Masterchef (2010) s07e09 Episode Script
A Piece Of Cake
It's a super sweet celebration.
Your fate is in the hands of teenagers.
- Party! - God help you.
- Watch it! Watch it! - Oh, my God-- - But when tempers flare - Don't hit me! - What's going on? - Un-( bleep )-believable! - whose party - That's raw.
You're going to kill someone.
will come to an end? Get a ( bleep ) grip.
Okay.
Come on down, guys.
Whoo! - Whoo! - Uh-oh.
- Look at this.
- Look at this.
Oh, man.
I see a red side and a blue side.
The kitchen does not look normal.
It's pretty clear there's a team challenge.
They never fail to surprise us in the MasterChef kitchen.
Before we tell you what you'll be doing for your next big challenge, you're to welcome back one of the most highly respected names in the culinary world today.
In an even brighter shirt than last week, chef Edward Lee, guys.
Come on.
Chef Lee.
Now, listen carefully.
Tonight, our world-class restaurant is going to host a big celebration.
Yes, that's right.
It's going to be a party back there.
I love parties! All of you will be cooking for a very sassy group of-- brace yourselves-- teenagers.
- Whoo! - Wow.
But not just any teenager.
Their sweet 16th birthdays.
Every single one of our teens tonight were nominated by their schools, teens that, without us, may have never had a proper sweet 16 party, so make it nice.
Your next challenge will be a team challenge.
Eric, Katie Yes, chef.
because you had the best dishes in the last challenge, you will be tonight's team captains.
- Chef.
- Yes, chef.
Please come on up here, and join us.
Good job, guys.
I'm very excited to be a team captain.
I'm used to working on a team being a firefighter.
I'm ready to show the judges I'm more than just a home cook, that I can lead a team.
Eric, you won the last challenge, so you will get to pick first.
You know, you want somebody that can cook a savory dish, but at the same time, you want somebody that can bake the hell out of a cake, - and that person is Shaun.
- Wow.
- Nice.
- Ready to go into the fire with you, brother.
Thank you, sir.
Back in Vegas in my DJ career, parties are where I live, parties are what I do, and I'm gonna rock the MasterChef restaurant just like I rock a Vegas nightclub.
Katie, first choice? Well, my first choice is someone that is a very passionate home cook, well-versed.
I would love to have Brandi on my team.
Wow.
Brandi.
Come over.
Good.
Excellent.
Right.
The second pick.
- My pick is Tanorria.
- Apron on.
Thanks, love.
Okay, next pick.
Katie.
I just love everything about her.
Drea, I want you on my team, honey.
Good.
Well done.
Wow.
- Terry.
- Terry, let's go.
Pick up your apron.
Right.
Perfect.
Katie.
David.
Wow.
David.
My next person is Alejandro.
- Alejandro, huh? - Thank you very much.
- Three left.
- I'm ready to have Diamond be a little Diamond tonight.
- Interesting.
- Thank you.
Okay, final pick.
So, Eric, here's the advantage.
You get to pick for both teams, so it's time to make your decision.
Will it be Dan or Nathan? I absolutely do not want Nathan on my team today.
I want a team player, and I want someone that's good under pressure.
I don't feel like he does that very well at all.
There's two people left.
They're both very talented, but I'm gonna go with Dan, 'cause I trust his palate.
Wow.
Yeah, baby.
So, Nathan, please come up, and pick up your apron.
Okay, team captains, jump into the center of your teams.
Good job, by the way.
Good picks.
Interesting.
Well done.
So let's get real.
What's a birthday party without a little element of surprise? Yeah.
Oh, no.
Oh, my goodness.
I mean, after all, guys, what's a birthday party without presents, guys? Presents! - I will pee myself.
- I know.
I'm scared.
Last time the judges rolled something out, I had to cook testicles.
I don't know what's gonna be under these boxes, but I'm praying it's not a set of balls.
All right, each gift box contains some amazing ingredients for you to use tonight.
Now, nothing is replicated in either of the two boxes, and you'll have to make your incredible sweet 16 dish from whatever you find inside.
Got it? All right, both teams, please very carefully take your gift boxes back to your stations.
I'm closest to the 16-year-olds, so I can remember my 16th birthday party.
I liked sushi, lots of green vegetables.
I'm hoping there's a lot of great ingredients in this box, 'cause we can't just serve them chicken nuggets and pizza.
Each of our 30 guests tonight will be served a plate from the red team and the blue team.
and then vote for which dish they prefer.
