Episode 27 Celebrity MasterChef

Celebrity MasterChef, and it's finals week.

Every time our three finalists walk in this kitchen,

they have to impress you and I.

And today they have got a massive challenge in front of them.

SHE SCREAMS Oh, no!

MasterChef has been harder than I could ever imagine,

which is a bit stupid of me given that at the top

of every single show, Gregg says,

"Cooking doesn't get tougher than this."

You know, there's a clue there.

Every time you walk through those doors,

you want to be brilliant, you want to do the best.

And you want to come out with your head held high,

a big smile on your face.

I've quite enjoyed finals week so far,

but it is getting really hard. The challenges are

getting tougher and tougher. Who knows what's coming next?

We are now going to introduce our finalists into

the wonderful world of desserts.

John, this is lovely for me.

They are either going to love it or be terrified.

Welcome back.

Today, for you three,

we have one of the most difficult disciplines of any kitchen.

Today is all about pastry.

You are about to get a MasterClass of a lifetime.

We have one of the best pastry chefs,

maybe the best I have ever met.

Ladies and gentlemen, Claire Clark.

Claire's career has included

five years at the three-Michelin-starred

French Laundry in California's Napa Valley.

She has also been awarded an MBE.

Today, I have chosen you one of the hardest pastry challenges.

You are going to be making a two-tier chocolate celebration cake.

Let's get cracking.

So, our first step is I am going to be making the cake base first.

So, all the yolks in the bowl. With a large amount of sugar.

This is a cake that few would be brave enough to try making at home.

There are three techniques involved -

two Viennese sacher cake bases...

The little one is going to take 50 minutes

and the large one, 55 to 60.

..a white chocolate and vanilla frosting...

So, this is the sort of consistency we're looking for.

Basically, if you shake it, it could drop off the paddle, you know?

..and a chocolate ganache.

It's quite important to have the temperature really exact.

The cream must be boiling.

Pastry is an art because it's a science,

and you have to do things really precisely.

So, we can check the cake.

The cake base itself, it's got to be cooked properly.

Take the skewer, put the skewer in. The skewer should come out clean.

If it's not cooked properly,

they're not going to be able to cut it and slice it.

-So, now we're going to slice the cakes to make your layers.

-What?

-We are going to start to cut it into three now.

-Oh.

-Don't take the knife out.

-Right.

Turn the cake and just continue to cut.

It's like building a house.

If you don't have good foundations, your house is going to fall down.

Take some of your frosting, take a good dollop.

And using a spatula or your palette knife,

push it to the edge, but not all the way,

and level it over.

Then, I'm going to do the first technique of masking.

Masking is filling in any areas that aren't level.

-OK?

-Yeah.

I'll do the masking now with the ganache.

The most important thing for the ganache

is that it's kept smooth.

If it's not smooth, your cake is going

to look a mess, even though it might taste nice.

So, you see what the masking is doing?

This is the chocolate glacage, the chocolate glaze for over the top.

I'll put that over a bain-marie.

Everything is temperature controlled.

The glacage has got to be the right consistency.

If it is too hot,

it's going to start to melt the ganache underneath it.

If it's too cold, it's going to run off.

So, now we're ready for the finale, the decorating.

So, next is the pillars, to arrange the pillars.

We want to make sure it's sitting in the middle.

Right to the final moment,

when you put your last rose or your last leaf onto the cake,

that is going to be the moment when they can step back

and take a deep sigh, I should think.

-Wow!

-OK, that's impressive.

You've got four and a half hours to do this task.

It's over to you. Let's get cracking.

This is an incredibly intimidating challenge. One slip up

and you'll ruin the whole thing.

It is going to be quite funny to see

if our cakes come out looking anything near as beautiful.

I'll be honest, I am sceptical.

As you can assume, I am right into cake decorating,

flower arranging at the weekend.

It's got disaster written all over it, hasn't it?

Being competent with a knife.

It's very, very quiet. It's very, very concentrated.

It's very, very focused.

And all three of them are way up against it.

I am disastrous at baking.

I've only cooked one cake in my life,

and that was back in 1985.

So, that was the last time I attempted to bake a cake.

