37Still pretty hot.
21:39I'm going to start
21:39on my pool sugar.
21:41I'm going to do some shapes.
21:43He's going to be
21:43representing the rings
21:45that are around the planet.
21:4830 minutes, chefs.
21:49Chica, chica.
21:51The elimination
21:52is on the line.
21:55Oh!
21:56It's hot.
21:58It's very hot.
22:00Hot.
22:01Hot.
22:02It's hot.
22:03Hot, hot, hot.
22:04Hot!
22:08I would lose a finger
22:10to win this competition.
22:15It's so hot.
22:17So for my sugar pieces,
22:18I'm going to focus
22:19on creating a really elegant
22:21but nice structure,
22:22and then start decorating around.
22:24For this dandelion,
22:26I'm going to be pulling sugar.
22:27I'm also going to be using
22:29the ribbon technique.
22:31The dandelion has
22:32these really tiny steams
22:34that I'm going to have to glue
22:35one by one,
22:36so there's so much detail
22:37into this piece,
22:38and I hope that
22:39the judges can see
22:41my understanding from sugar.
22:43Any little piece
22:44can really break it,
22:45and that's the last thing I want.
22:47It's looking really nice.
22:49Oh!
22:51Caliente.
22:51Molly, how much
22:52have 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
23:00a nice little flame, doesn't it?
23:01To get my sculpture put together,
23:03I take the big two flames
23:04that I poured
23:05and make sure they're glued on
23:06nice and structurally sound,
23:09and then I take
23:10all of my little
23:11whole sugar flames
23:12and put them around,
23:13and I start adding in the rock.
23:15It looks like it could be fire.
23:21So for my showpiece,
23:22I'm going to make the base.
23:23I'm going to make spheres
23:24to kind of elevate
23:25a two-layer cake stand
23:26in essence made out of sugar.
23:27So I'm adding the coral pieces
23:28and the pieces that I've casted
23:30in sugar and the bubble sugar
23:31because I want to create
23:31that movement.
23:32I want to create
23:32that effect of power.
23:33It's not very smooth.
23:34It's very kind of chaotic,
23:36and that's the idea
23:37I'm going for.
23:37I had some setbacks,
23:39but I feel like
23:40it looks like the water.
23:41So I want to keep going again
23:42to prove it to myself
23:43that I'm still good.
23:44I still got this,
23:44and I want to win the prize,
23:46take my mom on vacation
23:47and just show my gratitude
23:49to somebody who has been
23:50the rock of my life
23:51for the past 38 years.
23:53I got into pastry
23:54because I used to go
23:56to the bakery
23:56that my mom still works at,
23:57and I remember
23:58that I used to bother her
23:59and bug her
24:00at 3 in the morning
24:00to go and spend time
24:02with her at the bakery.
24:03Inevitably, I'd fall asleep
24:04on the flour bags.
24:05That's kind of
24:06where my love started.
24:07I just felt there was
24:08something magical
24:08about the idea
24:09of simple ingredients
24:11put together with time
24:12and care and passion,
24:14and they come out
24:14to a great product
24:15in the end.
24:20Let me get this cake.
24:22I add my honeycomb
24:23and, you know,
24:24put my dome
24:25on the top of the cake
24:26and I was like,
24:27wow, that looks so cool,
24:28actually.
24:29That looks even better
24:30than what I was imagining.
24:31How are you doing, Juanito?
24:32Finishing my
24:34dandelion.
24:35Dandelion.
24:37Just 10 minutes left now
24:38in this quarterfinals challenge.
24:43I'm feeling pressure right now.
24:45Pushing as much as I can.
24:47I realize that I'm not
24:48going to have enough time
24:49to make the planet
24:50because it's taking me
24:51way longer to do everything.
24:53And it's not going to look
24:55like what I had envisioned.
24:56At least I have some rings ready.
24:58I still have the backdrops.
25:03Oh, no.
25:05My base cracked.
25:07My backdrop was going to stand
25:09nicely because of the base.
25:11For the first time,
25:12I have no backup plan
25:14and my mind is blanking.
25:16I have my pulled rings
25:17and all I can do
25:18is place those.
25:19And I'm very frustrated.
25:21I'm on the verge of crying.
25:24Jeez.
25:25I have the backdrop,
25:26so I really want
25:27to find a way
25:28to make it stand
25:29because at least
25:31they can see
25:31some dimension to it.
25:33Five minutes left.
25:35Oh, boy.
25:41Tastes like lavender
25:42and blueberry.
25:51Oh, my God.
25:57At this point,
25:59I can see that my mousse
26:00is not setting
26:01and it's a little
26:02troubling to me.
26:04I am feeling stressed.
26:08I'm just not feeling
26:10like this is my day.