All of your fates is in the hands of a restaurant full of teenagers.
I've got four of them.
God help you.
The winning team will be safe from elimination, and the losing team will face a pressure test where at least one home cook will see their MasterChef journey come to an end.
Your 90 minutes starts now.
Let's get this thing off.
All right, all right.
Chicken.
So we got the chicken, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes.
We got eggplant.
We got squash.
We get in the huddle.
I'm seeing cashews, spinach, squash, zucchini, and then all of a sudden, I see chicken and bacon.
What 16-year-old doesn't love bacon? Hell, yeah.
I really like the chicken cooked in the bacon.
- Yeah.
- Give the chicken a nice crunch.
- What's in here? What's in here? - I got it.
- Shrimp! - Shrimp! - Yes! - Y'all excited? Look at these tomatoes.
- Ginger.
- Red chilies.
What are you thinking? Brandi.
A sweet and spicy glaze, a grilled shrimp, and a roasted corn salsa.
- Mmm.
- That sounds delicious.
Let's do a nice sweet potato mash.
I can knock out the mash.
You two are the vegetables.
You two handle the protein.
I'm there for whatever you need.
Okay, we're gonna go with the idea of doing the rice.
We're going to do the lemongrass in there also.
The peas are beautiful, and I think we need a green side We're going to bring fresh cilantro on top.
That doesn't go with our plate.
Can you handle making that for the shrimp? - Yes.
- Okay.
Brandi, you and David are gonna be on the shrimp, okay? Clearly Katie sees me as a baby, as a 20-year-old kid who doesn't know what he's doing in the kitchen.
Can you help me get the vegetables ready? - Yeah, but-- - I'm putting Nathan on the vegetables today, because it's the absolute safest bet.
I'm just not comfortable with him on the protein.
- One, two, three.
- Blue! - One, two, three.
- Red team! 10 minutes gone.
Speed up, guys.
Let's go.
- Oh, baby, look at this.
- Yeah.
Let's think about our guests.
This is the first time we've ever cooked for a restaurant full of sweet 16 teenagers.
Kids these days, they're picky.
They're opinionated.
Presentation is going to be key.
Find a comfort food that they might have known when they were younger, and find a way to elevate it.
That, for me, is the winnig strategy tonight.
One of these teams has gotta come up with it.
I just want you on the corn and tomatoes.
Okay, we need beautiful on the plate.
We need color.
Between Katie and Eric, who do you think - is the more natural-born leader? - Eric.
- Give Dan a hand.
- He's a firefighter.
He knows how to be the leader.
He works on a team every single day.
Remember, these are baby, baby squash.
We don't peel them.
We just cook 'em - Yeah.
Totally.
- You know that, right? Listen.
I need 30 portions of rice.
Katie's a mum.
She's a personal trainer, so I think you're seeing much more harmony in the blue team than you do with the red team.
If we each stay focused on our job, we got this, okay? Nathan, can you grill corn? Katie, look, I need you to listen to me, please.
- Okay, what do you need? - We cannot put it on the grill till we have a marinade.
You just need salt and pepper on there.
- We're gonna toss it in.
- We don't need a marinade.
- Okay.
- Char it for now.
Then explain that to me, please.
We're just gonna put it on the grill.
- I can't be yelled at like this.
- I'm not yelling at you.
- I just need-- - You're just like, "Get it on the grill.
" - Just get it on the grill.
- Please, just We know that teams really get in trouble when it gets dramatic.
Don't slip it so much.
Just let it char-- - Yeah, I'm fixing-- - Here, Nathan.
I need you to chop the tomatoes.
I'm not good at cutting tomatoes.
Well, you're gonna have to do it.
Get the tomatoes, and start cutting.
Cutting how? Katie? How am I dicing these tomatoes? Perhaps slices.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
- In a tray or in a bowl? - Katie.
- I'm gonna marinate - Come here, please.
That's fine.
I just need you chopping the tomatoes.
Nathan is driving me absolutely crazy at this point.
I mean, we are cooking for teenagers today, and Nathan's acting like a teenager.
Nathan, I'm sorry, but chopping tomatoes should not be that hard.
He has to step up, act like a man in the kitchen, not a little boy.
I'm trying to ask you.
Please don't treat me like an idiot.
- Okay.
- What is going on back there - with Nathan and Katie? - Like this? That looks like ( bleep ).
Oh, my gosh.
I am totally lost here.
Why do you have to ask everything? Looks like ( bleep ).
Katie? Katie? How am I dicing these tomatoes? Nathan, I'm sorry, but chopping tomatoes should not be that hard.
