Oh! Oh. What is that?
Is that what we think it is? What is it?
Oh, my...
God! Ice-cream!
The first thing I see is lots of scoops of ice-cream.
And straightaway I'm thinking,
"Yeah, I think I know what this is."
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, this is the best day ever!
I can't believe it's happening.
We're finally going to be tasting some ice-creams.
I'm so excited.
Do we have to guess the flavours?
Well, hello!
I see you found our ice-cream shop.
This might look like all your ice-cream dreams come true.
But, today, it could be a nightmare.
Welcome to your very first MasterChef taste test.
MasterChef taste tests are, like, famous, right?
No, no, this is a bucket-list thing.
Yeah. This is so cool.
This elimination is two rounds.
The first round is an ice-cream taste test.
So if you guess a flavour wrong,
you'll be cooking in round two.
Pat, Alyona, Petro, well done on winning immunity yesterday.
Thank you.
Bet you're glad you're missing out on this one.
Yeah. I've always wanted to do one of these,
but I'm kind of happy I'm not.
You always want to do one until you're doing it.
Well, today, you're gonna have to sit back and enjoy the show.
This is not your local milk bar.
These single-ingredient ice-cream flavours
have been specially designed to test your palate.
They've all been made from ingredients
found right here in the MasterChef pantry...
..with flavours ranging from classic to kooky.
So, one by one, you'll step forward to taste an ice-cream.
You must identify the flavour correctly
in order to stay in the game.
The first four people to get brain freeze
and guess incorrectly...
..will be out of the game and cooking in round two.
I don't like the odds of a one in four elimination,
so I don't want to find myself there today.
Right. Let's pick the tasting order, shall we?
OK, let's do it. Are you ready?
Yeah! What?
Yes!
Emily, you first. Hello!
Don't look. Look in my eyes.
I'm not really sure how confident I am
with a taste test...
Three. I got one.
..with all these people with amazing palates.
Eight. It's going to be a battle.
OK. First up, Grace. Let's go!
Go, Grace! Go, Grace!
I'm really pumped for this taste test.
I think my palate is pretty good,
but I really do not want to end up
in the round two elimination cook-off.
There you go. Thank you.
My ice-cream is a really pale yellow colour,
and, to be honest, it doesn't really smell like anything.
But it has this bright, acidic, really sweet flavour.
Yum. Oh, she likes it.
Lemon. Straight up.
Mm-hm.
That answer...
..is correct. Well done.
Well done.
Good start. It'd be so embarrassing
to get it wrong first.
Especially because I think it seems we're starting easy.
Casper, you're next.
I'm feeling a little bit apprehensive about
a tasting challenge.
There you go. Thank you.
I've seen this challenge done before plenty of times,
but I've never seen it done with ice-cream.
I know what this is
without even tasting it. Really?
Do you like this flavour? No, I hate it.
What is it? Coffee.
He hates it. He hates coffee.
I hate coffee.
That answer is correct.
Your turn, Emily.
Oh, damn. I'm not ready for brain freeze.
Mint.
Mint is correct.
OK, Bella, it's your turn.
I look at this orange ice-cream,
and my first thought is orange.
But it's actually a huge surprise
because I'm tasting a vegetable.
It's definitely carrot.
Correct!
Annabel, are you ready? Born ready.
One of my favourites.
Raspberry.
Raspberry is...
..correct. Well done.
Vinnie, you're next.
Go, Vinnie! Go, Vinnie!
This taste test being done with ice-creams
adds a whole new level of difficulty.
Because when you put a flavour into an ice-cream,
you take away the texture of that ingredient.
You take away the smell of that ingredient.
And then, also,
you can't really taste things that are super cold,
so you have to wait for it to warm up
and then try and decipher what that flavour actually is.
OK, Vinnie, what's your answer?
Vanilla.
Vanilla is...
..correct.
Nice. Thank you.
I don't think I'd be able to live down
getting vanilla wrong.
It's like the most basic flavour that everyone knows.
Let's go, Aaron.
Mm. Glad you like it.
