The ultimate baking showdown is here in Season 1 Episode 8 of The Ultimate Baking Championship! Get ready for an episode packed with incredible talent, mind-blowing creations, and nail-biting pressure as our bakers face their toughest challenges yet.
Watch as they navigate complex techniques and push the boundaries of flavor and design. Who will rise to the occasion and who will crumble under the heat of the kitchen? This episode is a masterclass in creativity and skill.
Discover the innovative strategies and artistic flair that set these bakers apart. From delicate pastries to show-stopping cakes, each creation tells a story of passion and dedication. Don't miss the intense competition and the unforgettable bakes.
#BakingChampionship #SeasonFinale #BakingCompetition
Watch as they navigate complex techniques and push the boundaries of flavor and design. Who will rise to the occasion and who will crumble under the heat of the kitchen? This episode is a masterclass in creativity and skill.
Discover the innovative strategies and artistic flair that set these bakers apart. From delicate pastries to show-stopping cakes, each creation tells a story of passion and dedication. Don't miss the intense competition and the unforgettable bakes.
#BakingChampionship #SeasonFinale #BakingCompetition
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Previously, on the Ultimate Baking Championship.
00:04In the quarterfinals, the chefs faced
00:07the Combination Skills Challenge and Master Challenge
00:09entirely focused on sugar.
00:13Juan's light-as-air lemon cake with his sugarwork dandy line
00:16got him to number one.
00:18But mistakes from Molly and Chris.
00:20They broke.
00:21Sent them to the bottom of the leaderboard.
00:23It just needs a little more.
00:25And the once-perfect Chris was eliminated.
00:41I am in the semifinals.
00:43Are you kidding me?
00:44This is unreal.
00:45I'm so excited.
00:46I'm so proud of myself.
00:47Welcome back, chefs.
00:49You are the last four chefs standing.
00:51You are all each so close to taking home $50,000.
00:56Oh, la, la, la.
00:57And the Ultimate Baking Championship gold medal.
01:00Mama mia.
01:01Mama mia.
01:02So here's how we ended the competition last time.
01:05Well, as always, every day is a new bake and a new chance
01:08to be at the top of this board.
01:09So let's wipe the scores.
01:11Let's get right to it.
01:13Today is all about temperature.
01:17OK.
01:17So you're going to show us your mastery of the deep freeze
01:22by making frozen desserts.
01:25Oh, my god.
01:26I'm excited.
01:27We haven't been able to do this yet.
01:29For your master challenge, you'll each make
01:30one sensational frozen dessert.
01:33It is imperative you make something that blows our judges away.
01:37Because the top two chefs in the master challenge
01:40will automatically go through to the finale,
01:43while the bottom two chefs will have to prove themselves one more
01:46time by going head to head in a skills challenge.
01:51Oh, my god.
01:53Don't want to be in the bottom.
01:54No.
01:55Definitely.
01:56The winning chef will then automatically
01:58move on to the finale, while the other, sadly,
02:00will exit the competition.
02:02We've got two big names to tell you more
02:04about this master challenge.
02:06He's seen everything you've created
02:07since your very first challenge.
02:09And he expects perfection from all of you.
02:11Duff Goldman.
02:14I can't believe you guys are still clapping for me.
02:19Now, your second judge is a James Beard nominee,
02:23whose best-selling book, Sweet Farm,
02:26contains over 100 innovative dessert recipes,
02:29including some of her most popular frozen desserts.
02:32Please welcome Molly Yeh.
02:35Hi, Molly.
02:35Hi, guys.
02:36Hey, guys.
02:37Hey, good to see you.
02:38Good to see you.
02:39Oh.
02:39The inspiration for your frozen desserts
02:41will be the most frigid features of the natural world.
02:47OK.
02:48Let's find out which frozen world theme
02:50has been randomly assigned to each of you.
02:52Oh.
02:53OK.
02:54OK.
02:54I'm going to go hide in my cave.
02:59Now, as with all master challenges,
03:01each judge will give a score of up to 15 points for flavor,
03:04execution, and technical difficulty.
03:07You have two and a half hours to demonstrate your mastery
03:10of temperature by creating a fantastic frozen world cake.
03:14And your time starts now.
03:18Ready to do this?
03:26Last challenge, I landed in last place on the leaderboard,
03:29and that was not fun.
03:31I think I do have something to prove.
03:33I'm here to win that $50,000.
03:35I really want to reward myself for all the hard work
03:38I've put in over the last 12 years of my career
03:41and prove it to myself that I can be the ultimate baking
03:43champion at the age of 29.
03:45The ice cream, I'm going to do two flavors.
03:47I'm going to do a light lemon cream gelato
03:49and then a blueberry swirl gelato.
03:51The difference between ice cream and gelato
03:53is your fat content and your mouthfeel.