Oh, my gosh.
I am totally lost here.
Why do you have to ask everything? Try another one.
Try a different way.
Andrea, come show him how.
Come here.
Drea, I need you.
Can you show him how to do that? You know, I'm only a year older than Nathan.
He should be taking care of himself.
Layer this with the avocado.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Fresh tomato and fresh avocado? We're in the top 12 here.
Like, people shouldn't be babysitting other people.
- Like, get it together.
- You know what I mean? 20 minutes gone.
70 minutes remaining.
Let's go.
Right, Katie.
Yes, Chef.
Tell me what you're doing.
We are making a chili-and-citrus infused shrimp.
Is that wise for the teenagers? Yeah, I think they're gonna love that.
- Not too spicy? - Not too spicy, just a little kick.
So chili-and-citrus infused shrimp.
Yes.
Basmati rice.
It's coconut, lemongrass, and fish stock.
- How many shrimp? - We're gonna do three per plate.
We also have grilled corn and the heirloom tomato salsa we're gonna put on the top, and then Drea's making a dipping sauce for the shrimp.
- What kind of sauce? - A Thai chili with shallot, garlic-- So it's Caribbean, Latin, Mexican, Thai.
No, there's no Latin in this.
It's pure Asian.
Corn salsa.
Yeah, I don't know what that is.
- Um-- - Shh! Please don't shush me.
Do we know what we're doing, blue team? - Yes, sir.
- I mean, it's all over the ( bleep ) shop.
We've got multi-cultures coming over this plate here.
Get it together, regroup, and just have a 30-second chat.
Yes, Chef.
- Yep.
- Thank you, Chef.
Listen.
Okay, so we need to nix the corn.
- Nix the corn.
- Oh, my gosh.
Stop.
Listen, is everybody okay with going Asian? Yes.
Yes, perfect.
Okay, we're going Asian.
Okay? Everybody get back to their station.
Red team, blue team, just over an hour left! They can do it, guys! They can do it! Come on! Come on! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
- All right, Eric.
- Chef, how are you? - What's the dish? - So what we're gonna do, we're gonna have a chicken breast.
We're gonna pan-sear it with the bacon fat, gonna put it in the oven.
It's gonna go over a maple bacon mashed sweet potato.
We have a spinach, green-pea, parsley puree, and we got some beautiful baby squash and zucchini to go in as well.
You have a lot of vegetables going here, huh? We have a vision.
We all went with the same vision.
Now, you know who your guests are tonight, a dining room full of 16-year-olds.
- Yes.
- What about the dish do you think is going to appeal to them? Who doesn't love bacon? Bacon, I think is an indisputable flavor that 16-year-olds love, but parsley, peas, spinach You want a little freshness.
I think that's what's gonna come together at the end.
It's good.
I think it's about how you're gonna get all the flavors to work with one another.
Good luck.
- Yes, Chef.
Thank you.
- Work neat.
We gotta scratch something.
- We gotta scratch something.
- Yeah.
- You're right.
- All right, let's scratch the puree then.
We have a green with this.
We have the yellow, and we have the orange.
- Let's go, guys.
- Guys, taste everything.
Wow.
Okay, so blue team for me are fragmented.
They got no team spirit, and, Katie, right now is confused.
Like this? The plate doesn't make sense.
Katie, I really think we should use the peas and not the salsa.
Do you know how to do the peas? - Yes.
- By yourself? - Yes.
- Okay, go do the peas.
You blanch 'em, and then-- You just said you knew how.
Go do 'em.
- You got it? - Let me get a dish.
To be honest, Gordon, the red team is confused, but in a completely different way than the blue team.
I don't know any 16-year-old that wants to eat that many vegetables, and they're focusing more on that than-- which I think is the star, which is the bacon and the chicken.
Let me know when we're gonna throw those veggies in.
Good.
Teamwork.
Yeah, that's teamwork.
Red team, blue team Yes, chef.
33 minutes remaining.
The doors of the MasterChef restaurant are now open, and our guests are starting to arrive.
All right, I'm gonna go on this chicken breast.
All right, get it in there.
- Check this out.
- I'm so excited.
Oh, my gosh.
We're 16, guys.
- Isn't this so nice? - Wow.
- We're 16.
- I know, right? Happy birthday.
Happy birthday.
I thought getting my driver's license was a big deal, but this is even a bigger deal.
- Happy birthday.
- Let's party! Oh, my God.
Happy birthday.