What do you think it is? Dark chocolate.
Correct.
Next, Luke!
Yeah.
Banana.
Correct.
You ready, Hannah?
I know what that is. Strawberry.
Not my favourite, but correct.
Jackie, you're next.
You know it?
It's coconut.
Correct. Yeah!
Round one finishes
and everyone's nailed their guesses.
Going into round two,
I'm thinking it's going to get much harder.
You've all made it through one round of tasting.
It's back to you, Grace.
Go, Gracie!
Noting how this challenge has come across historically
with weird flavours...
What's your answer, Grace?
Basil.
Basil is...
..correct!
..I'm definitely expecting some of those today.
Casper.
Thank you.
And this is really, like, vibrant yellow colour.
So straightaway I'm thinking like a tropical fruit
like a mango or something.
Ho!
You look perplexed.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's not what I expected it to be, like, looking at it.
I have, like, no idea, really, what it is.
I don't love it.
It's this sort of strange,
florally, bittery kind of taste that I'm not familiar with.
Please, I need an answer.
Jackfruit?
Jackfruit...
..I'm afraid it's incorrect.
The correct answer is...
..saffron.
Oh! Saffron!
That is so hard.
Unfortunately, Casper, you are going to round two.
Thank you. Good luck.
I'm super devastated.
There's no chance in the world I would have got that.
Standing there on my own on the side,
I'm feeling pretty defeated.
OK, Emily.
Is it cinnamon?
Correct. Thank God!
Things are definitely heating up.
Let's go, Bella.
The flavours are getting harder and harder.
Yeah, that's black sesame.
Black sesame...
..is correct.
There's a lot of ice-cream flavours there,
and some are a bit weird and wacky.
Alright, Annabel, you're up.
Please be a nice flavour.
Please be something that I know, that I love,
or that's really obvious.
It tastes like tropical fruit juice,
but, like, not any particular fruit
is at the forefront of the flavour profile.
What's going through your head? Well, I was like, oh, mango.
And then I'm, like, eating it
and it's like, you, like, start second-guessing yourself
when you're up here.
Mm. Oh, God. And then you start spiralling.
Annabel, I'm gonna need an answer.
Mango?
Annabel, mango is...
..incorrect.
The correct answer is orange.
Oh, ho-ho-ho! What?!
I don't reckon I would have guessed that, eh?
The fact that I just got orange wrong is just nuts.
This is so much harder than what I ever imagined.
I'm sorry to say, Annabel, you're into round two.
Good luck.
I thought I had a one in ten chance of going home,
but now I've got a one in four chance of going home,
and those odds are not great.
OK. Next, Vinnie.
So, I'm feeling nervous. There's a lot of pressure,
especially when all eyes are on you.
As it starts to melt in my mouth,
I'm like, "What the hell is this?"
It's kind of almost burning.
It's gross.
And as I swallow it...
..it's giving off raw allium vibes.
It could be garlic.
Garlic? No.
Um...
It's really playing tricks on my brain right now.
Vinnie, what is your answer?
It's kind of making my eyes water.
It's making my throat hurt.
I have another scoop, as much as I don't want to,
and it's just giving me
this feeling at the back of my throat
and in my eyes that raw garlic doesn't really do.
That is not garlic.
This is something different.
I'm going to say onion.
Vinnie, onion is...
..correct.
It is such a relief to be safe.
So bad!
But I don't think my breath is ever going to recover
from that ice-cream, to be honest.
It is bad.
Good to go, Aaron?
Annabel and Casper are in round two now
and that's already a strong line-up.
There you go, sir. Thank you, sir.
There's no colour to go off.
There's no scent.
So I have to really rely on my palate right now.
I'm thinking it's some sort of vegetable,
but I can't quite put my finger on it.
I'm really trying to, like, get it through every tastebud,
trying to spread it through my mouth and really taste it.
You got an answer?
Parsnip.
Aaron, parsnip is...
..incorrect. No!
Correct answer...
..cauliflower. Oh!
Oh, that's tough.
These are getting harder.