03:56All right, so I'm just making my base here.
03:58I'm doing a gelato base.
03:59Ice cream is a little bit more fluffy and airy,
04:04but has a ton more fat packed into it.
04:06And gelato is a little bit more dense,
04:08but kind of silky and smooth.
04:10What's the story behind your dessert, Florencia?
04:12When I have a coconut sorbet and a dark chocolate
04:15and tonka bean gelato.
04:17Do you have a preference, gelato versus ice cream?
04:20Well, it depends.
04:21It depends.
04:22There's some very good ice creams.
04:23But yeah, the first thing I do when I go to Italy
04:26is, like, just skip dinner, go to gelato,
04:29go to gelato directly.
04:36When it comes to frozen desserts,
04:38what are things you're looking for?
04:40Well, frozen desserts are so challenging
04:42because you basically have to recalibrate your taste buds.
04:45Things taste sweeter when they're hot.
04:48And then when they cool down and they're frozen,
04:50those flavors are dampened.
04:52Baking is such a science, but I feel like making frozen dessert
04:55brings it to an entirely new level.
04:59My desserts, I like really exotic flavor.
05:02I think I'm exotic.
05:03So I like exotic flavor.
05:05I'm going to go with mango sorbet.
05:07Ice cream, basically, it's like a milk base.
05:10And then for the sorbet, it's like, instead of the milk,
05:12basically, you put the fruit.
05:14So it's, like, very fruity.
05:16It's going to be really mango-y.
05:24I work for a restaurant group where I have to create the menus for all of them,
05:30and part of that is making ice cream.
05:33It's a really fundamental skill for pastry chef.
05:36Last week, I was at the top of the leaderboard,
05:38and that puts a lot of pressure on me.
05:41It's been hard, and my co-life has been such a roller coaster.
05:45But I have grown so much as a chef, as a person,
05:49and right now, I'm in a great spot in my life where I have a great partner,
05:54and honestly, I want him to be proud of me,
05:57and I want to show everyone I deserve that, and I deserve to be here.
06:01Right now, I have a charcoal ice cream.
06:05So it's going to be nice and dark.
06:07I'm going to have a buttermilk ice cream as well.
06:09It's going to be little pieces of mochi inside.
06:11Juan, what's this frozen world that you have to release?
06:14So I have to make a glacier.
06:15So I'm going to have a chocolate sponge, then black sesame praline,
06:18and then I am going to take inspiration to my trip that I did to Iceland,
06:23and I was actually on top of a glacier.
06:25I'm going to be using a black sesame crunchy strusel,
06:27and then I'm going to spray it with black and white velvet spray.
06:31Right now, I'm working on my mochi.
06:33I love mochi.
06:36Sorry.
06:36That's okay.
06:37I hate touching cornstarch.
06:40You literally just had a miserable...
06:42Look, I get...
06:44That is so weird.
06:48What is it about it that makes you...
06:50Like, he's not pretending.
06:51This is unbelievable.
06:53Look at my skin.
06:53I can tell.
06:54What is it about cornstarch?
06:56It's just the filling.
06:58I don't know.
06:59Oh, but it tastes...
06:59But mochi tastes amazing.
07:00It's worth it.
07:01If you don't mind, can I go and wash my hands?
07:03Please go wash your hands.
07:04Thank you, Jesse.
07:04Sorry, bye.
07:06Coming through.
07:08I thought he was having like an allergic reaction or something or hurt himself.
07:11That was unbelievable.
07:18Perfect.
07:18When I first got here, I saw all those bakers like very good with sugar, very good with chocolate.
07:25I was very intimidated.
07:26Each challenge like really taught me something about skills, about techniques.
07:31I am proud of myself for making it to the semi-final.
07:35What theme did you get, Clermont?
07:36Cave ice.
07:37Cave ice.
07:38Yeah.
07:39So what are you making?
07:39For my baked element, I have a coconut d'aquas.
07:42Beautiful.
07:43Coconut and mango is like my two best pair flavor.
07:45Yeah.
07:46For the crunch, I made a coconut straws.
07:48The top, I'm going to make a very thin layer of passion fruit jelly to recreate the ocean.
07:52It's going to be blue.
07:53So I'm going to make a chocolate belt that's going to be white and blue.
07:57On the top, I'm going to create a cave with stalactic and stalact meat out of white chocolate.
08:03This could take you right into the finale, obviously.
08:05Yes.
08:05Who's the biggest competition?
08:07I mean, at this point, everybody's the biggest competition, but obviously,
08:10Juan always impressed me each challenge.
08:12But I've heard about the cornstarch.
08:14I start to put cornstarch everywhere in the kitchen.
08:17So that's my strategy.
08:18That's me.
08:19One.
08:19Whatever it takes.
08:25Ah, la la.