I'm so excited to be here at my sweet 16th birthday party with all my friends.
It's so cool to see everyone here.
- 16? - Yeah, 16, brother.
Yeah, man! Yeah, man! And I cannot wait for the food.
- Shaun-y, how's that looking? - It's looking good.
Red team, blue team, all 30 portions need to be ready in 15 minutes.
Start thinking about your plating.
Speed up! We're gonna do mashed potato in the middle, like we said.
Okay.
There you go.
Candied bacon looks fricking beautiful.
So if we have three, let's think how we want to do it.
Oh, dear.
Blue team all over the place.
15 minutes to go, and they haven't started to even think about the conceptualization of their dish.
The blue team also doesn't seem to be working quickly.
Is that enough peas? - Is that-- no.
- I got rid of all my hot water.
I'll get you new hot water going.
That's not enough.
Nathan looks a little lost.
They don't seem to be moving towards this goal of serving a dining room full of 16-year-olds.
At least the red team's moving with speed.
Anything that's done, just toss on here.
That's what I'm doing, brother.
Done.
- Let's start plating.
- Done.
We got this, guys.
We got this, right? - Let's go! - We got it! 12 minutes remaining.
Let's go.
- Eric.
- Yes, chef.
- Who's putting the chicken on? - Eric and I, chef.
- Yes, chef.
- Every time, yes? Yes, chef.
We checked all these with a thermometer.
All the juices are running clear.
Make sure the skin looks nice, guys.
Make sure the skin looks nice.
- Got it.
- Stop.
Stop.
That one's gonna go back in? - That's definitely raw.
- That one's gotta go back.
This one is, too.
- Hey, red team, come here.
- Yes, Chef.
That's just gone on the plate.
A 16th birthday party.
You're gonna kill someone.
That's not even a minute away.
And they have been waiting for months for this celebration.
- Yes, Chef.
- Yes, Chef.
Get a ( bleep ) grip.
Hey, come here.
Come here.
- Hey, red team, come here.
- Yes, Chef.
That's just gone on the plate.
A 16th birthday party.
You're gonna kill someone.
Get a ( bleep ) grip.
- Yes, Chef.
- That is ridiculous.
I don't want one teenager spending the night in hospital.
- Yes, Chef.
- Stop it.
- Stop it, and wake up.
- Raw chicken on the plate.
It's their sweet 16.
And I definitely don't want to go home knowing I sent a kid to the hospital.
We've gotta recover.
Seven minutes to go, red team.
Guys, we gotta focus on making sure this chicken is cooked.
Chicken's the star of the dish.
Crank the ovens up as high as they can go.
We gotta make sure it's fully cooked through.
We got this, all right? Oh, dear.
Guys, I'm nervous.
Get this one back on.
Get that one flat down.
Get it seared, and get it on.
Serving undercooked chicken, pink in the middle.
Gotta make sure those are done, brother.
Got it.
Probably came out of mine.
- Mine are good.
- All right.
Salt, sugar, squeeze of lemon on those peas.
We got this, team! Come on, push it! Five minutes to go, guys! Five minutes! Come on, Drea.
We got it.
I need 'em all ready.
Katie, you need to start plating.
- Okay.
Yes, chef.
- Otherwise it's not gonna be ready.
Katie, taste the peas.
Salt, sugar, lemon.
Salt, sugar, lemon.
- Come on.
- Come on.
Please don't treat me like I'm an idiot.
- It's true, Nathan.
- Nathan.
- Yes, Chef.
Yes, chef.
- Speed up a little bit.
If you're not careful, they'll be 17 by the time we get this plated.
- One, two, three, four - Watch it.
Watch it.
- Watch it.
Watch it.
- We're almost done, guys.
How much time do we have? Three minutes to go! Red team, blue team, let's go! Peas are done.
Okay, then, Nathan, we need you plating.
- All right.
- I got 30 shrimp coming.
They have half their plates still empty on the blue team.
Get the shrimp on.
- ASAP.
- Get the shrimp on the plate, guys.
Red team, blue team, 90 seconds.
You gotta get more shrimp, everything we got.
Come on.
Somebody go bring that shrimp over.
Terry, we need your sauce.
- He's coming right now.
- Perfect.
You don't have to count 'em.
Just get 'em on the plate.
- You said count 'em.
- I know, but not anymore.
Just get 'em on the plate.
- 30 seconds to go! - Drive, guys! - Come on, we got this! - Get that nice piece of bacon over the top of each one.
- Get it right on that plate.