Unfortunately, Aaron, that means you'll be cooking in round two.
Thanks, mate. No worries.
I'm not great at desserts.
And to find myself in a position
where I'm one of four in a dessert elimination,
not a nice feeling right now.
Luke, you're up again.
It's very spicy.
Chilli. Chilli is...
..correct. Yes!
I'm really feeling the pressure.
Hannah, you're up.
There's one place left.
I'm gonna go with tomato.
Tomato is...
..correct.
And I definitely don't want to be in that boat
at fourth position.
Ooh! Jackie next, please.
It's one of the melons.
The flavours are fresh, the flavours are floral.
I'm getting watermelon.
But then I'm also wondering if it could be rockmelon.
It could just so subtly be either.
I don't know if I'm just overcomplicating it,
and now I'm just overthinking all of it.
And I just really don't want to get this wrong.
Is it rockmelon?
Jackie, rockmelon is...
..incorrect.
I'm so sorry.
Oh, my God!
Correct answer is...
..watermelon.
That's what I thought.
I think my instinct and my gut was telling me
it would be watermelon,
and I'm really gutted that I just didn't listen to that.
I'm afraid you are the final person
cooking in round two.
Now I'm going to be cooking
in round two's elimination challenge,
but at least it's Sweet Week,
so hopefully I can save myself from elimination today.
Unfortunately, Jackie, Aaron, Annabel, Casper...
..you answered incorrectly and are now cooking
for your spot in the competition.
In round two,
you'll have 75 minutes to cook us a delicious dessert,
using only the ingredients
found in all the ice-creams from round one.
You also have access to a specialised
under-bench pantry
designed for all things sweet.
Sadly, the person who cooks the bottom dish
will be going home.
The stakes are high...
..so bring us something we can't resist.
Good luck.
Your time starts...
..now.
We're pretty limited with ingredients today.
Although there's 48,
I'm treating this like a giant mystery box.
For me, the ingredient that really stands out
is just figs.
When cooked well, it just tastes beautiful.
Go, Jackie!
Wah! Four fantastic contestants.
I think it's safe to say that on their day,
any one of these four
could probably take the competition out.
And now they find themselves battling against each other
to stay in this competition.
I can't believe we're about to lose one of these four today.
Yeah.
It's going to be very interesting to see
where they go with this.
There'll be a couple out there, I think,
who will try and do
some interesting flavour combinations.
There are 48 different flavours
which is a mix between vegetables...
..spices, fruits.
It'll be interesting to see which one
is going to use vegetables to make a dessert.
Yeah. That would be insane.
The competition is absolutely insane.
I'm up against some really good dessert chefs and I'm not one.
I am doing a dessert, but I'm not great at those.
I lean more into the savoury side.
So, today, I'm gonna make a savoury dessert.
How are you, Aaron? Tell me, what are you making?
I'm making a basil ice-cream.
Basil?!
I've got a tomato granita. Tomato?!
I have an olive oil and hazelnut crumb.
And I'll have a little basil oil just to go over the top as well.
So you're making, like, a salad?
Yeah, but I'll try and make it look more like a dessert.
It's supposed to be Sweet Week!
I know, I know, but I want to bring in flavours
that I like to eat.
So I love a tomato salad with some basil,
a bit of cheese, some olive oil, so simple,
and I want to bring that to a dessert.
So going through this tasting,
did it give you some inspiration?
Yeah. Flicked the switch in my brain
that you can turn any of those ingredients
into something sweet.
And I'm playing to my strengths
where I'm using savoury ingredients.
Hopefully, I can just bring it all together
with a dessert style. Wow. It's very exciting.
Thank you, Chef, I appreciate it.
Also a big risk. Yes. 100%.
Good luck. I'm very impressed, by the way.
Thank you, Chef.
My biggest challenge today would be to actually make it
taste like a dessert.
Looking at the level of the cooks that I'm up against,
it has to be something like this today.
It can't be something run-of-the-mill.
It has to be something that's out there.
If this is the last cook, you go out with a bang,
you go down swinging
and you bring something that you're proud of.
