Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Previously on Dessert Masters...

It's very delicate.

So you're gonna have to adjust the amount of pressure.

A masterclass from the Commander in Chocolate.

My carnation flower made with chocolate shavings.

Wow.

Inspired, amazing creativity.

Managed to use Henri's drill technique on one of the trees.

It was a massive mission to mimic the master.

It is so much harder than it looks.

Have you ever tried this before?

No, I've never tried this before.

So John unlocked his SOS box...

You have 20 extra minutes cook time.

Yay!

..and made a stunner.

Wow. Sexy.

This is close to perfection.

It's just masterful work.

This is why I came to Australia for, to see this type of thing.

And we had to say farewell to Dan.

I had way too much fun in this kitchen

and I will cherish it forever in my heart.

Tonight,

who will blow the judges away to survive another elimination?

ALL: Oh!

(EXCITED CHATTER)

Awesome.

Pretty.

Something bubbling.

Yay!

Some of the most accomplished pastry chefs in the country turned

back into children.

I love bubbles, it's so cute.

The kitchen tonight

Looks like one of those, like early 2000 foam parties, like the bubbles

coming out and the techno lights and everyone's dancing

around the mystery box.

I love it so much.

Darren, any clue about what all this is about?

It looks like a mystery box, but I'm not sure.

But it looks fun, so bring it on.

Amelia, I noticed you can't keep your hands off the bubbles.

I tried, I gave myself, like, 30 seconds where I didn't touch it.

Don't touch it. Don't touch it. Argh!

(LAUGHTER)

Well, if you're wondering why these boxes are overflowing,

it's because this elimination is all about bubbles!

(LAUGHTER)

From honeycomb to sponge, the list goes on.

We want you to make us a dish that celebrates the joy that aeration

can bring to any dessert.

The sky is the limit.

So let your imagination run wild.

Air in pastry is very important and it's underrated.

This is how we play with textures.

Think of a mousse, an ice cream, a croissant.

They are all nothing without the aeration.

Whether you take this challenge literally or figuratively,

have fun with it.

And that's not all.

Oh, oh!

What?

It's fizzy drinks!

Oh.

That's cool.

We have agrum blood orange, cream soda, lemonade,

lemon, lime and bitters, ginger ale and raspberry.

Or lemon, lime and bitters.

Tonight,

you'll need to hone in on one of these and use it as inspiration

for your dish.

This brief might sound really simple, but incorporating aeration

and bubbles and also making sure that you're making it obvious

about which flavour you're choosing of those delicious fizzy drinks

is kind of hard.

I hate to burst your bubble, but the end of the competition

is right around the corner.

Things are getting serious.

And it's because of that

that we've decided to raise the stakes.

Tonight, two of you will be going home.

Bam, bam, pow!

By the end of the night, we'll have our five semi-finalists.

It's huge to have two people going home tonight.

And knowing how far we are in the competition, all of us

want to get to the semi-final.

This is your most important cook so far.

Let's see who will rise to the top.

(LAUGHS)

Bubble pun.

Nice, nice.

You will have 2.5 hours.

We want a dish inspired by bubbles.

The two least impressive dishes will send their makers home.

The semi-final is on the line.

Blow us away!

Your time starts now!

After you. After you.

Thank you.

Such a gentleman.

Now everybody goes crazy.

I think it's really all or nothing tonight.

Because it's the first double elimination.

Oh, and when I look around the calibre of chefs here,

I could be in real trouble.

I really need to make sure I nail the brief.

So I'm going for a meringue for the light, bubbly texture.

And that makes me think about vacherin.

It's an ice cream meringue-style cake.

I hope it's going to be enough to get me through to the semi-final.

I'm up. I'm ready. Let's go.

It gets tougher and tougher in here every day.

Everyone keeps rising like a bubble to the occasion, so I need to make

sure I stand out if I want to get through to the semi-final.

I don't want to just make a literal bubble on a plate.

What I go to is picturing a crumpet bubbling away on a saucepan,

and those little air pockets that pop up as bubbles.

Ah. There you go.

It would mean absolutely a lot for me to be in the semi-final.

It's like I came here not even thinking I'm going to go this far,

because I haven't done this for the longest time.

So I'm gonna try to give these guys a bit of a run for their money,

you know, like, um...

Yeah, I'm here to fight.

So if they want bubble, I give them balloons.

