Original subtitles

VOICEOVER: Previously on Dessert Masters,

I'm going to go all out. It is a brave move, Darren,

and I like it.

..took Australian classics...

They don't always look the most glamorous, but to perfect them

is incredibly difficult.

..and made them modern marvels.

MELISSA LEONG: It's fantastic!

It is so sexy.

I freaking love it.

I would finish the whole plate,

which is very rare for me.

But we had to say goodbye to Donato.

You guys are a different level. I just make ice-cream.

You make more than ice-cream -

you make magic. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Tonight,

prepare to be amazed

with the most stupendous,

showstopping,

gravity-defying desserts

you've ever seen.

Oh, how cool is this?

Very.

Are you ready to blow some minds?

They're gonna love this.

It's showtime.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

Oh, my God!

Amazing!

I've got goose bumps.

REECE: What?!

Wow!

Walking into the kitchen,

it's not even a kitchen anymore -

it's a circus.

It's awesome.

EMELIA: Oh! OK, OK.

Oh, my God. What is going on?

CHRISTY: Oh, God. No, no, no. Don't break your neck.

Oh, that's cool!

DARREN: Hey! Amazing.

I don't know where to look.

There's stuff going on all over the place.

Whoa! Whoa, look at that!

Oh, look at that guy in the middle.

Wow!

Wow, this is insane.

That is talent. I'm telling you that.

Oh, no. I don't think my knees will hold out.

Darren, your turn. (LAUGHS) Yeah, yeah.

No worries.

People are, like, snapping, bending.

There's some guy, like...

Wow! I want to be as flexible as him.

Are you serious? I can't even, like, touch my toes.

Oh! Whoa! Look at his body.

Oh!

So cool.

DARREN: I don't know where to look. Me neither.

REECE: There's a lot going on right now.

There's a lot.

I'm not ready for this. Look at this.

DARREN: That's amazing. DAN: That's amazing.

Wow! REECE: So cool.

Oh! We're so lucky.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

ALISHA: Wow!

What a spectacle!

Wow!

These amazing artists are from Cirque du Soleil,

who are celebrating 25 years of performing around Australia.

Let's thank them by putting our hands together one last time.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

What a wonderful inspiration.

Reece, did that make you feel all the feels?

Yeah, I'm shook.

(LAUGHTER) I'm very overwhelmed.

I had people jumping, bending, snapping - all the things, like...

I have a feeling that you know how to do a bend and snap, though.

Oh, please. Oh, don't...don't you...

Do you want to show us? No.

Please show us. Show us! Show us!

AMAURY: Reece! Reece! (LAUGHTER)

Let's all do it. OK, yeah.

OK, everyone. DAN: Yeah. OK, we'll do it.

EMELIA: Even I'll buy in.

And then snap! Snap.

(LAUGHTER)

That was amazing.

Tonight, we want you to use that performance as your inspiration.

Cook us a dish that celebrates the fun and theatre

that a circus can bring.

OK, guys. You will have 2.5 hours.

Whoever brings us the best dish will be immune

from the next elimination.

Your time...

..starts...

..now.

(LAUGHTER)

EMELIA: My goodness, this is hectic.

DAN: Where is the cocoa powder?

Mel, I need an orange, please.

Is this one cute enough? That's perfect. Thank you.

OK. Shop until you drop, Mel.

Hoopla! Alright.

We're gonna quit while we're ahead.

EMELIA: I think this challenge is so difficult because this brief

is so open to interpretation.

(HUMS QUIETLY)

But having seen the performance in the kitchen this evening,

I am just so drawn to the movement I saw, the bright, warm colours.

My mind instantly goes to circus with my grandma.

She bought us toffee apples.

I want to do a toffee-apple dessert.

We've asked the contestants to be inspired by the fun

and the theatre of Cirque du Soleil, but it's a pretty open brief.

What are you expecting to see?

Living in Vegas,

I've seen many, many Cirque du Soleil show!

Oh, you would have. And they are all stunning,

about elegance, colour and movement. Yes!

So, if I don't see juggling balls, beautiful balloons or something

that reminds me of circus, I don't see it.