Are you having fun, Annabel?
Uh, I feel a little bit shaky inside, to be honest.
Yeah, try and just push it out.
I'm trying really hard just to keep my jitters at bay.
Head down, bum up, and do what I have to do.
No-one's sick. No-one's dying.
You save lives, yeah? And you're amazing.
And we love you.
Being a nurse, it is our day in, day out
that we are working under pressure.
I specialise in heart and lung transplant
and there is no room to make mistakes.
Ultimately, the outcome can affect someone's life.
I think my career and the high-stress nature of it
has definitely given me a bit of an edge.
So today my strategy is to keep it simple.
Today, I'm going to be making a brown butter
and miso ice-cream with a chocolate mousse.
By playing it safe,
every single element that I put on the plate
needs to be absolutely perfect.
There's no margin for error today.
If I have one technical flaw in my dish,
I could very much be going home.
Sorry.
Go, Jackie!
I've come into this competition as a cake-maker,
so I really wanted to make a cake with ice-cream today.
140 butter, five whites.
You've got this, Jackie!
The dish I'm making today
is grilled figs on a brown butter financier.
What flavour ice-cream are you doing?
Orange, cinnamon and vanilla.
It's all really warm and autumnal.
Typically, I want a very warming flavour
to go with this brown butter financier.
I think it'll be a beautifully balanced and caramelised dish.
I'm really confident with the flavours
that I'm putting together
so I just need to nail it.
Keep the momentum going. 45 minutes to go!
In my taste test,
I got the saffron ice-cream and got it wrong.
The saffron, I had no idea, yeah.
It just tasted a bit bitter and I didn't really love it.
Kicking myself that I didn't recognise it.
So I'm using the saffron today.
I want to make friends with saffron
and change my perspective on it.
Casper. Hey, how are you guys going?
Got undid with saffron. I did!
Am I the saffron snake? Yeah, it was a...
It was an interesting one, that one.
So, tell us, what's your approach today?
So, I'm going to do a carrot and saffron ice-cream.
What? You going there?
I'm going for it, yeah.
I thought you would never look at saffron...
Yeah. ..for the next 12 months.
And here we are in round two
and you are going there with saffron.
I was wondering if someone was going to do payback
to the ingredient that brought them here
and you're the one.
Yeah, but it's interesting because you don't like it.
Yeah, how are you going to work with something
that you don't like?
OK, I think I don't like, like, the...
But I like what it does to a dish.
So, like, I can appreciate that sort of bitter,
like, little note that it's got. Hum? Yeah.
So, I think that'll go really nicely
with my carrot and my orange today.
It's... It's probably risky.
Yeah.
You're playing with a flavour that you don't like...
It's stressing me out a little bit.
Poh and Andy are pretty flabbergasted
by the fact that I'm using the saffron today.
That was the last thing they expected me to do
and probably the last thing that they would do.
But I really want to make friends with saffron...
..so I'll keep my original plan
to make a saffron and carrot ice-cream,
a meringue with orange,
some little macaron kisses.
Are you doing little mini ones, Casper?
Yeah. Cute!
Fresh orange segments
and a orange and vanilla bean oil.
Looking good, Casp!
I've done, historically, pretty good ice-creams here
but dialling in that saffron flavour
when I'm not familiar with it is going to be a challenge.
I'm also serving an orange meringue.
So, this is not your traditional meringue,
it's got no eggwhites in it, it's just gelatine.
The idea for this is throwing it in the canister.
I'll pipe it in front of the judges at the front
and it should come out
as almost like a really loose, unset marshmallow.
Alright! Yeah, Jackie!
For my brown butter financier
with an orange and cinnamon ice-cream...
My ice-cream is done.
..I've decided to add an extra element.
I'm making a mint and lime granita.
I've never paired a cake with granita before
but I think it takes it to the next level.
I really want to just show the judges
a bit of a different technique.
The ice-cream will be quite a warm, toasty flavour
with this cake so I want to add some freshness.
It's like Shrek.
If the ice-cream, the cake, the figs are all on there...