So I'm going to make the perfect little fluffy cloud

and tethered to it is an edible helium sugared balloon.

It is both very tricky, very scary, and very risky.

But if this pays off, it's going to pay off very big.

Well, it may be an elimination, but I have a feeling

that this challenge is going to be a lot of fun.

Oh, tonight is so much fun.

Bubbles. Fizzy drink.

I mean, this is an amazing challenge because it's all

about how you interpret the theme.

What are you hoping to see?

The challenge is so open to interpretation, but I hope

that some of them will really rise up to the occasion and create

something not only tasteful, but also visually inspired

by the bubble and fizziness.

Yeah, I don't want to see safe this evening.

I want to see excitement.

I want to feel that kind of palpable energy that you get from a bubbly

kind of dessert, and I want some risks to be taken.

Yeah, they are all cooking at such a high level,

it's going to be very hard for us to eliminate two of them.

Yeah, I think it's going to be a tough decision for us

and a lot of pressure for them.

Oh, man.

Can't take him anywhere.

This is intense.

Double trouble bubble elimination,

and you have two hours to go.

Whoa!

I need so many extra hands in this kitchen.

Hello. Hi.

Alicia.

I'm sensing a nice tropical vibe going on here.

Yeah. What are you making?

I was inspired by the ginger ale.

It's not like the red hair thing.

I just love ginger.

When I was thinking about bubbles,

this thought popped into my head about a crumpet bubbling away

in a pan.

The components are going to be a spiced crumpet

that I'm going to soak in some brown butter and fry.

There's going to be some beautiful ginger gels, some roasted pineapple,

a goat's milk ice cream.

OK, so I'm sensing it's not going to be your average crumpet

that we're popping into the toaster on a Saturday morning.

No.

How are you going to put the air into your crumpet.

With yeast. So it's in the oven right now doing its thing.

Yeah, she's bubbling away and then we're ready. So it's a good sign.

I would say that out of everyone left in this competition,

you have the bubbliest personality. Thank you.

Tough competition there.

But if you don't want to go home, you need to really show us why. OK?

Thank you. Thank you.

Oh. Look at those little bubbles.

Shabu bubbles.

I, um, love the idea of bubbles.

I think it's really fun.

Tonight, I want to kind of bring back that childish vibe

of eating a dessert.

So I'm going to take inspiration from a true Aussie classic

and hopefully impress the judges.

Hey, Reece. Hey, guys.

What are you making us tonight?

So creaming soda like, is my full inspiration today.

And my dish is inspired by the drink a spider.

I'm not sure if you know what they are.

Spiders? No.

You get a soft drink, and then you drop a ball of vanilla ice cream

in the top of it, and it foams up.

As a kid, it's just so much fun.

So I want to try and create a bowl of bubbles.

In the centre,

I'm hoping to create like a bubble ball.

Inside the ball will be blood orange sorbet and a vanilla gelato.

Surrounding that will be like all creaming soda bubbles.

OK.

Two persons are going home tonight.

You have to make sure it's not you.

I'm gonna try my best. I'm pushing.

Yeah, here's for the semis, finally!

Oh, please, Mel. Yes?

It's my dream. Yes!

I think for me, like the pressure points in this dish

is the presentation.

Obviously, I can't make it look like a spider.

I have to make it a little bit more elegant because I know to get

into the semi-finals, you need to show them something impressive.

I would love to get into the finals, and I think if I'm to get there,

it's because, like I've shown a little bit more diversity

than just making cakes.

I want it, I want it so bad!

You right, Jana? (LAUGHS)

Hey, Jana. Hello.

Hi. What are you making us tonight?

Tonight I'm inspired by raspberry fizzy drink.

And it's called Snap, Crackle, Pop.

That bubbles. (LAUGHTER)

I'm adding a few aeration techniques into my plating.

I'm going to make a yoghurt espuma.

I'm going to make a meringue.

I love sugar, so I'm going to blow some bubble sugars.

Oh, nice.

Bubbles, for me, are round and spherical.

So I'm going to work off that aesthetic and have multiple

different components which are sphere shaped.

Very cool.

We were hoping we might see some sugar work this evening.

Yes.

Are you going to pull this off?

I will pull it off.

Thank you.

Sugar work is quite complex

in terms of blowing bubbles to create a perfect sphere.

You want it to be almost paper thin, because if it's too thick,

you're just going to get a big lump of sugar in your mouth.

But if it's too thin, they break.