26:12So instead of just
26:14putting meringue on the top,
26:16I decide to encase
26:17the entire cake
26:17inside a meringue
26:18as a protective barrier
26:20to kind of try
26:21and keep everything
26:22inside the cake.
26:24I am just trying
26:25to finish my vision here
26:27with the cake
26:28and pray that everything
26:29stays standing.
26:32Come on.
26:32How's it looking?
26:33It looks good.
26:39Two minutes.
26:45Oh, the sugar's falling
26:46on Florencia's dessert.
26:50Ay, ay, ay.
26:52I really don't know
26:52how to stick it.
26:57It's nothing.
27:07One minute.
27:09Ay, Dios mÃo, tal.
27:10Tup, tup, tup, tup, tup.
27:12I'm happy.
27:15All right.
27:19That's it.
27:20Time for the judges
27:21to taste your sweet creations.
27:24I'm looking around
27:25at Juan and Chris's showpieces.
27:28They are so beautiful
27:29and so detailed.
27:30Now I'm just worried
27:32I didn't quite do enough.
27:36You have a cake
27:37and 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.
27:44The sugar piece
27:45is not great.
27:46Of course,
27:47I'm hoping for the flavors
27:48of the dessert
27:49to be great.
27:50Ah, we'll see.
27:58Oh!
27:59That was intense.
27:59How was that?
28:00Not my favorite.
28:01It was intense.
28:02So, judges,
28:03you'll be scoring the chefs
28:04on their skills
28:04and mastery of sugar.
28:06That means you'll have
28:06up to 10 points each
28:07for their skills in sugar
28:08and up to 15
28:10for the dessert.
28:10Let's bring in
28:11the first chef.
28:13Chef Juan.
28:14I'm about to face stuff
28:16in Jack Torres
28:16and it is really stressful
28:18because
28:18we are here
28:20about to go
28:21to the semifinals
28:22and any little thing
28:24can bring you
28:24to the bottom
28:25of that shard
28:26and you don't want that.
28:28It's kind of like
28:29difficult to know
28:30how air looks like
28:32but I think air
28:34is a really delicate
28:35type of element.
28:37I took the inspiration
28:38by the dandelion
28:39because for me
28:40I just love the way
28:41that it just flies away.
28:43By choosing a dandelion
28:45and showing
28:46like the effects
28:47of air
28:48showing what air
28:49is doing
28:50to its environment
28:51putting it in context
28:52was so smart.
28:54I love that.
28:54Thank you, chef.
28:56The interpretation
28:56is well done.
28:58You take some risk here.
28:59This is fragile.
29:01This is very delicate.
29:03A little heat on the side
29:04and things will collapse
29:05and it's a very smart move
29:07to do what you did
29:08representing air.
29:10That's not an easy thing.
29:11Thank you, chef.
29:13All right, Juan,
29:14whenever you're ready.
29:15At the bottom
29:16we're going to have
29:17a citrus vanilla
29:18reconstructed strusel
29:19with a citrus cake.
29:21Then on top of that
29:22there is the nougat spread
29:25then lemon cremeux
29:26and then a lemon meringue.
29:29You put a lot of work in there.
29:31You know, five different layers
29:33plus the chocolates
29:35and good flavor.
29:36They work well together.
29:38We have some crunchiness.
29:40We have some softness.
29:41Air, again,
29:42a very light cake.
29:44A little bit
29:45on the sweet side for me.
29:48This tastes absolutely delicious.
29:50Big lemon flavor.
29:52Delicious crunch on the bottom.
29:54Congratulations, Juan.
29:55Thank you, thank you.
29:58It was good.
29:59Good job, good job, Juan.
30:02Beautiful.
30:05Chef Cresk.
30:07This was meant to resemble
30:09like dropping something
30:10into water
30:11and that splash
30:12of disappointment
30:13as it happens.
30:15I think that you represent
30:16the water very, very well.
30:18I like your sugar presentation.
30:21Thank you, thank you.
30:21And the different techniques
30:22that you use.
30:23Good job.
30:23Thank you very much, Chef.
30:25Whenever you're ready, Chef.
30:25It is an almond flour
30:28pate sucre
30:28with frangipane and blueberries,
30:30a blueberry compote,
30:31a vanilla mascarpone cream,
30:33blueberry chard,
30:35and then a blueberry
30:36pate de fouille
30:36dusted in lavender sugar.
30:40I like the cream,
30:41I like the blueberry,
30:42but the tart shell,
30:45too thick on the bottom.
30:46It's not underbaked,
30:47but it's underbaked.
30:48You know what I mean?
30:49Like, it's texture-wise,
30:51you know,
30:51I would not call this uncooked,
30:53you know,
30:54but it just needs
30:55a little more heat,
30:57a little more caramelization,
30:58a little more flavor,
30:59a little less moisture,
31:00you know,
31:00a little more crunch.