Yeah.

But will the visual take over the taste experience?

I think it's also one of my worries. Yes.

Hey, Jana. Hey!

JANA: Hello. What are you making?

My dish is called Circus.

So, firstly, what do we eat when we go to the circus?

Popcorn.

I love eating popcorn and toffee apples,

so I'm going to try and incorporate those into my dish today.

I want to make a red and white ball

because that often signifies a circus for me.

And then, I saw that the guy was on a unicycle.

Well, I don't know, I didn't count the wheels.

No, it was a bicycle, but that's OK. Two, OK?

So, I'm going to make a unicycle out of sugar.

I mean, you're a champion at this.

Sugar work is something that you know extremely well.

This is the first time I get to really see you display

the heights of your skills.

So, we want to see it.

I hope I can bring it. (LAUGHS)

As you know, sugar work, very difficult to get

a perfect optical illusion.

So, if the monocycle works, great.

If it doesn't work, you might end up just with a sphere.

Exactly.

It's sort of make-or-break for your dish, right?

It's literally... Yeah, it could literally break.

Good luck, Jana. Thank you.

It smells good over here.

All those gorgeous, warm, toasty spices.

JOHN: Yes, yes. I can see them infusing in milk.

Yeah. Nice infusion here, then I'm going to make a ganache.

I'm inspired by Luzia, which is the most recent Cirque du Soleil set

in Mexico, so I'm going to use that

for my flavour combinations. Oh, wow!

So that chocolate and spice kind of...?

Yeah, exactly. And maybe even a little bit of tequila.

Oh, well, we would definitely welcome that.

What's the dish, though?

The dish is, like, completely out of my...my skill set.

But I'm going to...I'm going to try.

I'll try and re-enact the scene of when we first walked

into the kitchen.

And I'm going to try and make a chocolate stage to look at.

It's a piece.

And then, the idea is that there's chocolate bonbons to eat.

Oh, that's very, very cool. Yes.

So, it's not a plated dessert. It's not a gateau.

It's chocolate bonbons? Bonbons, yes.

Ooh! Yes.

Wow! First time in this competition.

Yeah. That's a lot of work,

and it's a lot of chocolate. Yeah, that's why it looks like this.

So... (LAUGHS) Yes. I love chocolate work.

Everything has to be perfect, thin, snappy.

The textures must be on point. No pressure.

You OK with that? Yeah.

We've seen you produce some beautiful food in here.

We've also seen different facets to who you are.

I'm looking forward to seeing yet another one this evening.

Chocolate John. Chocolate John.

Chocolate John. Do it.

Good luck, John. Thank you.

Making a dish like this is super risky.

Not only am I trying to create a stage,

which I haven't really done before,

I'm also trying to create bonbons

for Amaury, the chocolate master.

I would do these over two or three days,

but instead I'm doing it in 2.5 hours,

so I really, really hope I can get it done.

REECE: Today, I want to step out of my comfort zone,

and I want to show the judges I'm not one-dimensional.

Like, I have tricks up my sleeve and skills that I don't always use,

but they're there.

Reece. Hello.

Do you plan to 'Cirque du Slay'?

'Circus du Slay'! That's sick, yeah.

I want to.

So, today, I'm doing my, um...

# Duh-duh-duh! #

..um...

# Duh-duh-duh! #

..my first plated dessert.

Hey!

Um, I'm excited about it.

I love decorating cakes, but I also used to be a pastry chef,

so I love doing plated desserts.

So, hopefully, today you see a bit more refined finesse from me.

So, my dish is going to be a circus of ribbons.

Um, it's got a, um, ruby chocolate and rhubarb mousse.

It's got a raspberry sorbet.

And the dish is brought together with beautiful ribbons

out of rhubarb.

And they'll give some really cool, like, architecture to the plate.

Well, it's the last immunity of the competition, so let's hope

you can tie it all up in a bow. Oh. (LAUGHS)

"Tie it up!" Thanks, Mel.

Thank you.

The plated-dessert game in this competition

is, like, next-level.

We have, like, John, Mr Fine Dining Champion,

Darren Purchese.

Everyone is just killing it, to be honest.