I need to get my sugar bubbles perfect.

Otherwise, it's all going to blow up in my face.

You're done, Mel.

Ah, you've got all the cool toys.

(LAUGHTER)

Play, chef.

(LAUGHTER)

This is hectic, eh?

A lot at stake tonight. Double elimination.

And right now, this dish is standing between me and semi-finals.

So I'm gonna go big or go home.

Hi, Christy.

Hello, guys.

What's going on?

Uh, a lot of things.

So, um, taking the flavour of blood orange, calamansi, and coconut.

And I'm making a little white fluffy cloud.

What is it, like a plated dessert?

An entree?

It's like the whole thing in one dessert, basically.

So ladyfinger biscuit, blood orange and apple compote

and a really light coconut mousse around it.

It's very refreshing.

And how are you going to present this to us?

Well, it's going to...

..hopefully going to have like a sugar balloon batter into it.

It's sort of saying like it's so light

that it's being carried by a balloon.

I like it.

It looks very fun, although it's quite tricky.

I know.

I did this sugar balloon for a pressure test

in MasterChef 2017.

I guess this creation is something that even we still struggle

to hone, to master.

I know how difficult it is to make in this kitchen.

And tonight I'm going to blow this sugar balloon

in front of the judges.

My God!

Burning all the calories.

It's a lot to do, so I am running at the speed of light.

It's a big risk, but semi-final is just on the horizon,

and you don't win playing safe.

Chefs, you have an hour and a half left to go.

Whoo!

Feeling excited about tonight's challenge.

I'm the only adult I know that still drinks Raspberry Schweppes,

so I definitely want to use that.

I'm going to make a vacherin with a few raspberry elements.

A vacherin is traditionally an ice cream cake,

essentially with meringue.

I'm going to do two types of meringue.

I'm going to make a hard meringue as the base for my cake,

and I'm also going to have an espuma mousse

in a delicate bubble made of sugar on top.

Something a little bit more rustic, but also the type

of dessert that I like to eat.

I'm feeling really good tonight.

It was a really exciting way to come into the kitchen,

just like filled with bubbles.

I'm calling this dish a mimosa sunrise.

So it is based off the classic sort of champagne blood orange mimosa.

I'm doing a champagne chiboust cream.

I've got a blood orange sorbet and then a few different

flavours of meringue.

It's going to be really light, really fresh.

I want to kind of emulate that feeling when you crack open

a bottle of agrum and the fizz and the aroma hits you.

You alright? Yeah. All good.

I'm gonna wear nice and neat and tidy today.

It's going to be a breeze.

Inspiring.

My dish is called Careless Whisper,

because there was a chocolate bar back in the UK called a Whisper bar,

with chocolate bubbles.

So a little bit of a nod to that.

So I'm going to be doing chocolate and blood orange. Classic flavours.

It's pretty good. I'm making a chocolate mousse.

It's going to be chocolate bubbles.

Also going to be a blood orange jelly and a blood orange ice cream.

The main component of the dish will be a really silky smooth,

delicious dark chocolate mousse in the shape of bubbles.

For the base, I'm going to make kind of a posh rice crackle

mixed with chocolate,

and that's going to go underneath the chocolate mousse.

This is going to bring a fantastic crunchy element to my dish,

and it's another component with aeration in them.

Go, Dazza.

Chocolate mousse is made.

I'm going to pour that into my bubble mould.

Then I'll push in the rice component,

we'll freeze it and then turn it out, de-mould it.

And that's how I'll present it.

It's going to look absolutely spectacular.

Definitely a Darren Purchese dish.

It's kind of geometric in design.

Alright, let's do this.

I'm not paring anything back.

I'm going all out.

I'm going to be using all the time available to make as many different

things as possible, and try and create a dish

that is out of this world.

I need everything to happen correctly today

because two going home -

not good odds.

Alright, we've done the rounds,

and there are a lot of really big ideas out there.

It's a double elimination, of course, so nobody's taking chances.

They're interpreting the theme of bubbles and fizziness

in every single element.

What are your thoughts?

As usual, Christy, she's challenging herself on so much work.

We have a cloud, and we have also a sugar balloon inflated with helium

that is supposed to encapsulate a bubble.

Yeah.

I'm also really worried about Alisha

fermenting in the time that we have to make these beautiful crumpets

that have the aerated layers within it.

But those bubbles that we want to see, are we going to see them?