31:01You know,
31:02the shell is 50% of the tarts,
31:04you know, flavor-wise.
31:05I will just change
31:06the techniques of the dough
31:08and 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
31:16I'm going to be in trouble.
31:17Yes, there was some feedback
31:18and critique,
31:19which was completely valid.
31:21So, yeah,
31:23kind of,
31:24it's in the judge's hands now.
31:28I feel kind of bad
31:30because I know I'm not
31:31delivering a product I wanted,
31:33so my hopes are not high.
31:35Forencia, good to see you.
31:36Hi.
31:37So, I got Space Team.
31:39For the sugar piece,
31:41I casted some sugar,
31:43pulled some.
31:44I wanted to do the planets around it,
31:47but I had difficulties,
31:49so I didn't got to do that.
31:50It's sad
31:51because I think that the planets
31:53will add a lot of volume
31:55and a lot of mystery to it.
31:58I do appreciate
31:59that you use different techniques in there.
32:01You have a pouring sugar,
32:03you put a little color in it,
32:04and you have some pool sugar
32:06that you put around,
32:07and that actually represents
32:09space pretty well.
32:11It looks really cool.
32:13And the background,
32:15it looks like, you know,
32:16when you're looking
32:17at the colorized photos
32:18from, like,
32:19the Hubble or the Webb telescope.
32:21Thank you so much.
32:22All right, Forencia,
32:22whenever you're ready.
32:24For the cake,
32:26I did a non-baked cheesecake.
32:28Inside, there is layers
32:29of berries compote
32:30with rosemary,
32:31and then the cheesecake itself
32:33with cream cheese and ricotta,
32:35and then a vanilla cake
32:37soaked with cassis liqueur.
32:42Damn, that's good.
32:44This is a good cake.
32:45I love the cassis.
32:47I love the berries.
32:48I love the cheesecake.
32:50The crust brings some crunch to it
32:52and some more flavor on one side,
32:53but 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,
33:02and I think because you have
33:03something that's so rich,
33:05like a no-baked cheesecake,
33:06man, the cassis really cuts through.
33:08The berries cut through.
33:10Good choice of food.
33:11Thank you, Chef.
33:12She felt like she lacked
33:13in the design,
33:15but the flavor she nails,
33:17that's just as important.
33:18Plus, also, she showed technique.
33:20Correct.
33:21All right.
33:22Florencia, 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,
33:38it can be the grass,
33:38but when I think about Earth,
33:40I see, like, the sky,
33:41and then the greens,
33:43the things growing,
33:44the forest.
33:45It just feels like
33:46this precious little bubble
33:49full of life.
33:51That's kind of what Earth is.
33:52I feel like that's
33:53what you're getting here.
33:54It just, it feels really good.
33:56I like the movements
33:57and I like the visual.
33:59All right, Clement,
34:00when you're ready.
34:01So, since I got Earth,
34:03I wanted to make earthy flavor,
34:05so I did a matcha jopon.
34:08Inside, I did a tea mousseline,
34:11and to give some brightness
34:12to the cake,
34:13I did the yuzu jelly
34:14because it pairs well
34:15also with matcha.
34:20The mousseline, I love it.
34:21I actually like that
34:22it's got a little body to it.
34:23It's got a little more,
34:24a little more oomph to it.
34:26Yeah, it's really nice.
34:27Nice job, Chef.
34:29The yuzu,
34:30it's about 25% here
34:32on percentage of your cake.
34:34I will lower that to 10%,
34:35so make it a little bit thinner
34:37because it is pretty strong.
34:39I mean, you taste it,
34:39I'm sure.
34:40It is pretty strong.
34:41So, just a little bit thinner
34:42when you eat everything together,
34:44then 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
34:59that sort of emulated
35:00a log inside of a fire.
35:02So, you have
35:03poured sugar pieces here,
35:05some pulled sugar flames here,
35:07a little bit of lava on the bottom,
35:08and then some kind of
35:09brimstone lava rock, too.
35:12I think the rocks
35:13is a really cool idea.
35:14That's very sort of campfire, right?
35:17You put the rocks around,
35:18you 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,
35:30three or five of those big flames,
35:33you know, you could have done
35:34some that were smaller,
35:35stuck it to the back of the other one
35:37so it's kind of coming off,
35:38you know, here.
35:39I just, I want a little more fire.
35:42A little more dimension.
35:42And those shapes
35:43can be a little bit more dramatic.
35:45Mm-hmm.
35:46A little bit thinner,
35:47a little bit more design.
35:50Fire is hot,
35:51and I want to feel the heat from here.
35:55All right.
35:56Are you both ready to taste?
35:57Yeah.
35:57You have my attempt at a roulade.
36:00My inspiration for this, again,
36:01was s'mores.