Emma, have you ever made anything as complicated as this before?

No, never. It's exciting, isn't it?

How close to Claire's example do you think you are going to get?

It'll be a fair approximation of Claire's cake.

I'm quite frightened over cutting the big cake into three.

I think that's going to be a challenge.

For some reason or another, Emma's cake has been poured

into the tin unevenly and now we have a cake which is

this thick at one end and this thick at the other.

She couldn't cut the base into three slices, which she's supposed to do.

She's cut it into two. That is my worry.

Two and a half hours left.

Yay!

Before I came into the competition, desserts were never my thing.

I mean, I loved eating them, but never really made them.

But it seems desserts have found their way to me through MasterChef.

I've done a lot of them, a lot more than the other two have.

So, I kind of think that maybe desserts are my thing.

-Your frosting is looking a little bit runny, Michael.

-Yeah.

I have a feeling I didn't whip my eggs enough,

which is just stupid and annoying.

As long as it doesn't slip out of the cake,

hopefully it will still taste amazing.

-Good luck, Michael.

-Thanks, guys.

The task is so enormous, it actually looks to me

as though Michael is suffocating in its enormity.

It is a huge task for anybody, and Michael, you can see,

the pressure really getting to him.

Halfway, halfway!

I could follow her recipe,

the skills, the practicality of it, reasonably well.

But desserts...

I have no idea what I'm like,

because it is something that I would avoid.

It's just not my thing.

How achievable do you think this task is? I mean, you look at

Claire's cake over there, something of absolute beauty.

Puddings aren't my thing. To get anywhere near it,

I think would be half a miracle.

She makes it look very easy, very simple. It's not.

Why don't you like puddings?

I just don't. I'd rather have a starter

and a main and then an espresso.

I think technically I'll be fine.

Whether it tastes that good, I don't know.

-Artistically?

-Yeah. Debatable.

-Danny, good luck.

-Thank you.

-Cheers, mate.

I know Danny has got precision in his fingers,

but he hasn't got a sweet tooth, he doesn't like desserts.

How is he going to make something beautiful, with his heart and soul,

if he really doesn't want to eat the cake?

Last 30 minutes to make this beautiful.

-Michael.

-Yes.

-Is that your cake there?

-That's my cake, yeah.

-Why is it not shiny?

-Just about to glaze it, Gregg.

Last ten minutes.

Guys, just under five minutes left.

Just two minutes left.

OK, that's it, finished. Well done.

Danny, there's a lot I like about this cake.

I love the way you placed the polka dots on.

I know you thought about balancing the cake out. And I love your rose.

Beautiful, flat surfaces.

It looks fabulous, just apart from this bubbling of the glacage,

which is caused by that being too hot and melting the ganache underneath.

OK, let's check out your layers and filling inside it.

It's the moment of truth.

Hey!

Yeah, it's beautiful. Look at that.

I'm going to leave it standing up, cos it's so proud.

That's nearly perfect.

-Really, really good masking.

-Thank you.

-Way!

-Here we go.

It's good.

I love the texture of the frosting, it is super light and fluffy.

It is really, really nice.

And, of course, the finishing, especially on the smaller cake,

is excellent. Beautiful layering.

I love that thin masking.

Lovely, thin, shiny glaze on top. It's really well done.

That's lovely! That's lovely.

Heavenly. Heavenly.

For somebody who has never really done cake decorating or work

like this before, this is pretty impressive.

I'm really pleased. Almost perfect was the thing.

Almost, yet again.

OK, Emma.

Well, I think you've done a pretty good cover-up job on your cakes.

I'd say they're looking rather beveled rather than straight edged,

but at least they're both beveled.

The roses, I just feel they are a little heavy,

a little thick and clumsy.

You've used your modelling paste wisely.

You've actually thought,

"I need to make it look nice, I'll cover it up."

You've done that very successfully.

So, I am interested to see how that's going to look inside.

You can see it's not perfect.

There's a thumb mark and a hole in that leaf there.

It's got a hefty amount of ganache on there.

Of course, the other really noticeable thing

is that there are only two layers instead of three.

It's really hard to get the spoon through,

because the ganache is so thick.