- Move! Move! Move! - We gotta make it pretty on the top.
- I'm trying, dude.
Make sure everything looks absolutely perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect.
Nothing on the rim.
Nothing on the rim.
Where are the shrimp?! Shrimp! Shrimp! Shrimp! Just take 'em, Nathan.
Just grab 'em.
Put 'em in my hand.
- Get the shrimp! - 10 - Move! I got two! I got two! - Go! Go! - Seven - Everything looks good.
Guys, those plates look beautiful.
- Five - Have the extra one.
- One there.
One there.
- three - two, one.
- One here! - Stop! - Stop! Hands up! - What the ( bleep ), guys? - Don't say that! - Don't hit me! - Katie! Hands in the air! No hitting, guys.
- Hey, guys, come on.
- Chill out.
You just hit me.
What's going on back there? Un-( bleep )-believable! Servers, please, line up.
I am very disappointed in myself that we were only able to get two shrimp on a couple of the teenagers' plates.
It is unacceptable to me.
- One shrimp.
- That shrimp is I mean I take all that responsibility.
I am the team leader, and I expect perfection out of myself.
At this point, I definitely feel that this could be our team's downfall.
- They'll all be cooked.
- They're all gonna be cooked.
I think that our dish is better than the blue team's, because we got a lot of flavor profiles on our plate.
You got the bacon.
You got the mashed potato, got the vegetables.
You got the chicken.
I'm happy with what we did, and I'm happy with my team.
This looks so good.
It's chicken and bacon.
I love the syrup around it.
This shrimp is calling my name.
What 16-year-old gets to eat this for their 16th birthday? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Happy birthday, guys.
- Happy birthday.
- Red light.
Happy birthday.
The chicken is well-cooked.
I like the red team, 'cause it's sweet chicken and bacon.
And that sweet potato, I just love how that's a simple taste and it's, like, really good.
Okay, I like the chicken more than I expected.
Overall, I feel like the foods on the red plate, the chicken tasted very bland to me, and there was no particular flavor that stuck out.
I would say I like the red plate more, because the bacon was really, really good.
This is about the biggest shrimp I've ever seen in my life.
- Oh, my God.
- I feel like the shrimp has more of a taste to it than the chicken.
The rice is really good.
The blue plate looks prettier than the red plate.
Like if I seen this, like, on a menu in a restaurant, I would choose this one.
I feel like they might've overcooked the shrimp a little bit, but it's actually still really great.
The food on the blue plate, I think, - mended together over the red plate.
- Yeah, my blue plate, it looks like they ran out of time on it.
You had two shrimps, and I had four shrimps.
Personally, I'm more of a fan of the blue plate, because the shrimp had more seasoning to it.
My vote is definitely for the blue team.
Blue or red? I liked the red plate more.
I'd say I'd go with the blue.
For the red team.
We have a split decision at our table.
Nice.
Thank you all for coming tonight.
Happy birthday.
Excellent.
Are you guys ready to meet the home cooks that cooked your dinner tonight? - Yes! - Yeah.
Please welcome, the red team.
Everybody.
And now the blue team.
Come on, guys.
Right.
Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, all of our sweet sixteeners have voted, and the results are in.
And trust me, it's not close.
The team that will be safe from elimination, tonight's winning team.
Congratulations All of our sweet sixteeners have voted, and the results are in.
And trust me, it's not close.
With 80% of the votes, tonight's winning team.
Congratulations the blue team! Whoo! I'm so excited! I am thrilled to have won my first team challenge in the MasterChef kitchen.
Happy birthday.
Their sweet 16 birthday was sweet for them, but it's super sweet for me, too.
- Thank you, Chefs.
- You're the winners tonight.
Red team, unfortunately that means you guys were not able to take the cake tonight.
But I'm about to.
Winning team, head up to the balcony.
You are safe.
Have fun, guys.
- Oh, yes.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
Red team, follow me.
Happy birthday, guys.
Have a good night.
- Thank you.
- Happy birthday.
Thank you.
the red team lost the team challenge.
It sucks.
I picked this team because I thought it was the A team.
I have five of the strongest cooks in the MasterChef kitchen.
So now if it's not me, another strong cook is going home tonight.
Red team, now you must face the dreaded pressure test.
All of you, put on your pressure test aprons.
For tonight's pressure test, you're all gonna have to make us a flawless, delicious, three layered, frosted and decorated birthday cake worthy of the MasterChef competition.
Now, this is my sweet-16-inspired birthday cake.
Look at these three layers, guys.