..does the granita actually add to the dish?
Jackie's dish, I'm liking it overall.
The mint granita,
I'm not sold on.
Push, Jackie!
I really got to push
and I've got to get these cakes in right now.
I'm definitely cutting it fine
so, to hedge my bets, I'm going to put these cakes
in three different size cake moulds...
Not too much batter, Jackie.
..and see which ones cook in time.
Oh, my God!
Use your time wisely. 30 minutes to go!
Come on, everybody!
Let's go!
There's a lot of excitement in the room, a lot of focus.
What have we got? OK, so, Casper...
..we're really worried about him...
Yeah.
..because he's gone avenging the whole saffron situation.
The thing with Casper is I feel like
he's digging his heels in a little bit
because he doesn't even like saffron.
He said, "I don't like the flavour."
And now he's like,
"But I'm going to serve you a carrot and saffron ice-cream."
Yeah. So, you think it's...?
It's like, "Why? "Are you trying to make a point
"or are you trying to stay in the competition?"
You think it's silly-cocky? I do, I do.
And I'm just worried that he's kind of like...
He's trying to flex.
How about Annabel? How's she going?
She's playing to her strengths.
She's chosen flavours that she's really comfortable with,
and she's chosen elements, which she said,
"I want to eat this dessert," which is always a plus.
She knows she's not reinventing the wheel.
Yeah.
And she says, "I know if I do this well,
"hopefully it'll get me across the line."
How about Jackie?
So, she's doing a financier,
an orange and cinnamon ice-cream and a mint granita.
I'm so not sure about the mint granita
with a buttery...
It's all these roasty, warm, wintry flavours,
and then, like, a mint granita?
It worries me. Aaron is making...
..a salad.
A salad?
Basil ice-cream, tomato granita,
olive oil, hazelnut crumb and basil oil.
Oh!
He's got to get that so right.
Playing with the sweetness of that is
going to be so difficult... Yeah.
..getting that balance right.
I'm feeling like I'm on track with my tomato salad.
For me, it's paramount that I stay here
because the level of growth I've had in this short period,
it's been astounding.
I'm seeing all these different parts of Aaron
that I didn't know existed,
creativity that I never knew that I had.
I feel like a little kid again, almost.
And, yeah, there's just this whole new chapter now for me
where I'm actually going down a path
that I'm passionate about,
and now I find that I'm actually good at.
I'm working on my crumb.
I want that olive oil flavour in the crumb
to bring a bit of fragrance,
a bit of pepperiness and earthiness.
I've got crumb in the oven
and now I've got to work on my basil oil.
It will be poured over the ice-cream.
So, basil oil for the perfume...
..just to reinforce the basil flavour,
but also the olive oil in the dish.
Always a risk doing a savoury sweet
because it could just taste like a savoury, to be real.
I don't know if what I'm doing is going to work,
but if you don't challenge yourself,
if you don't push yourself,
you're not going to make it anywhere in this competition.
My anglaise is chilling. Go, Annabel!
My granita is in the blast freezer freezing.
And now I need to get on to my chocolate mousse.
The secret to a perfect mousse -
you want enough chocolate in it
so it's super rich and super decadent,
but you want to be able to keep enough air into it, as well.
And super smooth, you can't have a lumpy mousse.
When I cook my best is when I'm cooking a dish
that I would really, really like to eat.
And, so, that's what I'm channelling today.
So, I need to make sure that this dish eats perfectly
in order for me to stay safe today.
And perhaps that might still not be enough.
Fight for your spot in this competition!
Ten minutes to go!
Go!
Good, Jackie.
Jackie, that looks so good!
I'm taking the orange-cinnamon ice-cream
out of the churner and it's looking beautiful.
I'm really happy with it.
The consistency is perfect and the flavours are amazing.
The granita is done.
That looks unreal!
Yeah, I know!
My figs are grilled.
Oh, they smell so good.
But...
How do we speed up cooking these?
My cakes are still in the oven.
I'm just hoping that it cooks in time.