Because if we don't, then we have a pancake.

Yeah.

It's such an interesting way of translating this challenge.

There are so many things that can be light, airy

or just visually pleasing. Yeah.

Going crumpet on a night like tonight, I don't know.

Guys, the semi-finals are on the line.

One hour to go. Come on!

Yes, chef!

One hour, one hour, one hour.

John, I couldn't hear it.

Chef, yes! Yeah!

Yeah! Whoo-hoo!

# La la la la la. #

I have chosen to try something very outside of my crumpet zone

with my spiced, crumpet plated dessert.

Yum!

I'm really happy with the amount of elements I've done so far.

I've made a ginger gel.

I've got my ice cream sitting in the freezer

and I just need to pan fry off my crumpet.

Hopefully it's really bubbly, really aerated.

This crumpet is the bubbly part of my dish,

so it needs to be perfect.

What is going on here?

But as this crumpet is cooking, I'm not seeing many bubbles.

OK...

Most people have taken the literal approach to bubbles.

I have not done that.

I just went with aeration

and bubbles happening while you're cooking,

so this is pretty problematic.

Oh, I don't know what to do now.

Argh!

Oh, my goodness.

What is going on here?

My crumpets are not as bubbly as I would have liked.

Alright, I'm going to flip them.

And the nerves start to really kick in.

I'm hot in here today. My gosh.

I'm just not confident that I'm hitting the bubbles brief.

So I need to come up with something else.

Something that's really light and airy and fluffy

to go with the crumpets.

OK, so I need to really think about this.

Or I am at risk of going home.

Time flies in this kitchen.

Only 30 minutes to go.

(WHOOPING)

We do some crazy things in this kitchen, no?

Yes, we do, chef. That's crazy.

I'm really happy with the chocolate mousse.

I think it looks awesome.

I've still got to spray them in chocolate.

I've got blood orange ice cream on the go.

And I'm going to start to make my blood orange jelly,

so it'll be a nice, fresh burst of flavour

when our judges bite into the dessert.

So yeah, should be lots of aeration and lots of textures,

which will hopefully elevate this dish into something special.

Big bubbles, no troubles.

Hey, Melsie. Yo!

# Just two best friends cooking in the kitchen. #

Keep rocking, Reece.

Leave me alone.

People at work tell me the same thing.

Leave me alone.

I feel good.

All the elements for my spider inspired dish are looking

like they're working out.

Meringue is done. It's really light and aerated.

Piped it in like a little bit of a bubble formation.

Gelato's freezing.

Sorbet's freezing.

And my lime ginger gel is done.

Now I'm working on another little bubble texture.

A little, um, blood orange pearl.

Really light and refreshing.

And I've got bubbles all over the place.

These pearls are really important because they're the textures.

So when the judges eat this dish, not only are they seeing bubbles,

but they're feeling bubbles in their mouth as well,

which I'm hoping adds to the elegance of this dish.

Showing another side of me today.

I want it to be, like, really beautiful

and I just hope it all comes together.

Okey-dokey.

Feeling good about the vacherin.

Pistachio ice cream is churning.

My pistachio cake is in the oven.

I've poached my meringue.

I've got another type of meringue in the oven as well.

And I think really at this stage, after I set my raspberry sorbet,

I'm just compiling all the dishes,

trimming them up and getting ready to plate.

Feeling hectic.

I am on my way to cook my sugar.

The bubbles are a really important element in my dish.

I mean, it's what is going to give it that life

and really give my plate action.

So I really need this to work.

Show us what you got, sugar queen. OK.

Yes, chef.

Alright. Stay focused, Jana, OK?

There it is.

One. (LAUGHS) One.

OK.

Oh.

Alright, kill it, Jana.

That was intense.

Now I've just got to continue and get as many sugar bubbles

as time permits.

Semi-final is on the line.

Only 15 minutes to go.

Come on! Yes, chef!

Alright. OK.

Christy? Yes.

Where are you at?

I have done the decorating around the cake.

I'm just prepping for the balloon mixture.

Are you worried about anything specifically?

It's literally have to be put on a dish

like 30 seconds before I give it to you.

So if the mixture is not right, I can't make it again.

I want a balloon.

No balloon, do you still have a dish?

You know, I'm expecting a balloon now?

And I'm stressing out.

The pressure with this sugar mixture,

is that the only one that I have?

So it has to be done well.

Oh, my God, oh, my God.