So, I'm excited to try and throw my hat in the ring

and, yeah, compete with the big boys, you know?

Two bowls, Reece-y?

Mate, I'm smashing through the bowls.

Roll up, roll up!

You have two hours to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Woo-woo-woo!

Hi. (LAUGHS)

Melsy, you can't put sharps in the sink.

EMELIA: What did I put in there?

Is this something you've done again?

What?

ALISHA: You two are like an old married couple back here, honestly.

Yeah, because he's sitting here, bitching me out for stealing his peeler.

It was a mandolin. I haven't used the mandolin. Neither.

Yeah, you are. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS)

CHRISTY: For today's challenge, I'm thinking to create a dish

that defies the law of gravity.

It's basically comprised of a Black Forest cake...

Sorry guys, sorry guys, sorry guys, sorry guys.

..which I know is Amaury's favourite cake.

So that's a big risk.

Plus, what I got from this circus is this sense of terrifying,

exhilarating and fun at the same time.

And that's what I'm trying to create in my dish.

Hey, Christy.

How are you guys? What's the dish? What are you making?

My dessert today is called All Eyes On Me.

On the middle of the ring, just like a circus.

I'm making Black Forest...

Traditional Black Forest. Yes!

I like it. I like that.

I mean, this guy has huge expectations.

It's a traditional look, but this Black Forest

will be balancing on two balls.

Two chocolate balls.

On a chocolate stage as well.

And a little bit of...

If I have time, I'll put, er...

..fairy lights around it.

Wow.

OK, so you're going to see a Black Forest cake, balancing...

Balancing on two... ..precariously on some chocolate work.

Two balls. Like, two balls, yeah.

If there is a flaw, the entire cake collapses,

you have nothing to present us, so it is a big risk.

Yeah.

We want to see the boat really being pushed out,

but that's a huge risk to take.

DAN: All done.

Oh! Hang on. (LAUGHS)

No...

No! Don't bend! OK. OK.

Yay!

Emelia. Hello.

What are you doing today?

I'm doing a tarte Tatin.

So, very classic flavours.

I've got the apple layered and caramelising in the oven.

I have a short crust on the base. OK.

And then, a sour-cream ice-cream

to bring some lightness.

Ah-ha. OK.

So, French technique, that's where you are being you in this dish.

Absolutely, yeah.

What was your inspiration for tonight?

Um...

..I actually used to go to the circus every year with my grandma.

My bubbe used to actually buy us a toffee apple at the circus

because it was the one thing that Mum never let us have.

And, like, my grandma knew that.

Um, so it really, um...

..gets me.

I can see that that means a lot to you.

And I know... I mean, we love that.

We love dishes that make the maker feel something

because then we feel something. Yeah.

And I would like to feel pushing these emotions

far, deep into my body.

I'm inviting you to do the opposite today.

Put all of that love into this dessert

in the Cirque du Soleil context, and you're flying.

Yeah. Yeah?

Thanks, Mel. Good luck, Emelia.

She was the best grandma.

She was a real, real firecracker.

Like, she had to do everything herself.

She was wildly stubborn.

Like, she and I are very alike.

Bubbe would be blown away to see what I was doing now.

She really would be.

I always get emotional when I think of my grandma.

She was like my second mother. She...

(SNIFFS)

..was the first person who I lost

that really meant something to me.

So, I always find it really hard to talk about her.

REECE: This place is a bloody tear-jerker, mate.

It is a tear-jerker. It's not for me.

You only have 1.5 hours to go.

Come on! Come on!

Today, I'm going to be making carnival,

and I'll have the flavours of raspberry cheesecake,

and there's also going to be a hot doughnut with jam.

What's the dish?

DAN: So, I'm going to make a dark-chocolate cake

with some raspberry and passionfruit.

And then, on top of it,

you will see some juggling balls made of chocolate.

Good luck, Dan.

ALISHA: I'm making a Cirque du Soleil-inspired cake.

I've got mango salsas, two variants of mango mousse.

They're all going to get whipped up into these gorgeous sponges

in the shape of a dome.

I'm using the colours of the ribbons here,

those oranges and yellows.