- Oh, my God.
- They look beautiful.
- Wow.
- Just as even of layers as frosting as there are even layers of cake.
It's perfectly moist.
It's just the right amount of sponge, and be thoughtful about how you decorate the cake.
If your cake disappoints us tonight, we'll be blowing out the candles on your dream of becoming America's next MasterChef.
Okay, game faces on.
Please head back to your stations.
Let's go.
I'm definitely feeling nervous.
Baking is a science, and cakes are not my specialty.
Not only am I going to go out of my comfort zone, I'm going to have the queen of cakes try it, so I need my cake to be perfect.
Okay, in front of you, you have everything you need to make us one stunning birthday cake.
You will also have access to a limited pantry to help put your stamp on those cakes.
You'll have just 90 minutes to bake us one amazing birthday cake.
Your 90 minutes starts now.
Whoo! Let's go, guys.
Wow.
Now come on.
They're up against it tonight.
Time is of the essence.
They have to be as intense from the start all the way through the finish.
- This is not an easy challenge.
- No, you're absolutely right.
What are the basic things that we need to know to bake a cake? So right off the bat, it's about balance of ingredients.
Cream the butter, the sugars.
Add the eggs.
Get it divided evenly over those three cake pans, and then in the oven.
Today, I'm gonna make a raspberry sponge with a lemon curd and a white chocolate butter cream.
I just got married a little over a year ago, and one thing I really wanted to do was make the wedding cake.
My wife wasn't having it, so I'd like to make something that's a little bit wedding-inspired today.
Let's go, Terry! Come on, baby.
Come on.
I'm making a New York City Fire Department inspired lemon cake with a red raspberry frosting and a white chocolate ganache with some orange sprinkles.
It's the colors of the New York City Fire Department.
I bake for the guys at the firehouse occasionally, and I'm gonna make it look like a fire truck.
Fire truck? That's awesome.
20 minutes gone.
70 minutes remaining.
- Alejandro.
- Hi.
Tell me about your cake.
I am making a passion-fruit sponge cake with butter cream frosting.
I'm going to top it with chocolate ganache.
Taste this cake batter.
Is it smooth? Is it fluffy? Does it have the right flavor? I would like a little more lime sauce.
Good.
Sounds like you're going in the right direction.
No one else down here thinks that you're gonna make it through tonight.
It is out of my comfort zone, but if I paid attention to what everybody thought I would be, I would still be in Venezuela.
I love that attitude.
Good luck.
Get those cakes in the oven.
Come on.
Damn it, come on.
All right, Shaun, how you feeling? I'm irritated.
I think I'm in trouble because-- - Hey, stop.
- Yeah.
Big, deep breath.
- You can do this.
- I'm good.
Tell me about the cake.
What are you doing? I'm doing a raspberry sponge, and I'm still kind of working the filling out in my head right now.
- I wanted to get this in the oven.
- Just keep it simple.
- Okay.
- Great flavor.
- That's what I'm doing now.
- Just get through this test.
- I need this cake to be stunning, okay? - Beautiful.
- Good luck.
- Thank you, chef.
Shaun, positive.
Come on, dude.
Less than one hour to go, guys.
1/3 of the way gone.
58 minutes remaining.
Your cakes need to be in the oven.
Yeah, baby.
Tanorria, you gotta get your cakes in the oven.
You're the last one.
Everyone else has their cakes in the oven.
- I hear you.
- Are you used to baking? - Yes, I am.
Yes.
- Yeah? What flavors you going for? I am making a lemon-lavender, blueberry cake with a white chocolate drizzle.
I feel like lemon-lavender, blueberry is just super elegant, super fancy, and that's how me and my girls celebrate birthdays.
Okay, get on this.
Good luck, Tanorria.
Thank you, Chef.
Right, Dan, tell me what's going on.
I'm making a chocolate base, cookies-and-cream cake with cream cheese frosting.
Nice.
Okay, like that idea.
And then I'm gonna do a unique Dan spin - on the top to finish it off.
- Unique Dan spin.
- Yeah.
- Tell me.
I kind of wanted it to be a surprise for you guys.
You sure? A surprise could turn into a nightmare.
Yes, sir.
35 minutes remaining.
Those cakes better be out of the oven, cooling.
Uh-oh.
Alejandro's cakes still aren't out of the oven.
He's overbaking his cakes right now.
You cannot rush the cooling process.
When he goes to layer the cakes, they're gonna be slipping and sliding all over the place, 'cause they're gonna melt the filling.