The cake is very dense, it's very heavy, very close textured.

So, it doesn't eat that well.

-But your frosting is excellent, it's super light and creamy.

-Yeah.

The thickness of the chocolate ganache, you could probably leave

a footprint in it.

I was struggling to actually get my fork through it. Ooh! Sorry.

That's all right.

Thanks, Emma.

So, my cake was a disaster. The frosting was good,

but every single other aspect of the cake was...it was horrendous.

Mike, you started so well, and then at the end,

it got very, very pushed for time for your decoration.

I mean, the band along the bottom has got hardly any decoration.

Nothing at all here.

Having said that, the roses are superb!

I mean, really superb.

Aye-aye.

Oh! That's interesting, isn't it?

He's got six inches of ganache.

-Oh!

-Here we go.

Well, it's got less ganache on this one.

So, we'll try this one first.

I'm going to squash it all.

Just an awful lot to get through.

Far too much chocolate, really hard to eat

your way through that. It is quite dense,

the ganache. It also makes the cake quite sickly.

Just because of the amount of ganache on top.

The bottom layer actually eats really well.

It's got a nice amount of ganache. It's surprisingly moist.

Are you all right, Michael?

You know, I feel a tiny bit disappointed in some ways.

Because it's the final, because we are at this stage,

you want to be producing stuff that puts big smiles on everyone's faces.

And I feel that this is a slightly wry smile, this cake.

-Thanks, Michael.

-Thank you.

Guys, thank you very much indeed.

We will see you again very, very soon. Off you go.

A privilege for our three to have you do the MasterClass

and an honour for us to have you here

doing such an extraordinary thing.

-Thank you.

-My pleasure.

Our three now know what is possible with pastry,

how beautiful it can be.

They should now be inspired, John.

Let's see what they make with their own desserts.

I want to go to heaven on a spoon, that's what I want.

Listen, I love desserts.

Give me something beautiful today

and you could be on your way to a MasterChef title.

Ladies and gentlemen, your own creation,

a dessert of absolute splendour.

Two hours. Let's cook.

It was such a disaster, my cake.

But what's my motto?

Never give up, never surrender.

For something delicious, what you going to cook for us?

I'm going to make for you a raspberry meringue tart

with a raspberry coulis and some raspberries soaked

in liqueur and a Chantilly cream.

We believe you cook at your best when you've got a massive smile

-on your face.

-Yes.

-Today, you're looking very serious.

Well, it's because I'm not on top. I hate making up.

What, for you today,

are the challenges and the dangerous points of this recipe?

I would like the bottom of my filo pastry to be really, super crisp.

I want my raspberry filling to be delicious.

But the most important thing for me is that it really delivers on taste.

-Good luck.

-Thank you very much.

You have had 30 minutes. Half an hour gone.

I think I surprised myself in the test with Claire, making the cakes.

I suppose I have maybe set the bar a little bit too high for myself.

The trouble is, now I've got to try and live up to that.

What are you making for today?

I am going to make jelly and ice cream for you.

I spoke to my kids, thought "What do they like to eat?"

Dessert should be fun. So, really,

it's sort of a take on kids' party food.

A bit of jelly and ice cream and a little bit of cake.

-Inspired by the kids. Have you made it for the kids?

-I have.

-How did it go down?

-It all went, but they're not that fussy.

If not, they don't get fed.

Danny is always pushing himself with process and technique,

and he's doing exactly the same with his dessert.

But I'm concerned about the way it's going to taste.

Just under 40 minutes left.

I absolutely have a point to prove to John and Gregg.

The pressure is totally on for me to deliver.

The cake this morning didn't go to plan.

This afternoon, my dessert has to be brilliant.

You look like you've been completely defeated -

what's going on, mate?

I'll be honest with you guys. I just felt a little bit embarrassed

earlier today with that cake challenge.

-I definitely left feeling a little bit on the low.

-Right.

-So, let's put that to one side.

-Yeah.

Because we know how good your desserts can be

and how delicious they are.

So, tell us about your deliciousness.

Today, I'll be doing for you guys a rhubarb

-and honeycomb trifle.

-He's back! He's back in the room.