There is no room for error.

I've never been so stressed in my life.

10 minutes to go.

Uh-oh!

Oh, my goodness.

(LAUGHS)

(LAUGHTER)

Come on, buddy.

(IMITATES SIREN)

Sorry.

Chefs, this is your five minute warning.

Whoo!

You got this, Alisha.

We got it.

My crumpet dish is not as aerated as I would like.

And I have been trying to figure out how to add in more bubbles.

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

How you going, girlie?

Good, I think.

I decide to make a Greek yoghurt espuma.

An espuma is a light, delicate foam.

Yum.

The espuma is going to be placed into a syphon gun.

And when it is shaken and nice and cold,

once it comes out, it'll be a gorgeous fluffy foam.

Love that.

I'm hoping that this additional element will give my dish

more bubbles and aeration.

Paired with all of those really nice tart and spicy ginger flavours.

A little bit of sweetness from that pineapple.

Plus it should be all balanced out from the ice cream and the buttery

bite of a fluffy crumpet.

Because two people are going home,

so there is a lot banking on this dish.

Looking good.

With this dish,

I want it to look really elegant,

but like, I want them to eat it and have fun while they're eating it.

So the last thing that I want to work on is a creaming soda bubble

and give that, like, spidery foaminess that kind of fits

around the ice cream in a spider.

So I blitzed up the creaming soda into a foam.

The bubbly foam looks amazing.

And then now it's time to bring everything together.

Oh, that's so tasty.

And I hope the judges are impressed with my version

and elevating the childhood classic into a refined, plated dessert.

Three minutes to go.

I've worked extremely hard tonight to create a dish

that is out of this world,

and I think it tastes really fantastic.

The chocolate mousse is sprayed really well.

It's got a really fun kind of bubble effect.

And to bring even more of the theatrics of bubbles to the dish,

I'm making another component.

Really quickly working on some chocolate bubbles now.

Kind of like that, but you can eat it,

so it should be really fun and just disappear on your tongue.

It's kind of like chocolate milk, really flavoursome,

and it's going to be put on at the very end

in front of the judges.

So fingers crossed I've done enough to show bubbles.

My little fluffy cloud is looking good,

and I have to do this helium balloon for the first time in seven years

in front of the judges.

The sugar mixture is looking right and now I'm just in a waiting game.

My journey in Dessert Master is literally tethering in this balloon.

It's a bubble wrap in 10...

(AMAURY JOINS IN) ..9, 8, 7, 6, 5,

4, 3, 2, 1.

Hands up!

Nice job, everybody.

The first dish we'd like to taste belongs to...

..Reece.

Oh. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks, guys.

Hello.

BOTH: Aw.

That's cute.

It's a meringue in a bathtub.

(LAUGHS) It's a meringue in a bathtub.

Classic.

Reece, what's the name of your dish?

I'm calling this dish Soda'licious.

Soda'licious. Yeah.

Oh, I see what you did there.

Should we dig in?

Yeah. Let's do it.

So you've got a blood orange sorbet, a vanilla gelato.

And a crunchy meringue.

There's a lime and ginger gel.

I also have some zesty fragrance oil.

There's also some bubbly fruit in there as well.

Reece, as you know, I've never had a spider before.

But that I love.

Oh, sick. Oh, yeah.

Visually it's intriguing.

You don't really know what to expect.

Then you burst through the very crunchy meringue,

with the pairing of the sorbet and the ice cream fits perfectly.

I love a good, crunchy meringue with an ice cream dessert.

Then you get to discover all the other bubbly shaped elements.

All bring some very refreshing notes to the overall dessert.

I think you completely understand the brief,

not only on a visual aspect, but also on the taste.

It is simple and well executed.

Perfect. Thank you.

When you dig into it, that's where all the fun begins.

The combination of the blood orange sorbet and the vanilla ice cream,

it's that weird thing where something fizzy and something creamy

shouldn't necessarily go.

But it's so wrong, it's right.

Yeah.

I feel like this is the next evolution of who you are.

You're holding true to what you love in sweets, which is something

nostalgic, something whimsical,

but you're taking it to new heights,

and that's wonderful to see.

Thanks, guys.

Thanks so much, Reece. Thank you, Reece.

Yay!

Yes, that was me. Thanks, Melsie.

No, thank you, John.

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Alisha.

(CHEERING)

Go, girl, go, girl.