I'm kind of a little bit worried for Jackie
because she's doing a cake,
and Jackie makes amazing cakes,
but she also put it in the oven with, like, half an hour to go.
I really don't want her to go home on a cake
when she's so good at doing those things.
One dish, one chance!
Five minutes to go!
It's a risky strategy to make a tomato salad dessert...
..but I can see it coming together.
The basil ice-cream tastes umami forward,
and it's the basil flavour that comes through.
There's a little bit of saltiness
and a hint of pepperiness in there.
Oh, that looks beautiful, Aaron.
Get it in the freezer!
The texture is beautiful. It's looking good.
Oh, yes!
My tomato granita is nice and fresh and zingy and bright.
You know, the tuile, that's got that deep caramelisation
that I wanted.
That looks unreal.
Remember to taste it all.
I have a scoop of my savoury salad dessert.
And, to my surprise,
it tastes like a dessert.
There's all these savoury elements in there
that give you complexity
and a bit of, "Oh, what is that?"
I actually really like it,
but now I just hope that the judges like the dish
as much as me.
Looks good, Casper.
Me choosing saffron today really was an attempt
at trying to champion that flavour...
Happy, Casper? Yeah.
..and I'm really happy with how they're tasting.
But there's definitely a few doubts
going through my mind.
It's an ingredient that I haven't
really used much of,
but also the odds - one in four -
I really don't like.
Maybe there was a little bit of stubbornness there
in me using it,
but it might actually cost me my place
in the competition now.
Fight hard, guys! Two minutes to go!
Come on!
I can't wait any longer.
I get the cakes out.
Oh, OK.
I don't know if the cake is cooked through,
but I just need to get this cake on the plate.
Come on, Jackie! Come on, Jackie!
Just get it on the plate, man!
I'm so happy
with the flavours of my ice-cream.
It is like brown butter, decadent, luscious.
It's an ice-cream that I'm like,
"Yeah, I'm happy with this."
Ooh, nice!
Oh, your mousse is unreal!
Wow! Yes!
The chocolate mousse and the ice-cream,
those are the two stars of the show.
And then the granita is just there
to add, like, an extra-fresh palate cleanser, mouthfeel.
And then the crumble there is just for, like,
a beautiful, nutty, additional texture.
I hope my dish isn't too boring.
Give it everything!
30 seconds to go!
Come on! Keep going!
Come on, Jackie! Come on, Jackie!
I'm trying to get the cakes out of the tin,
and I can't get the smallest one
out of the mould
so I'm going to have to serve the biggest one.
Deep breath, Jackie. Come on, Jackie, come on!
Great job, Jackie. Don't drop it!
Slide it on.
Yes! Yes, Jackie, yes!
Let's go, Gantry! Sing it with me...
Ten! Nine!
Eight!
Seven! Six!
Five! Dish! Dish!
Four! Three! Two!
One! That's it, everybody!
That was so crazy!
Oh!
I'm really happy
with how all of the elements are executed
and I think they taste really yummy.
But I'm pretty intimidated by the other dishes.
I'm worried about the fact
that maybe my dish is too simple,
and it's made me really nervous and worried
that I might go home.
Annabel, what's the dish?
A miso and brown butter ice-cream,
a chocolate mousse
and then a passionfruit and chilli granita
and a brown butter crumb.
Thanks, Annabel. We'll taste. Thank you. Thanks, guys.
Thank you, Annabel. Thank you. Thank you.
What do you think of the look, guys?
Love it.
I'm so keen to dive in.
It may have been somewhat safe,
but it was bloody exciting.
And, for me, it was all to do
with that passionfruit and chilli granita.
Like, zing, fire, heat.
That, for me, was the thing that took that
from a safe dish to an absolutely incredible dish.
All of the textures are on point there,
from the mousse to the ice-cream to the granita
and the crumb around the bottom.
I have absolutely no notes.
She's a weapon. She's a threat, hard.
I think what Annabel has done here
is just executed technique and flavour
with such precision.
So, you've got that beautiful, rich chocolatey mousse
at the bottom,
but then, because of the passionfruit and chilli granita,
it's refreshing enough
that you want to go back for more.