REECE: Are you making bonbons?

JOHN: I'm trying!

I'm sweating, Reece.

You're sweating? Whew!

Go, Jean! Hey!

Go, Jean!

Bonbons look like just such a little item,

but it's really terrifying,

trying to make bonbons in 2.5 hours.

You need to polish your moulds.

You need to temper your cocoa butter, paint the shells,

line them with chocolate, make your fillings, cool them down,

fill the bonbons, let them rest,

cap them off.

And on top of that,

I'm going to do three bonbons

to be eaten in progression.

The first one is going to be lime coconut,

with a splash of tequila.

Second one is a pumpkin, sunflower, sesame seed and nougat.

And the third one is like a mole -

burnt spices and a hazelnut in the middle.

It's really important to get all of my fillings made.

I need to temper my chocolate and line my shells.

I'm really hoping that this risk pays off.

I still think it's a crazy idea, but I'm committed now.

JANA: I'm really happy with how the cake elements

are coming together.

I have a popcorn miso praline

and a caramelised white-chocolate corn mousse,

as well as a popcorn crumble.

I've put that into the freezer,

and now I can focus on my sugar work.

So, the unicycle is going to be made out of poured sugar.

I hope I don't disappoint.

To make the sugar work for my unicycle,

I pour my sugar slowly

so that I don't go over the edges and I don't have to do them again.

There are so many things that could go wrong with sugar work.

If you take it off too early, it's going to be too soft

and lose its shape.

Or too long, it's going to shatter.

This is the worst part.

So, you need to master quite a few things

in order to really manipulate your sugar and create

what you have in your imagination.

I really want it to work.

OK, I'm gonna watch you the entire time.

30 minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE)

(CLATTERING) ALISHA: Great.

Love that.

No snacks for us now, Dan.

Oh, dammit! No leftover for me?

(CLATTERING)

Did you just drop something, too?

What is happening on this bench today?

I know right? Chaos.

There is still a lot of things to get covered.

There's a lot of pressure going on out there.

What do you think about Jana's sugar work?

There is not much time left, but she is a pro at this.

I want to see some ribbon.

I want to see more than just a wheel.

I haven't seen much about Reece.

I've seen bits of Reece's work.

I haven't seen how it's coming together yet.

The first time he's doing a plated dessert.

Yes. So, it's definitely a bit

outside of his comfort zone, which is what we wanted.

But can he pull it off? Mmm.

Can we talk about Christy?

And she's building the structural parts of her cake that will allow it

to float and be balanced on the spheres.

How is she going, in your opinion?

She puts everything in the blast freezer

in order to accelerate the setting process.

You need the cold for the chocolate to set.

Sure. But her pillar, so thin,

in the blast freezer -

that creates microfractures.

And if this is the only structural element,

I am really scared when she puts the cake on

if the thing is not going to collapse.

Ooh, I mean, that's a huge risk to take.

EMELIA: OK, so...

I've just pulled my apple tureens out of the oven.

I've got the base for that, which is a pastry, chilling.

And now, I'm making the ice-cream.

I'm using sour cream in my ice-cream to temper out the sweetness

from that toffee apple.

I need to make sure I'm hitting all of those sour, fresh notes.

But I also need to elevate this dish

because this is the last immunity of the competition.

I'm thinking about the plating, and I am really drawn

to the warm tones that I'm seeing all around me.

So, I want my apple tarte Tatin to be totally covered

in these gorgeous red twills.

I'm folding them. I'm bending them.

I'm crushing them up.

They are going to add the colour and movement that I saw

in this evening's performance.

I know I've got, you know, my inspiration for circus,

but I want to really hit that brief visually, as well.

OK, so rhubarb.

For my first plated dessert,

I want it to look really beautiful,

but also taste amazing.

I'm pretty happy with the elements I've done.

I'm happy with my raspberry mousse that's setting in the blast chiller.

Happy with my sorbets.

Yum!

And I'm working on my candy rhubarb ribbons.

And this is an integral part of my dish.

Ribbon away!

To make my ribbons,

I poach them in a little bit of sugar syrup,

and then dry them out in the oven.