08:28Well, well, well.
08:29Here we are.
08:30Here we are.
08:31We made it through.
08:32We're here at the semifinals.
08:33We are.
08:34We're making a frozen world dessert.
08:36Which theme did you get?
08:37I got an iceberg.
08:38Wow.
08:39And I decided to do this one as like a little bit of an homage to my grandpa.
08:44He passed away this year, but he was my biggest fan when it came to baking and pastry.
08:49Really?
08:50The man had the biggest sweet tooth on the planet.
08:52So are you making something that you think your grandpa would love to eat?
08:55Oh, 100%.
08:56For his 90th birthday, I made him a blueberry pie.
08:58So I'm going to make a blueberry pie steamed ice cream cake.
09:02Oh, I love that.
09:03So we're going to do a lemon cream gelato, a blueberry compote, like a pie filling.
09:07Yeah.
09:07And then a blueberry swirl cream gelato.
09:10Wow.
09:10And then I'm going to do a lemon thyme cake and an almond fouillotine crunch.
09:14And then decoration-wise, is it going to say iceberg?
09:16Oh, it's going to say iceberg.
09:18It is.
09:18It's going to be like iceberg ahead.
09:19I'll wrap my cake in a chocolate band to emulate the ocean.
09:23I'll add some blue-colored piping gel and finish with a white chocolate iceberg.
09:29Got to bring this one home for our grandpa.
09:31It really sounds like you're baking with your heart.
09:32So keep it up.
09:33I will.
09:34This is so cool.
09:34Thanks, Jesse.
09:40So far, the competition has been kind of a roller coaster.
09:44I'm the only one chef that never made it to the top of the leaderboard.
09:48I struggled with my decorations.
09:50So I'll try to do my best on presentation, but I will really focus on flavors.
09:56Florencia, what's your frozen world theme here?
09:58Sea ice.
09:59What does sea ice look like?
10:00It's very flat.
10:01It's very linear.
10:03What did you decide to do?
10:04Almond and coconut cake.
10:05I'm going to have a spread of marzipan.
10:07Beautiful.
10:08And then a yogurt and coconut sorbet and dark chocolate and tonka bean gelato.
10:12Back in Italy when I was probably like in the very beginning of my career, I went to the
10:17gelato school in Italy.
10:19Wow.
10:20And I learned a bit about the bases and I really fell in love with it.
10:23These were the first two flavors I learned to do.
10:26I just want to pay homage to that experience.
10:28That's amazing.
10:29Yeah.
10:30I'm going to use a mold that looks like cracked ice.
10:33I'm going to do blue gel and then white chocolate truffles to resemble a snowball.
10:39How nice would it be for you to just crush this assignment and head right into the finale?
10:47Oh, that would be amazing.
10:48That would be the best thing that can happen today, really.
10:51Yeah, for sure.
10:52I can't wait for the gelato.
10:5490 minutes left in the semifinal master challenge.
10:58I'm starting assembling my ice cream cake.
11:03Honestly, I don't know.
11:04We'll see if it's going to sit on time.
11:05We'll see.
11:06We'll find out.
11:07I hope it does.
11:08And if it does, I'm going to be really happy.
11:11And if it doesn't, I'm going to be really sad.
11:17My ice cream looks great.
11:19So I'm going to start with my lemon cream.
11:21Blueberry can be really sweet.
11:23So I wanted to have a little bit of acidity.
11:24And then this is a blueberry swirl.
11:30I'm taking my passion food jelly for the top of my cake out of the mold.
11:38Man, it's not set at all.
11:41It's still liquid.
11:43To be honest, I don't know what happened.
11:46It needs to recreate the frozen water.
11:48This technique maybe is going to make the difference in between me and having to bake
11:53against someone.
11:53I need to get this right.
11:56This is a total mess.
12:04So my jelly didn't set.
12:06I definitely don't want to be in the bottom.
12:07So I'm just going to have to start over.
12:09I'm just going to boil it more and add a little bit more gelatin.
12:12So I'm using a ring because it was pretty tough actually to remove from this silicone mold.
12:17This is what makes a really great baker is to know how to fix the problem as soon as you
12:24can.
12:24The last four years with my business, I'm just figuring out problems and I solve it.
12:29That's basically what is helping me during this competition.
12:3530 minutes left.
12:38To make the iceberg, I'm going to use a technique where I build a cube out of acetate and I
12:44start
12:45heating the acetate from afar because what it does is shrinks the acetate and kind of makes these
12:50really organic flowing shapes.
12:52Oh, that's so cool.
12:53That's very cool.
12:54We're going to pray that it works.
12:56I've never done this before.
12:57If he's someone that can make that work, it's you, Molly.
13:00It's the semifinals.
13:01We've got four chefs left.
13:03I'll bring it back to you.
13:04No, don't worry.