And then putting the miso in that brown butter ice-cream,
everything just backs up the other elements.
It's just a perfect quad in a glass.
Jean-Christophe is still eating.
Ah, it's delicious!
It's a cracking little dish.
It's just lovely. I love everything.
I loved the crumb, the ice-cream,
the salt was perfect with the miso.
The crumb is actually superb.
I absolutely love that girl.
I think she's great
and I would love to employ her...
..that's for sure.
I'm really happy with what I've put up,
but it's a black-apron day and...
Hello. Hi, Jackie.
..if the cake isn't cooked enough,
I could be going home.
So, today I made figs and ice-cream.
I made a brown butter financier with figs,
and I did grilled figs
and orange and cinnamon ice-cream
and a mint and lime granita.
Thank you, Jackie. We'll taste your cake now.
Thanks, Jackie. Thank you.
Thanks.
Should we carve it up? Yeah.
Ohh.
Oh-lo-lo.
Ohh.
Oh-lo-lo-lo-lo.
It's not cooked. It's not cooked.
That's raw batter.
That's raw batter. Yeah.
Well, that's definitely not cooked.
Mmm.
It's not cooked.
The financier is not cooked and that is very sad.
Financiers are meant to be cooked
in a much smaller tin, as well,
so I think that's the reason why it's not set in the middle.
And the fig wouldn't have helped either.
Yeah. Yeah.
I think the fig was a really poor decision there.
The edges of the cake were
actually really beautifully caramelised,
but the centre of the financier is raw.
So, big problem there.
Ice-cream is nice, you know,
there's some nice orange notes in there.
But the mint granita is such a outsider on that plate.
It's really tart
and I think she thought that that would complement
how caramelised the tart was
and give those warm flavours relief
but they don't need relief.
I thought there was some really good work there.
Like, the edges of the cake were really beautiful
and chewy and got great flavour.
Figs were caramelised lovely.
They were sitting proud on top of that financier.
The ice-cream had great texture,
that cinnamon warming flavour was delicious.
But the two flaws being the undercooked cake
and the addition of that mint granita
it could possibly send Jackie home.
Casper! Judges.
Casper. Hi, Casper.
So, I've made a saffron and carrot ice-cream,
a orange meringue marshmallow and macaron kisses,
a vanilla bean and orange oil,
and some orange segments.
Wow.
You're here because of saffron,
and now you have saffron in your dish.
It's a big risk.
Thanks, Casper. Thanks.
Thank you so much. Thanks, Casper.
Thank you.
I've got a feeling tonight, whatever happens,
he's going to have saffron in his dreams.
Um, the ice-cream is quite delicious.
You know, there's a light hint of saffron.
I wouldn't say the orange is doing too much.
Neither of those flavours are highlighted,
they're just there.
And then the rest of the dish is very monotone.
It feels like if the ice-cream was
the only thing on the plate, it would be the exact same dish.
Mm.
I'm really worried for Casper.
I had to search for the saffron,
which I think is a little bit of an issue for me.
The premise of starting with an ingredient
that he didn't like
meant that he was just trying to translate the flavour
in a way where he's not heroing it.
It's almost like he's avoiding the flavour,
and that's what it tastes like to me.
I think the flavours are gentle and mild,
and when I try all the elements separately,
I actually really enjoy them.
But it's when I eat everything together
that it all kind of disappears for me.
Well... You're gonna...
..I love it. Oh, OK.
I think it's great.
It might not be strong flavours,
but I can see that
something which was supposed to be an enemy
has been turned to something expressive and gentle.
And I don't need textures
because I'm driven by the colour,
that beautiful yellow.
I mean, saffron.
I think he's a very smart chap.
I really hope that will save him.
It's nerve-racking
when you wait for them to taste your dish.
I'm just so proud of what I've done,
but it's really risky to make a tomato salad.
Every element has to be perfect,
or I run the risk of going home today.
Hey, Aaron. Hello.
So, this is my tomato salad.