Then, really carefully, twirl them up so they set

into beautiful ribbons.

Mels, I've hijacked your top oven.

This is my main component to hit the brief today,

so I'm taking my time.

I'm not getting distracted.

I'm trying to make sure they look as perfect as possible.

JOHN: Aargh!

Oh, my goodness.

The clock is definitely against me.

My stage is setting.

My water is setting.

I've got all my bonbons filled,

and now I need to cap them off.

And hopefully, they set in time.

Pressure's on with Amaury.

He's definitely been involved, so he knows what I'm doing,

so there's no hiding now.

Chocolate John? Well, let's see if I live up to it.

10 minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE)

Hey, Melsy, look - I'm a chocolatier.

(BOTH LAUGH)

I'm starting to impress myself.

So, the chocolates spheres, they look good.

I love the colour.

I feel pretty nervous

because I'm literally serving chocolate to the chocolate guy.

Doughnuts are really good.

Puffed up. Nice.

Just made a raspberry tuile. Got it in the oven.

And this is going to be my plate made out of, um, isomalt and sugar.

ALISHA: The cake is looking really good.

Flavours are really mango-y, so my elements are almost done.

It's just a lot of those decorations and pulling it all together.

CHRISTY: So, I have all the components ready.

So, now, I need to build this dish.

And I'm thinking of submitting my resume to Cirque du Soleil

because it's like I'm being an engineer, an electrician.

And if all goes well in this balancing act,

I'm an acrobat, as well.

Oh, my God, look at me!

That's as stripy as you can get for 2.5 hours.

So, I need to quickly construct the sphere together,

and...yeah...

..hopefully, be on time.

And now, I place the balls to create the illusion,

as if they are balancing on top of each other.

I have to get the chocolate stand on top.

I am happy with how it looks,

but if it's not strong enough,

I will basically have no dish.

So, just have to bring the cake on top of this.

If this falls, literally, there's nothing I can do.

So, this is the moment of truth.

If this falls...

I... Literally, there's nothing I can do.

It stays.

But that's only the first part...

..because I still need to do the decorations.

And somehow, I have to bring this five-kilo monstrosity

in front of Amaury and Mel.

Let's get the show on the road, guys.

Five minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE)

(SIGHS)

EMELIA: I have to start plating up my apple tarte Tatin.

I'm really happy with all of the components of my dessert.

I have my apple caramel.

I get the sable biscuit on the base of the plate,

and I top it with that toffee apple.

I start delicately placing all of the tuiles

over the toffee apple to cover the entire thing.

And there is a quenelle of the ice-cream on the side.

I think I've got the flavour of the circus in there,

and I've been able to balance the sweetness of that toffee apple

with my sour-cream ice-cream.

So good.

I think my bubbe would absolutely love this.

She was a sucker for sweets,

so, yeah, I think she'd be very proud.

It's time to try and do my ribbons.

Yeah, I've pulled out a few of the ribbons, and they...

Oh! They're just so cute!

Like, I love them so much.

As I'm plating up, I just want to make sure

that my first plated dessert looks stunning.

I put my beautiful mousse on the plate and I get my sorbet.

It is silky smooth.

I'm literally so stoked with it.

And the last thing I want to put on my plate

is my candied rhubarb ribbons.

The ribbons.

Oh, they look so good.

They are the kind of architecture of this dish.

It's honestly my favourite part.

I'm actually really excited.

I'm giving circus, and I'm giving ribbon.

Like that.

JANA: I need to assemble my unicycle.

I am watching and testing it.

And as soon as I see that the texture is right,

I pull off my sugar wheel very carefully...

..and stick my wheel together.

Get that on the base before any trouble happens.

I've managed to finish those ribbons as well,

and I think it looks pretty good.

I want to do sugar so badly.

I know, me, too. It's an addiction. Oh, yeah.

Now I focus on finishing my popcorn and apple petit gateau.

And I'm happy.

It looks like it belongs in the circus.

No more time to clown around.

One minute to go!

(APPLAUSE)

JOHN: I'm just finishing my chocolate stage,

and then I'm going to start putting on the chocolate.