I do wonder if the crumpets and the espuma

will be enough to hit the brief and to get me through.

NARRATOR: Don't miss a delicious moment of Dessert Masters.

Watch full episodes on 10play now.

Alicia, what's the name of your dish?

I'm going to call it I Like Crumpets.

So there is a spiced crumpet that I have soaked

in delicious brown butter.

A goat's milk ice cream and a Greek yoghurt espuma.

I'm hoping that you experience

what I think is aeration in this dessert.

In terms of meeting the brief, just visually-wise,

I'm not getting light and aerated yet,

so I'm excited to try it so I can see the bubble on the inside.

Shall we? Yeah.

I think you've done a beautiful job in terms of plated dessert.

Yeah. I like the ice cream.

The espuma, very light.

I think for me, where the choice you made

was not the one I would have done,

is your crumpet.

The fact that you soaked it in brown butter made it dense.

It's a little bit fatty.

I don't know if it translated as airy on the flavour and texture

approach as I would have hoped so for a challenge like tonight.

I have to agree with Amaury.

Yeah.

For me, the joy of a crumpet is in that textural balance

between light and then chewy.

But I've lost that experience

because of the way that the crumpet felt heavy.

And so I don't know that it hit the mark for me as much

as I wanted it to.

Sure.

Thank you so much, Alisha. Thank you.

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Emelia.

I'm calling this dish a Mimosa Sunrise.

I've got a champagne chiboust cream,

a blood orange sorbet,

meringue sticks that have been dusted with raspberry sherbet,

and then just some champagne gel pearls.

For me, your dish was very light, very fun.

I think the chiboust was the best you could have used

to incorporate as much air bubble as you could.

It was a very, very beautiful dessert.

Thanks so much, Emelia.

Thank you. Thank you, Emelia.

John.

Wow.

This is my take on a vacherin.

So I've got a crispy meringue on the bottom.

I have a raspberry sorbet and pistachio ice cream.

And then on top of that is a sugar bubble

that's filled with a raspberry espuma.

Ready?

(CRACK!) Nice.

Ooh, look at that.

I loved the fun of breaking through that bubble.

That crack is so satisfying.

That raspberry espuma is light.

It's fluffy, it's airy.

This is a really fantastic plate of food.

Thank you very much, John. Thank you, John. Thank you.

Jana.

I put so much of myself in this dish.

I'm just hoping that it's enough to win my place in the semi-final.

Wow.

Look at that!

Well, that's definitely bubbly, yeah?

My dish is called Snap, Crackle, Pop!

So in the sugar spheres, I have yoghurt and raspberry espuma.

And there's a raspberry coconut sorbet.

Crunchy soft meringue.

And I have some little pieces of rice bubbles

coated with a little bit of white chocolate and raspberry in there.

I wanted to bring about the spirit of the challenge,

so I made a little raspberry soda as well.

Alright. Should we go for it, Mel?

Oh.

(CRACK!) Hey-ya!

This dish, Jana, is near perfection.

The sugar work, it's just perfectly crafted.

For you to be able to obtain this finesse,

you have completely understood what today was about.

There is a bubble in every single element.

Visually, texture wise, most wise,

there is a party in your mouth.

Even this is a nice, fizzy, strong raspberry flavoured drink.

I think, for me, this is one of your best accomplishments in this kitchen.

Thank you.

Bubbles mean fun to you.

They mean pink.

They mean frothy, they mean childhood delight.

And I can see that. It's clearly there on the plate.

And that is really a dish that embodies the spirit

of this challenge this evening.

And it's just fun to eat.

And that's what we wanted.

So in my opinion, I think you smashed the challenge.

Thank you, Jana. Thank you.

That was dope, huh?

So good.

Oh, my gosh. Thank you.

You are amazing.

Good job. Thank you.

The next dish we would like to taste is Darren.

Go, Darren.

Whoo-hoo!

Hi, Mel. How's it going?

Hi, chef. Yeah, good. Thank you.

Wow.

The name of my dish is Careless Whisper.

On the plate there is a dark chocolate mousse.

It sits on top of a crunchy puffed rice base.

To the side is a blood orange ice cream

filled with a blood orange fluid.

And this is my chocolate milk bubbles.

It gives you the vibe of when you're a kid and you blow into,

like, a chocolate milk with your straw

and it just bubble in the plate.

I love it. I think it's a really striking plate.

Thank you. Yeah.