I've made a basil ice-cream,
tomato granita,
an olive oil and hazelnut crumb,
a basil oil, and a tuile,
with a little bit of the basil oil in there, too.
Thank you, Aaron. We'll taste your dish now.
Thank you.
Tomato salad flavours in a dessert by Aaron
is about as risky as it gets.
Yeah.
He has crushed it.
I think that's his best plate of food yet, you know?
I think you're right.
That basil ice-cream?
Like, man, I would eat that, like, by the bucketful.
And then how natural he's kept that tomato granita?
Like, it literally tastes like tomatoes.
Yeah. It tastes like tomato juice.
And, like, dare I say it,
there's umami everywhere in it, which is beautiful.
Mmm.
And really surprisingly for me,
the thing that kind of grounds it and reminds you
that it's a dessert is the crumb,
and it just pulls it into dessert land.
I'm very impressed.
Very, very, very impressed. What a... What a weapon.
Aaron is an acrobat, who is walking
that tightrope between sweet and savoury so expertly,
considering his lack of expertise in dessert.
It's incredible. It's elegant, it's sophisticated,
it's delicious, it's simple,
but every single element
is incredibly harmonious as well.
A savoury dish as a dessert.
It takes a lot of guts,
and especially on a day like today.
And he's nailed it.
I mean, I just...
It's quite incredible actually.
I'm so happy for him because I feel
like something's just clicked in his head about dessert.
You don't have to be afraid of it.
I love that basil ice-cream.
And the way he's been really restrained with the sugar
is so refreshing.
We kicked today off with the infamous taste test,
which resulted in the four of you having
to battle it out for your spot in the competition.
You are all fantastic cooks,
so it's hard to believe
that we have to say goodbye to one of you.
There were two dishes that shone for all the right reasons.
Annabel...
Oh, my God.
..you were so strategic in that cook.
Your dish was clearly carefully considered,
each element supported and elevated by the others.
It resulted in an excellent dessert.
Great work.
Aaron...
..a tomato salad dessert with a one in four chance
of going home was as risky as it gets.
But you showed that when you back yourself,
you can end up with your best dish yet.
Well done. You're also safe.
That means, Jackie and Casper...
..it comes down to one of you.
Jackie, your financier was undercooked...
..and your granita took the dish in the wrong direction.
Casper, each component of your dish
was so subtle...
..that the dish lacked
definitions in flavour and in texture.
There was one dish who had mistakes
that we could not look past.
And it was your dish...
..Jackie.
I am sorry, Jackie, but you are going home.
Yeah.
Jackie, have you enjoyed your time here?
Oh, I've absolutely loved it.
I...
Yeah, I think Petro said it the other day.
This is literally, like, the best thing I've ever done.
And being around these people is just so inspiring.
And when I saw the line-up,
I was like, "I don't have a chance."
These guys are... ..amazing.
And I just feel very lucky, very grateful.
So...
..yeah, thank you all for having me.
We've loved having you here in the MasterChef kitchen.
And I know you're going to get out there
and going to make your mark in the world.
Yep. I definitely will.
But I'm afraid it's time to say goodbye for now.
Bring it in, Jackie.
Yeah, I'm sad to be leaving,
but I'm so proud with how far I've come.
I've made it over halfway,
and I've done things I never thought I would do.
This has been the wildest ride.
The highlights reel is definitely playing
in my head, and it's been such a good time.
Give it up for Jackie, everybody!
I'll miss you guys so much.
I really want to dive head first
into food and into baking,
and I want to make sure
that I don't waste this opportunity.
Tomorrow night...
Voila!
..an air fryer challenge
puts the icing on the cake for Sweet Week.
The top dish is scoring a $5,000 voucher
from Harvey Norman.
Let's go! We're on now.
And with so much on the line...
There's $5,000 and an immunity cook up for grabs.
I really need to make something
that is really spectacular.
Whoa!
..the competition is red-hot.
We're going for it.
We're gonna go all out.
I absolutely love it.
Yes!
I freaking love this.
This is phenomenal.
That's the best thing I've ever eaten out of an air fryer.