Yeah, I'm happy with the way all the chocolate work's turned out.

I've just got to build it together now.

My stage is looking great.

I've shaved it back to give that concrete effect,

and I put water on top,

and then just finish it off with the bonbons.

Honestly, I'm feeling really proud that I managed to get bonbons up

in 2.5 hours.

If you asked me a week ago if I would do this,

I would say no way, but here we are.

Show is over in 10...

BOTH: Nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four,

three, two,

one!

Done. (APPLAUSE)

Ha-ha-ha-ha! (BOTH LAUGH)

Oh.

Wow.

The first dish we'd like to try

belongs to Emelia.

(APPLAUSE)

Hello.

Hey!

Wow!

She's pretty.

You're so French. (CHUCKLES)

What have you called it?

I've called this my Toffee Tarte Tatin.

So, we have a tureen of apples,

a sour rhubarb gel,

and on the base is a sable served with a sour-cream vanilla ice-cream

and rhubarb and honey tuiles.

As soon as I heard circus,

it just resonated so strongly with me.

Bubbe would always buy us a toffee apple at the circus.

Um, and so I wanted to recreate that feeling for myself.

Super cool.

Did you do it?

It took me there, yeah.

(TUILES CRACKLE)

Hoopla!

Ooh, that's pretty.

That's a Tatin.

Uh...

..I freaking love this.

It's just spot-on.

You have a way of mixing deliciousness and simplicity.

Everything is delicious.

All the flavours are there.

The textures are perfect.

You really taste, like, a tarte Tatin.

The sour-cream ice-cream is so surprisingly good

and so well paired with the tatin.

This is just perfection.

Mmm.

Mmm!

I've never heard that happen before either.

Mmm! Mmm!

You'll see it happen rarely, but sometimes I get goose bumps,

and this is definitely goose-bump worthy.

Can you tell that he likes it?

Your grandma should be proud.

It's phenomenal.

Thank you so much.

I know the amount of, you know, times you've questioned why you're here

in this kitchen,

but I don't taste any of that in here.

What I taste is pure accomplishment.

What I taste is someone at the height of their powers

who knows exactly what they're doing.

It's top-end-restaurant-ready now.

The sable is so thin,

yet it holds everything together.

And then, the garnish is anything other than token.

Feels like there's movement on the plate.

And with a dish like this, there's no doubt

you're in contention for immunity.

Well done. Thank you so much.

Thank you both. (APPLAUSE)

Yay!

Didn't you love it? Oh, I...

Simplicity...

I'm just in awe when someone

is able to converge everything that they are like this.

That's what I live for.

Sometimes, in simplicity like that, when you have just the right amount

of magic, it just pays off. Yeah.

It's beautiful. Yeah.

Next up, it's Darren!

DARREN: It's carnival,

so I've created a hot doughnut with raspberry jam.

The balloon, as well, is a cheesecake.

I wanted to make the plate because I saw Jana do it,

and I was blown away by her.

So, she's inspired me to do that.

You know what I love about this dish?

You are giving us a carnival experience.

As I was eating each element,

it was like walking through a fair.

You have the hot-doughnut shop, you have the ice-cream shop,

you have the fresh fruit.

Everything is perfectly well crafted.

Dan.

(APPLAUSE)

DAN: It's a dark-chocolate mud cake.

Cheers.

In the layers, you will find passionfruit curd

and raspberry coulis.

I really love the texture of your mud cake.

If I could give you any critical feedback,

I'd watch the seaming on the garnish in bringing them together,

just to make them a bit more seamless.

Thank you. (APPLAUSE)

Next up, it's Alisha! (APPLAUSE)

Hello.

My dish is Cirque du Mango.

It's a little sexy, huh?

There is a coconut cake soaked in a rum syrup,

an egg mango custard and mango mousse,

encased in a Russian buttercream.

Great flavour. Great combination of texture.

The sponge is moist.

However, the buttercream, unfortunately, it's thick.

It's a bit sweet.

It's just not there, right now, for me.

Thank you. Thanks, guys. (APPLAUSE)

The next dish we would like to taste belongs to Chocolate John.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

JOHN: I'm feeling super nervous.