There are some great flavours in this. It is all about layering.

There are about seven different processes that I've got to get right

and, of course, there's a lot of setting and a lot of mixing

and stuff to do,

but I don't think I've completely made it impossible for myself.

I really want you to do well this round

because me and you are probably the only ones in this room

that really love puddings,

and I really want you to do brilliantly well.

Awesome. Thanks, guys.

He's got several different layers, all of which have got to be perfect.

Trifle sounds simple - not the way Michael's doing it.

This is a complex thing.

Five minutes left.

Three minutes.

Last 60 seconds, move yourselves!

That's it, stop. Time's up.

Michael has made a rhubarb and honeycomb trifle, layered

with rhubarb jelly, sponge, custard, poached rhubarb and cream.

You haven't managed to layer the trifle.

It might not detract from how well it tastes.

Michael, I really like your flavours.

I love the flavour of that wonderful, creamy custard in there with

the rhubarb and your honeycomb, which is tasting of really delicious honey.

But your jelly hasn't set, Michael.

And in the bottom of that glass, we have soup.

All it needed was that jelly to be set and it would have been great.

We've got a texture issue because there's no jelly,

it hasn't set. We have not got a flavour issue,

they're divine.

Very, very lovely flavours. But, look,

two mouthfuls and we've got a bowl of slush.

-Are you feeling all right, make?

-Yeah. No, not really, actually.

-You wanted to cry, didn't you?

-Little bit.

A bit of an off day today. On a day that I thought wouldn't be.

Jelly not setting... I mean,

I'm in the MasterChef final, what's going on?

Danny has made strawberry jelly with vanilla ice cream

and pistachio cake, a sesame seed tuile,

mini meringues and a strawberry and mint sauce.

Good looking dish, it's just whether it tastes good.

I have one tiny criticism, and that is there is not enough cake.

Besides that, Danny, it is absolutely delicious.

It is a really pretty, lovely thing, but give me more cake.

It should have been a bit bigger.

What you have done here is really skilful, very skilful.

There is nothing wrong with the quality of your ice cream,

your jelly, your cake, your meringue, your tuile.

But that much work has got to produce a bigger flavour

sensation than strawberry ice cream sugar.

That's how I feel.

-Thanks, Danny.

-Cheers, thank you.

A mixed report from John and Gregg. I was happy with it.

John was happy with it.

I think Gregg is just jealous that I've got more hair than him.

Emma has made a raspberry meringue tart

with liqueur-soaked raspberries,

Chantilly cream and raspberry coulis.

You've created a nice shape and quite a pretty little tartlet

-on the plate. Well done.

-Thank you.

Ta-dah! Great! Sugary meringue. The pastry is so crisp, it's light.

And then bash! A big snog off of ripe, sharp raspberry. Beautiful.

I love the coulis and the raspberries,

I even like that sort of marshmallow meringue with the whipped cream.

I would have loved to really taste the raspberries in the bottom.

Sort of like a lemon meringue pie is really sharp, sweet with lemon.

-Yeah.

-That, I think, needs to be more sharp and sweet

with raspberries.

I know that you battled with yourself today and pastry and desserts,

so, for you, this is a massive achievement. Well done.

I needed that. I needed that.

Gregg Wallace loved my pudding.

That's it, there is no higher praise as far as I am concerned.

We knew this was going to be a tough test, well done.

Off you go. Thanks very much.

These last two challenges, we've seen our three work

very, very hard.

They all want to pick up that title,

and that's why the competition is so hot.

It's not been a great day for me today.

I've got to put this behind me, come back ready for a big fight.

If I won it, it would be fantastic.

Some tough challenges still to go. Who knows?

I know we've got another challenge coming.

They're always a little bit harder...

..than the previous one.

We've got three amazing finalists.

It's been tough, it's about to get tougher.

Tomorrow night, the celebrity finalists

pay tribute to some of Britain's oldest heroes.

With fine dining, you want to be as precise as possible.

HE WHISTLES

It would be a very bad thing if I were seen to be killing heroes.

Time is my only enemy.

It's going to be very tight. I am going like the flipping clappers.

Froster, please.

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