13:04I don't need any more.
13:04Okay.
13:05Four different frozen world desserts.
13:08The top two go right into the finale.
13:10They're all thinking a little bit differently.
13:12Lots of different flavors, lots of different ingredients, lots of different construction.
13:17Visually, this is going to all look different too.
13:19They really have to show up.
13:22This is when you show out right now.
13:25Big time chefs, big desserts and big bags.
13:28And this is the biggest one yet.
13:32This is an extruder and what it does is helps me making really cool shapes.
13:38So they're always perfect.
13:40So especially when you're making really nice spaghetti type.
13:42So when I went to the glacier in Iceland, there was these sticks.
13:46So you have to hold it.
13:47So I'm going to be making that kind of like making a path of like when you walk around the
13:50glacier.
13:51Perfect.
13:54I'm going to do chocolate snowballs that when they break through it,
13:58that is the same thing of the cake in a truffle basically.
14:03I have my white chocolate shell, which I'm going to pipe the two different ice creams inside.
14:08I'm going to put some of the almond cake with a marzipan.
14:12I think my specialty is definitely chocolate.
14:15So I'm really focusing on doing the best presentation I can right now.
14:20There's a lot at stake.
14:34I'm trying to build my cave.
14:37It's white chocolate in the food processor, so it's going to set very fast.
14:48So right now I'm doing my little stalactite.
14:51This with chocolate too.
14:53This is the semi-final.
14:55I need to make sure the judges are going to really see this cave that was very realistic.
15:00Perfect.
15:01Only 15 minutes to go.
15:04Juan, what are you doing right now?
15:07I am creating rough shapes that looks like a glacier.
15:12So a gray glacier.
15:14The thing is that they are black or gray because it's the dirt.
15:18And am I going to scrape off some charcoal ice cream to see something blue underneath?
15:22No, the idea is really to make it really organic.
15:24Oh.
15:27I am freaking out right now that my cake doesn't look like a glacier.
15:31But this is the glacier that I saw in Iceland.
15:34So I'm hoping that the judges are going to appreciate it.
15:45This is a chocolate band.
15:48I wanted to represent the layers of the ocean, how it goes from really light to very dark.
15:56Is that your iceberg?
15:57That's my iceberg.
15:58I hope it comes out.
15:59Yeah.
16:01So as I'm going around here, I'm just trying to release the pressure of the acetate.
16:05It's a very organic shape.
16:10Oh my god.
16:12It broke a little.
16:15This is the semi-finals.
16:17Like I can't have broken chocolate garnishes.
16:20I'm going to spray it with cocoa butter so you don't have to temper it.
16:23It sets directly and it stays together.
16:27It's a little organic, but hey, we're going to go for it.
16:29Just 10 minutes left.
16:31Oh my god.
16:33So I'm going to unmold my passion food jelly for the top of my cake.
16:40I really need it to come out of the mold.
16:43I don't have time to make another one.
16:50Oh yeah.
16:51It's set and it looks great.
16:53I'm super happy about it.
16:56It looks pretty cool.
16:58I mean, it looks like a cake.
17:00Five minutes left.
17:06I'm trying to unmold the top of the cake.
17:10Oh no, it is completely stuck.
17:14Wow.
17:17Florencia's cake completely falling apart.
17:20Not a lot of time left.
17:21She's got to figure something out.
17:23I feel panic.
17:27So I immerse it in a bath of liquid nitrogen, hoping to give it an extra shock.
17:33So it's going to release from the mold.
17:40It's mold.
17:42It's terrible.
17:48It didn't work.
17:51It looks very rough when I take the mold out.
17:54Oh no.
17:55There is a high chance that it's definitely going to send me to the bake-off.
18:01Oh my God.
18:08The cake is falling apart.
18:11I'm starting to freak out because I have no backup plan.
18:15I decided to cover those edges with some extra cake I had.
18:20And then on the side, some chocolate decorations.
18:24I really hope I don't have to be in the bake-off.
18:26I really don't want to do that.
18:28It's going to be so stressful, but it's what it is.
18:35Two minutes left.
18:41Right now I'm sticking my black sesame crumble.
18:44The idea is to really bring the texture of a glacier, which is really crunchy, really cracking.
18:49It feels like you're about to fall into the ice.
18:5330 seconds.
18:55Pretty good.
18:56It's giving iceberg.
18:58My white chocolate truffle snowball.
19:02I pipe the blue gelatin to resemble sea ice.
19:07Five, four, three, two, one.
19:13That's it.
19:14Two of you have created finale-worthy desserts.
19:17It's time to find out who.
19:19I'm so nervous.
19:21Really not happy with the way it looks.
19:23But I'm pretty confident with the flavor.
19:25This is the most pressure I ever felt until now in the competition.