Last 20 minutes! Let's go! Now is the time to finish those cakes and make them look stunning.
Let's go.
Look at Shaun.
Shaun's is falling apart.
The cake is still warm, and all the frosting is melting.
- Oh, my gosh.
- It's too warm.
Well, I'm done.
Shaun's wiping his like he's wiping someone's backside.
Look at the mess of that.
- No.
Shaun.
- Oh, no.
I've never seen anything like that.
- Seriously? - Oh, my God.
Butter cream keeps melting.
Nope, I'm gone.
- Oh, no.
- I can't watch.
- It's not gonna go.
- I can't even watch that.
- I can't watch it.
- Going home anyway, So why not? My gosh.
What has Shaun done? Shaun's is falling apart.
The cake is still warm, and all the frosting is melting.
My cake right now looks absolutely horrible.
I put the butter cream on way too early, and it's just melting all down the sides.
Shaun's wiping his like he's wiping someone's backside.
- Oh, no.
- I can't watch.
- It's not gonna go.
- I can't even watch that.
Butter cream keeps melting.
- Oh, my gosh.
- It's too warm.
I literally have a cake zombie sitting on my station, so I have to wait for my cakes to cool down for a few minutes Shaun, don't freak out, okay? You got it.
Just keep going.
I am not letting this birthday cake take me down today.
- Shaun, come on now.
- I'm good.
Keep it up.
- It's gonna chill.
- I'm good.
Okay, good.
You got it.
Last 10 minutes, guys.
Should now start thinking about your finishing touches.
Come on.
Decorate.
Decorate.
Decorate.
I'm worried about Eric, guys.
That frosting is not a frosting.
Terry is performing like he's plastering the shower.
Looks like he's grouting his cake.
One of the biggest struggles with a home cook making a birthday cake is you oftentimes don't know when to stop.
Frosting doesn't cover all of your mistakes.
You can't just hide your inexperience.
Four minutes to go.
- What is Dan doing? - Dan, what are you doing? I'm just trying to make a specific shape.
I don't want to give it away.
That is not a good idea.
Terry, that cake is amazing, bro.
Terry's in the zone right now.
He is in the zone.
Shaun, that looks beautiful.
Very dainty, Shaun.
- I'm so surprised.
- I know.
I can't believe I'm doing this right now.
- You guys, look at Shaun's.
- Beautiful.
90 seconds remaining! And for one of you, your last 90 seconds.
Eric, you gotta get to decorating at this point, bud.
- Let's go! - Let's go, guys! - Come on, guys.
- 15 seconds to go.
Come on, guys.
- Let's go, guys! - Finishing touches.
Let's go.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Stop.
Hands in the air.
Good job, everybody.
Way to go, guys.
Holy crap.
All of you, very carefully bring your cakes down to the front bench.
Now, this is a pressure test, which means at least one of you will be leaving the kitchen tonight.
So I'm looking down the line, and I notice that pretty much every other cake looks better than mine.
I know that the inside is delicious, but the outside leaves a lot to be desired.
I am definitely not proud of this cake.
We're gonna begin the tasting with you, Eric.
Yes, Chef.
All right, we wanted celebration.
- Yes, Chef.
- We wanted mind-blowing.
What'd you give me? This is a lemon sponge cake with a raspberry cream cheese frosting, a white chocolate ganache, and some white sprinkles.
This cake makes me feel depressed already.
You said you wanted to make a red ganache.
You needed to take out the cream and add more color to it.
Yes, Chef.
What'd you do to that sponge cake? I added lemon zest, and I added lemon juice just to give it that nice acidity and a nice lemon essence that I thought would counteract the raspberry cream cheese frosting.
The color of the sponge cake looks nice.
That frosting, however, it's really thin, and it's uneven.
Your sponge cake is nice, the lemon, the citrus.
It's a little flat, though.
The frosting needs to have more flavor, more punch, - more fat.
- Yes, Chef.
We wanted a showstopper, and it looks like a five-year-old kind of put it together.
Shaun.
Chef.
Describe the cake, please.
So today I did a raspberry sponge cake with blueberry and lemon butter cream, and then I did a white chocolate ganache.
Visually, it looks beautiful.
Let's get that right.
- Thank you very much, chef.
- This one really catches your eye.
I got worried about you.
You've never been in a pressure test before, so I thought you were gonna buckle, but you got out of that zone, and you got composed.
That's the most important thing.
Here we go.
A slice, in the middle, tell me what I'm expecting.