36:02So you have a cinnamon,
36:03sort of vanilla sponge,
36:05a peanut nougat,
36:07and then I finished it
36:08with milk chocolate mousse.
36:17You okay?
36:19You okay?
36:22Take a breath.
36:23Oh, no.
36:24She's crying.
36:36I'm just, I'm really,
36:37it's nothing against you guys.
36:38I'm just really hard on myself, so.
36:40I get it.
36:41Okay.
36:41We're going to restart here.
36:48I find your desserts on the sweet side.
36:51It'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,
37:03a little contrast on flavors.
37:06The peanuts is really nice,
37:07and I think the texture of the nougat
37:09with the texture of the cake
37:10and the texture of the meringue
37:12is all really nice.
37:13It's so chewy and just, like, mouthy.
37:17You know, yum, yum, yum.
37:18I think it needs a little salt
37:20to really bring out all those flavors,
37:22especially the toastiness on the outside
37:24and the peanuts on the inside.
37:25Yeah.
37:26But I think texture-wise, it's really fun.
37:28You know, it's like a candy.
37:29I really appreciate that.
37:31Thanks so much.
37:34If you feel like you're ready,
37:35you can input your scores.
37:38Not my best.
37:39That's okay.
37:40It happens.
37:41It does.
37:42All right, the leaderboard
37:44has 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,
38:01you showcased your exceptional creativity,
38:03your talent, and skill
38:05with the core component of all desserts,
38:07sugar.
38:09And one of you rose above the rest
38:11to the top of this leaderboard,
38:13and that chef is...
38:25Juan.
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,
38:37but I'm glad that my dandelion paid off.
38:40Juan,
38:41you are the first
38:42Ultimate Baking Championship
38:45semifinalist.
38:49Now the big question,
38:51who are the next two chefs
38:52joining you in the semifinals?
38:54Let's see.
38:59Florencia,
38:59Clement,
39:01you will also advance
39:02to the semifinals.
39:04What?
39:05I'm very shocked.
39:07I'm like,
39:07oh my God,
39:07this must be a problem
39:09on the screen.
39:10It was delicious.
39:13Well, congratulations to you two.
39:14It's well-deserved.
39:17That, of course,
39:17leaves Chris and Molly.
39:21Chris,
39:21for the skills portion
39:22of your challenge
39:23for your sugar work,
39:24here's how the judges scored it.
39:29Okay, 17 points.
39:31And Molly,
39:32here's how you did.
39:3514 points.
39:37So right now,
39:39it's advantage Chris.
39:41So this is all going
39:43to come down
39:44to the Master Challenge desserts.
39:48Chris,
39:49say how many points
39:50you received.
39:5620 points
39:56for your Master Challenge.
39:58That brings your total
40:00to 37.
40:02Is that good enough
40:03to keep you in this kitchen?
40:05Molly,
40:05if you can beat 37 points,
40:07you're going to join
40:07the other semi-finalists.
40:09And if not,
40:10your journey's going
40:11to end here.
40:13Let's go to the leaderboard.
40:2138 points.
40:23Molly,
40:24you're going
40:24to the semi-finals.
40:25You're getting more tears.
40:29Chris,
40:31I really am sorry, man.
40:32No, it's been amazing.
40:33You are
40:34a sensational chef.
40:36And I know
40:37I speak on behalf
40:37of everyone
40:38when I say,
40:39we really are
40:40going to miss you here.
40:41It's been amazing.
40:42See you later.
40:42See you later.
40:44You don't have to go.
40:45No, thank you.
40:45I mean,
40:46I think for me,
40:46this experience
40:46was to prove myself
40:48to be able
40:48to still do it.
40:49And for me,
40:51I did that.
40:52I stayed true
40:52to who I was.
40:54It was an exciting ride,
40:56but this is where
40:57my journey stops.
40:58It's been amazing.
40:59Get them, all right?
41:00Good job, Chris.
41:04All right, you four,
41:05the semi-finals await.
41:08You have one more
41:09cut to survive
41:10before 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.
41:22Nice to meet you.
41:24I feel really,
41:26really lucky.
41:27I mean,
41:27I did not put
41:28my best foot forward today.
41:30The fact that I get to stay
41:31and kind of redeem myself
41:32makes me really happy,
41:34but it was too close
41:36for comfort,
41:36and I need to not
41:37do that again.
41:41Next time,
41:42in the semi-finals.
41:44Feeling stressed?
41:46There's a lot at stake.
41:47You're going to show us
41:48your mastery of
41:49frozen desserts.
41:51Blueberry swirl cream gelato.
41:53Charcoal ice cream.
41:53So beautiful.
41:54Mango sorbet.
41:56Really mango-y.
41:58Which three chefs
41:59will survive?
42:00I was not expecting
42:02my mouth to take me
42:03to Hawaii.
42:04Oh, mamma mia.
42:05See you.
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