19:33All right, judges, it's time to taste these frozen world desserts.
19:36I'm so excited.
19:38Chef Clement.
19:39I got cave ice, and so on the top we have the cave out of chocolate and a very thin
19:47layer of passion food jelly to recreate the ice.
19:50You totally made a cave.
19:52Yes.
19:53I want to kind of get it there with my kids and like go hunting around.
19:57That's so cool.
19:59All right, let's give this ice cave a taste.
20:01Here you go.
20:03Whoa.
20:04Oh, that looks beautiful.
20:05That looks great.
20:06It looks beautiful.
20:07Merci.
20:07Nice Clement.
20:08Thank you, Chef.
20:09I made the coconut dakwaz, coconut truzel crunchy, mango sorbet, and a passion food jelly on the top.
20:18Seeing the ice cave, I was not expecting my mouth to take me to Hawaii.
20:24But I'm pleasantly surprised by that.
20:27That mango sorbet is the creamiest sorbet I've ever had.
20:31I don't think I've ever had a frozen dakwaz before.
20:37Love it, you know?
20:38Because like the texture of a dakwaz is like beautiful, right?
20:41Soft and kind of chewy.
20:42But frozen, it's like a sugar cookie almost.
20:46It's delicious.
20:48The only thing I want is a little bit more passion fruit.
20:52Really kind of amp up that acidity.
20:54It's pretty mellow.
20:57Thank you so much, guys.
20:57Thanks, Clement.
21:03See?
21:03It'll be great.
21:05Bellissimo.
21:08Chef Laurencia.
21:10I got this sea ice.
21:12I envision blocks of ice moving in the water.
21:16The center part, the square, really smart.
21:19I mean, that looks like sea ice breaking up.
21:22Once you get past the edges, though, it's just like, it's like pastry gone wrong.
21:26I know this doesn't look like the way you wanted it to.
21:29Yeah.
21:32They did almond and coconut cake, dark chocolate gelato with tonka bean, crunchy marzipan,
21:38and the coconut and yogurt sorbet.
21:43All the flavors are in such a nice flavor world together because you have the warmth of the
21:48coconut and the almond from the marzipan and that tang from the yogurt gives it a beautiful balance.
21:55The chocolate is really coming through.
21:57It's really nice.
21:59I agree with Jeff.
22:00This is one of the best chocolate ice creams I've ever had.
22:02Oh, mama mia.
22:04Thank you so much.
22:12I don't know what I see.
22:16Chef Molly.
22:18I had icebergs.
22:20I like that you have the three-dimensional top of the iceberg and then the bottom is more of like
22:27that hand-painted two-dimensional visual.
22:30The only thing is your chocolate kind of doesn't quite go all the way around.
22:34There's a big hole in the back of that iceberg.
22:37There is.
22:37It fell.
22:38It went into the water.
22:40Let's give it a taste.
22:41Okay.
22:43On the bottom, you have a white chocolate almond Fouilletique crunch,
22:47and then you have a lemon sponge with some thyme and lemon cream ice cream on top,
22:52a blueberry compote, and then a blueberry swirl gelato.
22:57I'm having a moment.
22:59The blueberry is truly front and center.
23:02The lemon and the almond are supporting.
23:05It's light, but it's still like creamy and luscious and smooth and velvety.
23:09And you're right.
23:10I mean, the blueberries are right up front.
23:13Good job.
23:13Yeah.
23:14The only thing I'd say is that the whole thing is relatively sweet.
23:18You know, it could use a little bit of salt.
23:20Really nice job.
23:21Thank you so much, guys.
23:23Thanks, Molly.
23:28Good job, Molly.
23:29You killed it.
23:30Thank you, guys.
23:31I'm feeling pretty good about my flavors.
23:34The only thing I'm worried about is the messiness.
23:36There's a possibility I could be in third place.
23:39Okay.
23:42Juan, welcome back.
23:43I got the glacier.
23:45I really want to take inspiration on my trip that I did to Iceland.
23:52Duff.
23:53I don't know.
23:54Like, to me, it doesn't really scream glacier.
23:57It looks like a rock.
23:59When I went to Iceland, when you see a glacier, it's not actually pretty and white.
24:04It's actually just rocks and a bunch of dirt.
24:07I've seen glaciers all over.
24:10Never really seen one that looks like that.
24:13She's not going to be happy when she comes back.
24:15He's not, no.
24:16All right, Juan.
24:18Let's cut it open.
24:19Let's do this.
24:21We're going to have chocolate sponge, mochi pieces, buttermilk ice cream,
24:26charcoal ice cream, black sesame praline with a black sesame crunch.
24:32The ice cream is beautiful, man.
24:35Really soft, really creamy, just luscious.
24:38Sponge is really tender, a really good chocolate flavor.
24:42Mochi kind of throws me off a little bit.