You know, there's a lot of pressure.

I'm the first person to make bonbons.

That was super risky and ambitious.

I'm hoping it's going to be enough for the chocolate master himself.

It's Mexican Circus.

I've got three types of bonbons.

First flavour is a coconut milk ganache with lime and tequila.

(CHOCOLATE CRUNCHES)

Then, in the middle, we've got a praline of sunflower, pepitas

and sesame, and then finishing

with mole-inspired spice ganache

with a caramelised hazelnut.

This is amazing chocolate work, John.

Every texture inside was perfection.

The coconut ganache is perfectly soft, silky smooth.

The praline I love.

The last one, it's bold flavour, but it works perfectly.

The hazelnut in the centre brings you an extra crunch

and a different dimension.

I think you're crazy to have attempted bonbons

in 2.5 hours, but I'm so glad you did.

I may not be a chocolatier,

but I've eaten my fair share of bonbons in my life,

and I have to say, these were just so expertly crafted,

and the flavours and textures were sublime.

I feel very lucky to be standing here eating your food this evening.

Thank you so much, John. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Jana!

JANA: I know that Mel and Amaury are excited to see my sugar work,

so I'm walking so slowly up because there is always that chance

that it could fall over. It could break.

I'm trying not to shake my cake in case one of them decides

to walk off my tray.

It's a lot of pressure.

Wow.

Ah! Talk about a stunning dessert.

Oh, my God.

Yeah! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

This is what tonight's challenge was about.

Oh, I'm so happy you did sugar work.

This is my Circus,

inspired by popcorn.

Because we eat popcorn at the circus.

Should we try? Let's do it.

No, I don't want to touch it. I don't want to touch it.

Oh.

(CHUCKLES)

I have a poured-sugar unicycle,

pulled-sugar ribbon,

I have a chocolate covered ball, which encases my cake.

I want it to...

When you close your eyes, you taste popcorn.

Inside, I have a caramelised white-chocolate corn-infused mousse.

A popcorn and crunchy salted-corn praline with a little touch of miso.

I have a corn sable

in a green-apple compote inside, as well.

I don't know if a lot of people know

that, even though this looks awesome,

there is one way to know if it was well constructed.

It's the sugar test.

Do you know the sugar test?

I know the sugar test.

Can I sugar test it?

Sugar test it away.

Oh, my God.

Oh!

Oh, my God.

(WHOOPING, APPLAUSE) Yes!

It's scary, huh?

That's really scary. My heart's beating.

Mine is, too. Oh, my God. You passed the test.

Well, beautifully crafted.

We really get the feeling of popcorn being used in a different way.

I love your praline - very flavourful.

I love to have a little bit of that bite and crunch.

The most flavourful -

love the sable, very crunchy.

Very good on its own.

I really like it.

This is spectacular work.

If it wasn't enough that you were able to construct that

and pass the sugar test, the fact that you've sort of woven

the flavour of popcorn throughout several elements

means that the subtlety is then reinforced,

because corn is quite a sweet, subtle flavour.

I'm just...I'm blown away.

(CHUCKLES) Thank you so much.

Thank you. (APPLAUSE)

Yes! So good. So good.

You're so good.

The next dish we would like to taste

is Reece's. (APPLAUSE)

Thanks, everyone. Thank you, I appreciate that.

Ah, pretty!

Very pretty.

Reece, what are you calling your dish?

Ribbons.

I've been longing to see what more did you have to offer,

and this I was not expecting.

This rhubarb bending reminds me a lot of the earlier performance.

Let's dig in.

So, we have a raspberry mousse, which has a stewed rhubarb centre.

It's got a chocolate coating, as well.

A raspberry sorbet.

A gel, which has raspberry, bergamot and lime, roasted rhubarb.

We have fresh raspberry.

There's a chocolate soil, chocolate work,

and a chocolate-coated meringue cluster

and the pink-peppercorn meringue stick.

Reece,

are you going to bend?

No! (CHUCKLES)

You started this. No.

So, bend... Slow bend, slow bend.

..and... Slow bend.

..and snap!

(LAUGHTER)

Love you.