Let's dig in.

Darren, that timeless combination of orange and chocolate

just works so well.

However, it didn't give me the textural element

that I was sort of hoping for.

As you can see, cutting through it, it was a bit tough to get through,

but I was kind of excited because I figured that the base

would be crunchy.

Unfortunately, the rice crispy has hydrated to a point

where it gives you more of a softer texture.

If we would have had that crunchiness, I think

it would have paired perfectly with the chocolate mousse,

because the texture of the chocolate mousse is impeccable.

The rice crispy is, for me, the biggest flaw,

and it's really distracting.

Yeah. OK.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Pleasure. Thank you. Thank you.

The next dish we would like to taste belongs to Christy.

What's the name of your dish?

Little Fluffy Cloud.

OK.

Alright, well, you promised us a floating balloon.

Let's cross our fingers for a floating balloon.

Good luck.

Thank you.

I'm blowing up this balloon, and I am feeling so much pressure.

Wow.

Oh!

All eyes are on me.

But it's not working.

I start to get really nervous.

I need to pull up a balloon,

because if I don't,

I'm going home tonight.

Whoop!

Whoop!

I have never felt so much pressure in my life.

This is an elimination cook.

I don't want to go home.

Hey!

I feel so relieved.

But it all comes down to this.

Can I attach it onto the cake without it popping?

Well done.

Yay!

Alright, let's cut through it.

Inside of my fluffy cloud,

there is a ladyfinger biscuit soaked in blood orange

and elderflower syrup.

Oh, that looks pretty.

A blood orange and calamansi compote.

Encasing it is coconut mousse,

a light vanilla chantilly,

and to top it off is a coconut meringue.

Christy, I love that you're a woman who likes to live on the edge.

It takes a very bold kind of person to bring up an unfinished dish,

with an element that requires a little bit of luck and a lot of focus

to bring to its completion.

It's brave, and I really love that.

The flavours of blood orange,

calamansi lime and coconut are sublime together.

You've really considered how flavours pair together

and you've brought us something that feels tropical,

it feels refreshing.

I really enjoyed it.

Thank you.

Christy, I am charmed.

I love it.

It looks modern, it looks sleek,

and it looks as good as it tastes.

The soaked sponge brings some freshness and moistness to the dish.

The whipped cream is well sweetened, the meringue perfectly dry.

I love the blood orange compote.

It was so fresh, so well done.

Overall, it's a dessert that I would eat every day.

Thank you.

Thanks very much, Christy. Thank you so much.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

Thank you. Thank you.

The kitchen was bursting with creativity tonight.

You all went above and beyond.

But the front runners brought us desserts that were not only fun

and full of fizz,

but the flavour popped right off the plate.

Jana, Reece,

well done.

Hey!

I'm a semi-final...

..ist.

(LAUGHS)

Oh, my God. So good.

Yeah. Thank you, guys.

I am so proud of myself.

But I have these giants next to me who are going

to be creating incredible things.

So I think my adrenaline level for this challenge

is just going to be through the roof.

All of you have what it takes to cook in the semi-final.

The talent in this room is palpable.

That's exactly why what we're about to do is so hard.

Two of you brought us desserts that had finesse,

but also, sadly, some flaws.

One dish wasn't as bubble forward as it needed to be to meet the brief.

The other had some textural issues that we couldn't overlook.

It's for these reasons that,

I'm sorry,

Alisha, Darren,

you're both going home.

Bench one.

(LAUGHS) Bench one.

I'm sorry.

What an impact you both had on this competition.

Darren, you're an icon, a legend.

And with or without this kitchen, you are a dessert master.

Thank you.

Alisha, you came here to prove that you are more than a cake decorator.

You've done that. And more.

But it's time to say goodbye.

(LAUGHS) See you later, guys.

I'll see you later. I'll see you later.

No, it's all good.

See you later. Good luck.

Darren and Alisha, everybody!

(CHEERING)

See you later, guys.

Whoo-hoo!

(CHEERING)

See you later. Bye!

NARRATOR: Next time on Dessert Masters...

Bring us a story with a tasty beginning, middle and end.

Our top five are fighting for a place in the finale.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

What is John doing? Pumpkin John!

Is the writing on the wall?

I am shattered.

JOHN: It's not working.

It's starting to get the best of me.

Or...

This is the time. This is the moment.

..will it be a fairytale ending?

Wow.

Captions by Red Bee Media