24:44I'm not sure if I would put that in something frozen.
24:47Black sesame is my favorite flavor in the entire world.
24:52But you have so many elements going on that the charcoal is getting masked.
24:58Oh, my God.
25:00All right, Juan.
25:01Thank you so much.
25:02Thank you, chef.
25:05I really brought everything that I can into securing my spot in the finale,
25:10and I'm just hoping it's going to pay off.
25:13All right, judges, if you feel like you're ready, you can put in your scores.
25:16You've each got 15 points to award.
25:18Just to remind you here, you're judging these chefs to find out which two of them
25:21will go right to the finale and which two will have to go to an elimination skills challenge.
25:36Chefs, the judges thoroughly evaluated your frozen world desserts.
25:39The two chefs with the highest scores will earn a ticket to the ultimate baking championship finale.
25:46Out of 30 possible points, let's see who got the top score.
26:01Clemon, you will advance to the finale.
26:06I really give my best during this whole competition, and now I'm going to the final.
26:12That's amazing.
26:13Like, I'm so happy.
26:15You know, my mom's going to be so proud of me when she's going to see that.
26:21Now, one other chef will be going straight through to the championship as well,
26:25and the two chefs on the bottom will have to fight it out in a do-or-die skills challenge.
26:30So let's get to it.
26:41Oh, my God.
26:49Molly, your second-place finish means you will join Clemon in the finale.
26:54How do you feel?
26:55It feels really surreal.
26:57If you would have asked me last time, I would have said no way, so I'm really proud of myself.
27:01Good job, Molly.
27:03Good job.
27:05Juan and Florencia, one of you is going to be eliminated from this competition.
27:10And to find out who, you'll now have to face off in a skills challenge.
27:16Each of you will create a plate of dessert that features a frozen center.
27:21That frozen center must be encased in a delicate edible shell
27:25that is designed to melt away dramatically under a warm pour.
27:31The judges will have 10 points apiece to award to your desserts, and it's very simple.
27:36The points awarded will not be added to your previous score, making this an all-or-nothing challenge.
27:44So the chef with the highest score in this skills challenge alone will advance to the finale.
27:50And there's one more thing you should know.
27:52This is going to be a blind judging.
27:56The judges won't know who created which dessert.
27:58Clemon, Molly, you can both watch this battle from the back kitchen.
28:02We're going to crush it.
28:04Good luck.
28:07Juan, Florencia, you have 90 minutes to earn your way back into contention.
28:13Let the baking time begin.
28:18It all comes down to this.
28:20This has to be the best dessert I ever did.
28:32It is a little bit surprising maybe to some that Juan finds himself in this position right now,
28:37in this elimination skills challenge.
28:40I think he was probably the odds-on favorite to get that bid into the finale.
28:44There were some missteps in our master challenge.
28:47He finds himself here now, one bake away from potentially going home.
28:51It has to be daunting, though, if you're Florencia, right?
28:54Not only are you in this do-or-die skills challenge, but you're going up against Juan.
28:59It's got to be tough.
29:01Oh, my God.
29:02Okay, Alora.
29:04Juan is very strong about flavors, textures.
29:08That's chocolate, sugar, everything, really.
29:11It's all good.
29:13And so my strategy is to do something I'm comfortable with that is going to showcase my strengths.
29:20So I'm going to be doing chocolate spheres.
29:22I'm doing a passion fruit and the asinat semifreddo.
29:25And I'm going to do a microwave sponge cake.
29:28It's going to be encapsulated in a dark chocolate shell.
29:31And then some asinat crumble on the bottom, which is going to melt with some passion fruit sauce.
29:37Okay, passion fruit.
29:40Semifreddo is in between a mousse and a frozen dessert.
29:43So it's a texture that is frozen, but it's still very spawnable.
29:48This dessert was one of the signatures of the restaurant I used to work at.
29:53So I know the flavors are going to be good.
29:55I just hope that this is good enough to get the last spot in the finale.
30:00Mamma mia, this is like the most stressful thing I ever did.
30:15Mamma mia, this is going to be good.
30:22I'm going to be doing a vanilla sponge, a raspberry compote, a raspberry pink peppercorn streusel.
30:28For my frozen element, I'm going to be doing mascarpone cream cheese semifreddo.
30:32I'm going to be encased it with chocolate shell. I'm going to make a full flour out of it.
30:36The element to be dropped on top will be raspberry pink peppercorn sauce.
30:41I love the flavor and the sweetness that the pink peppercorn gives to fruit.
30:45So I'm really just continue bringing both flavors into the competition.
30:50No time to stop. Just continue pushing.
30:52It's high stakes.
30:53They're both in their own heads. I know they are. I would be so in my head.
30:57I mean, I know they're both incredibly talented and they're both going to put something unreal out.