Reece, I love seeing this dish coming from you.

This is definitely restaurant-ready.

Oh, thank you. It's so good.

Oh, my God.

The balance between the elements - the softness, the sourness

of the rhubarb, which I'm a big fan of rhubarb,

and I think it's very underrated.

The mousse texture is phenomenal.

The sorbet is done to perfection.

There is the perfect balance of softness and crunchiness.

It's...it's perfect to me.

Reece... Yes?

..babe, doll... Yes, yes, Mel.

..I'm so pleased for you

because this is yet another string to your bow.

It shows accomplishment. Oh, that's cool.

Did this hit the brief?

Yes.

Is this a contender for immunity?

Also, yes. Well done.

Absolutely. Thanks, guys.

(APPLAUSE)

(LAUGHS)

Well done. This is my moment!

EMELIA: Oh!

And the last dish we'd like to taste belongs to Christy.

With confidence. Yep, yep.

JOHN: Oh.

This is, like, the longest walk I've ever done in my life.

I'm terrified.

I'm absolutely terrified.

Whew!

Who's holding breath?

(EXHALES HEAVILY)

OK. OK.

Place it. Place... Oops!

Oh! (LAUGHS)

It's here!

Yeah! Oh! (APPLAUSE)

(LAUGHTER)

I don't want to clap too loud.

Oh, my God. Longest walk ever, guys.

I've never seen anything like that before in this kitchen.

This is nuts.

OK. What are we calling this?

It's called All Eyes On Me.

This is taking stress eating to a whole new level.

I don't like this. Don't do this.

Don't like it.

Ho-yaaaa! (LAUGHS)

Wow!

(APPLAUDS) Yay!

(APPLAUSE)

Look how gorgeous.

I have a chocolate sponge soaked in cherry liqueur.

And in the centre, I have a chocolate cremeux

and a really light vanilla cream,

with cherries soaked in cognac.

Uh, this is a masterpiece.

Technically, perfectly executed.

I think you really captured the essence of today's challenge.

Black Forest is dear to my heart.

Love the flavour of the vanilla cream.

Love the chocolate cremeux.

Love the little chocolate work on top.

The level of work that goes into this, taking the risk.

Crafting, architecture, beauty and cake all wrapped in one.

That's fantastic.

I just don't know what to say.

I'm speechless, so that's rare for me.

This is an impossible thing.

But the impossible made possible is what makes this place magic.

Thank you.

Congratulations. Thank you.

Nicely done.

Thank you so much. (APPLAUSE)

It stood up!

(LAUGHS) Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

It stood up.

I was so scared. I was so scared. Well done.

The circus wasn't the only entertainment tonight.

You all put on quite the show.

This was one of the toughest deliberations we've had to do so far.

But we narrowed it down to two desserts that were more

than deserving of an encore.

They were made by...

..Emelia...

..and...

..Christy.

(APPLAUSE)

Emelia,

that tarte Tatin was so incredibly good.

As you know, I'm a tough critic, and I couldn't fault it.

Thank you.

Christy,

that dish was as exciting to experience as it was to eat.

Both of your dishes were top-tier.

It was such a tough call.

And when it came down to it...

..the dish that will win immunity is...

..both of them!

(EXCLAIMING) Congratulations, Emelia and Christy!

Christy, Emelia,

at the next elimination, you'll be hanging out on the gantry,

safe and sound.

Everyone else, you'll be hanging out

with this guy! (LAUGHTER)

Get ready to see the King of Chocolate in action.

We'll see you soon. Good night.

Have a good night, guys.

ALISHA: Bye! (APPLAUSE)

All worked so hard. Oh, my God!

Well done.

I'm not alone upstairs.

VOICEOVER: Next time, on Dessert Masters,

when the King of Chocolate gives a master class...

This is actually my very first video on Instagram

that started the whole thing.

..you'll want to pay attention...

Go! (SCREAMING, EXCLAIMING)

..because the least like his...

ALISHA: Oh, damn.

..goes home.

It is so much harder than it looks.

Have you ever tried this before?

No, I've never tried this before.

This is crazy.

Captions by Red Bee Media