31:02Florencia, tell me, what are you doing over here?
31:04I'm tempering the chocolate for the element that is going to be melting.
31:08It's going to be like a chocolate sphere.
31:10How are you going to decorate it?
31:11I will not.
31:13I will just put the sphere on the plate.
31:15I'm going to keep them wondering what's inside.
31:17Is it a strategic decision on your part to really go minimalist with this?
31:21Yes.
31:21It's very risky at this point to be minimal,
31:25but I really want to showcase my chocolate work.
31:28How are you feeling, understanding what's at stake right now?
31:31Oh my God, I feel so stressed and mostly because I'm against one, which is like the chef.
31:36Well, beside the two that are already in the final, the one that I admire the most.
31:42Oh, thank you.
31:43You've been going 100 miles an hour since the very, very first bake.
31:47Do you have enough gas left in the tank for one more here to get to the finale?
31:51I think, yes. I'm taking all the energy left and putting it into this.
32:04Right now, I am doing my chocolate shell that will melt.
32:07I need a really thin layer of that.
32:09The challenge is something that needs to melt.
32:11The chocolate is too thick.
32:13It's not going to melt completely and that can send me home.
32:16So I have my mascarpone cream cheese semifreddo, raspberry compote, my sponge.
32:24I am putting the raspberry king peppercorn crunch on top.
32:28I really need to get this in the blast freezer so it can set in time.
32:34Just 30 minutes remaining now in your final skills challenge.
32:37I'm working on the passion fruit sauce.
32:42How are you doing, Juan?
32:43I'm about to make my raspberry chocolate middles.
32:47I really want to be in the finale, so I need to push myself to show off an extra technique.
32:55I'm thinking to do some bonbons.
32:57Right now, I'm doing the ganache for the bonbons.
33:00It's going to be a passion fruit, hazelnut, and black sesame seed.
33:07I am going to finish with my petals.
33:10The rose is extremely important to me because my mom always loved flowers,
33:15and flowers to me are always going to have the most huge significance.
33:19Okay.
33:20That's risky to do all those petals and hope they come off.
33:23She can't break any of them.
33:24Nope.
33:25I know it's really fragile.
33:27I know it can break at any time, but I really want to showcase this for my mom.
33:3315 minutes to go to redeem yourself with a frozen surprise dessert.
33:38Perfect, perfect.
33:39I'm going to cover the semifreddo with some edible gold to step up my game and make it more elegant.
33:49Right now, I'm making the center of my flower.
33:52I'm spraying with the white chocolate cocoa butter.
33:56And then I'm using some yellow luster dust to give it the feeling of the call-in.
34:01Five minutes left.
34:03You can tell the level of focus that they both have right now.
34:07They knock this thing out of the park.
34:09They're going into the finale.
34:10This is really where they both have to dig deep.
34:13To assemble my flowers, I am going to finish with my petals.
34:17And I have to do one by one, really fragile.
34:20Oh my God.
34:21Oh, this is so hard to watch.
34:2830 seconds.
34:30They are fighting for their life right now.
34:35This is orange jelly to look like a dew drop.
34:37Five, four, three, two, one.
34:43Time is up.
34:46Chefs, the judges will be tasting your desserts blind.
34:49So please exit the kitchen for now.
34:52Great job.
34:52You are amazing.
34:53I want to hug them too.
34:55Me too.
34:56I'm so honored to do this with you.
34:59You guys did it.
35:00You guys did great.
35:01Oh my God.
35:04I know I baked with my heart.
35:06Watching you guys, that felt more stressful than the first challenge you did.
35:09Now that I'm so close to it, I really want it.
35:12Like, I have to make it.
35:14You guys should feel really proud of yourselves.
35:15I'm happy with what I've done.
35:17I've been really killing every single challenge and showcasing a lot of technique.
35:21It's all now up to one dessert.
35:27Duff and Molly, this skills challenge will determine which of these two chefs go to the finale.
35:32Time for you both to go to the frozen center of two extraordinary desserts.
35:36This is going to be a blind judging.
35:38Let's talk about the first dessert.
35:40Duff will start with you.
35:41How does this look?
35:43This is dramatic.
35:46It is so impactful.
35:48I love the way that the hazelnut crunch on the bottom
35:52is creating this textural contrast to the very smooth chocolate.
35:57Oh, yeah.
35:58You feel like you're ready to get interactive with this dessert?
36:00I am, Chef.
36:01100%.
36:01White chocolate passion fruit sauce.
36:07We have meltage.
36:10Oh.
36:11Oh.
36:13Oof.
36:15There you go.
36:16We've got it.
36:16All right, you are tasting for chocolate sphere with passion fruit semi-fredo,
36:21hazelnut crumble, praline microwave cake, hazelnut and black sesame seed bonbons,
36:26and white chocolate passion fruit sauce.
36:30Mmm.
36:31All of these flavors together are balanced perfectly.
36:35The semi-fredo is tangy and then the nuttiness of the hazelnut at the bottom kind of bringing up the
36:41undertones of everything.
36:43It's a stunning dessert.
36:45Nice.
36:46This was the good, dark, earthy chocolate.
36:49It was really rich.
36:50Man, you put this passion fruit on top of it.
36:53Just perfect.
36:55The one thing I'm missing from this, the black sesame.
36:59I didn't really taste it.
37:00All right, judges.
37:03It's time to taste this final dessert.
37:05Presentation.
37:06How does this dessert look?
37:08This is absolutely beautiful.
37:11Design-wise, it is so simple, but so clean.
37:15It's so pretty.
37:16I really love the color.
37:18I love the little bit of sparkle all over it.
37:20It makes it feel more realistic, like a real flower.
37:24Let's do the sauce.
37:25Pink peppercorn chocolate sauce.
37:28A little little flower.
37:29You can do it.
37:37The chocolate sauce kind of stayed right on top of the dome,
37:41and it didn't really reveal anything.
37:44Okay.
37:44No.
37:45You're tasting for vanilla sponge,
37:47mascarpone cream cheese semifreddo, raspberry compote,
37:50pink peppercorn raspberry crunch,
37:52and pink peppercorn chocolate sauce.
37:54She's loving it.
37:56The semifreddo is creamy, really crunchy bottom,
37:59and then the snappy chocolate.
38:02I cannot imagine a more perfect combination of textures.
38:06Yes.
38:07The thing about this dessert that confuses me is that
38:09this was supposed to be a frozen dessert.
38:11Like, I was expecting to get that coldness
38:14in between the hot sauce and the cake and everything else,
38:16and that wasn't there, let alone something
38:19that has this theatrical element to it.
38:22If you feel like you're ready, you can input your scores.
38:25There's 20 points at stake for each dessert.
38:28Okay.
38:36Juan and Florencia, you have created so many stunning pastries
38:40over the course of this competition, but it's your frozen surprise desserts alone
38:45that will decide who will advance to the final stage of the competition.
38:49But before we reveal your scores, I know the judges are dying to know who made which frozen dessert.
38:56So, who is the chef behind this semifreddo with pink peppercorn?
38:59That was me.
39:01That was me.
39:02Juan!
39:02Wow.
39:03The clean, minimalist plating made everything look so elegant.
39:08Thank you, chef.
39:09Florencia, your chocolate sphere was so incredibly beautiful.
39:15Okay, chefs, it's now time for the scores.
39:19The chef with a higher score will advance to the finale.
39:23Let's see who got the top score.
39:36Florencia, you are going to the finale.
39:39Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.
39:45Juan, you had an absolutely incredible run.
39:50Like I always say, it's not about winning.
39:51It's about being memorable.
39:52So, I hope I at least did that.
39:54Well, you were absolutely that.
39:57Congratulations.
40:00I'm just praying.
40:03I am really happy with what I did.
40:05I'm really proud with everything that I did.
40:07I'm just happy that I was able to showcase my love for my craft, and I did it all my
40:12style.
40:12It was an honor to do this video.
40:14No, no, it was mine.
40:15This competition was so great, and I learned so much about myself, and
40:20just going to really just continue working on my craft and just continue following my dream.
40:28Thanks.
40:38Florencia, how are you feeling?
40:41I'm, of course, like, it's becoming, like, very difficult to, like, go against these chefs.
40:50I'm feeling so happy.
40:53I can't believe it.
40:54I just can't believe it.
40:55Well, does winning that skills challenge give you some confidence now heading into the finale?
41:00Yeah, of course.
41:01Yeah.
41:02That was, oh, my God.
41:04Mamma mia.
41:05That was so stressful.
41:09All right.
41:10Congratulations, chefs.
41:12The three of you will be competing to become the ultimate baking champion.
41:17What?
41:18Let's do it.
41:19Oh, that's crazy.
41:21Off you go.
41:21Get some rest.
41:22Thank you guys.
41:22Thank you so much.
41:23Come on, come on, give it to you, dude.
41:31Next time.
41:32They look great.
41:33Welcome to the ultimate baking championship finale.
41:37Now we're talking.
41:38Today is the most important bake of your lives.
41:41I really want it.
41:42I have to do what I got to do to survive. Just one more, you know, to get to the
41:47win.
41:47Drop the mic.
41:50Yeah.
41:51Reckless.
41:53This cake is kind of shocking.
41:55It is absolutely the best thing you've made.
41:57Wow.
41:58Only one of you is going to leave here today.
42:00The ultimate baking champion.
42:03Wow.
42:03Woo!
42:04Yeah!
42:05Yeah!
42:05Yeah!
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