That's actually my main concern, 'cause I think I put my butter cream on while my cake was a little too warm, so I'm hoping that I have an even layer.
Yeah.
So great cook on the sponge.
Love the ratio of frosting on top to coming down the sides.
Mmm.
- It's really good.
- Thank you, chef.
The flavor combination, great.
Love the blueberry, raspberry, the acidity.
The decor on the side, beautiful, really cool indeed.
When you don't panic, you get a little bit more composed, yeah, you're unstoppable.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Well done.
Thank you very much, Chef.
Phew.
All right, Terry.
Tell me about the cake.
I used a vanilla sponge that I swirled with a raspberry puree, layered it with a lemon curd.
and I topped it with a white chocolate butter cream.
I'm gonna take a big slice, 'cause I look like a little girl, but I like my cake.
That lemon curd looks beautiful.
It looks glistening.
- Ooh.
- Ooh.
Cake on the outside, gorgeous, but you can see we have more cake over here, and this last tier of cake is even further in.
Mmm.
It's delicious.
You got the flavor spot on.
The cake is moist.
It's baked beautifully.
Over 90 minutes, with a challenge like this, I tell you, I'm pretty impressed, Terry.
Nice job tonight.
Thank you, Chef.
Hi, Tanorria.
Before we even begin, I'm gonna tell you how much I love the color of your cake.
You already sold me on that.
Tell me about the inside of your cake.
The cake is a lemon-lavender cake and then of course, the blueberry frosting.
Are these whole pieces of lavender right on top? I did sprinkle some lavender on top.
To be quite honest, it looks mouse droppings on top of your cake.
Okay.
Whoa.
Look at that.
You have two different colors of blueberry frosting.
Is that right? You've gotta make sure the color of your crumb coat is the same as your outside frosting.
- Okay.
- Okay? It's good.
The addition of the fresh blueberry gives it a little pop, but everything is really, really, really sweet.
Okay.
There's a couple of really serious errors here though.
- Okay.
- Okay? Alejandro.
Talk to me about this cake.
This is a vanilla sponge cake with lime zest, passion fruit juice as well, - and a butter cream frosting - Okay.
topped with chocolate.
How do you feel about your cake? Are you happy with it? Not at all, chef.
Me neither, to be honest.
It just feels unfinished.
Let's see what we got here.
It definitely looks like the frosting just melted with the heat of your cake there.
We should be able to see the frosting there, but we're not.
I struggled with the temperature.
I just did not cool it enough, so I had problems when I was spreading my frosting.
I like the idea of lime and passion fruit, but I think the chocolate throws the rest of the flavors off balance.
The sponge is baked, but I think because you layered it when it was so warm, I'm struggling to find the difference - between sponge and frosting here.
- Okay.
Thank you.
Dan.
Yes, Chef.
Describe your cake, please.
So we have a nautically themed cookies and cream three-layer cake.
A nautical cake? Yes, Chef.
Apart from the anchor, what else is nautical? - Just the anchor, Chef.
- Just the anchor.
And the anchor chain.
And the anchor chain.
So it's times like this that I want to get an anchor and chain and wrap it around your ( bleep ) neck, 'cause you've gone a little bit off piste now.
Priceless.
Dan, apart from the anchor, what else is nautical? - Just the anchor, Chef.
- Just the anchor.
And the anchor chain.
And the anchor chain.
So it's times like this that I want to get an anchor and chain and wrap it around your ( bleep ) neck, 'cause you've gone a little bit off piste now.
Okay, take me to the bottom of the ocean.
What am I expecting on the way up? I have chocolate sponge cake with a little bit of almond essence and a little bit of espresso, 'cause I know that goes really well with chocolate.
That actually looks quite delicious.
Your flavor on the inside's actually quite tasty.
Love the coffee against the chocolate.
Frosting's nice.
The anchor, that's ridiculous, okay? Cookies on the outside, that's just stupid.
At this stage of the game, I think we're above that.
When you actually get serious, you know, you can produce some decent stuff.
- Thank you, Chef.
- But an anchor on top of a cake Yes, Chef.
It's not all right.
An anchor on top of a cake It's-- yeah, it's a pretty bad idea, - now that I think about it.
- Yeah.
I guess I took putting yourself on a plate way too literally.
The frosting's the good part.
I'm just hoping the anchor I put on my cake doesn't sink me to the bottom of the competition.
- Yeah.
- Happy? Guys, tonight was a very tough pressure test.
Let's get that right.
The reason why it's getting tougher is because we're getting down to the wire.
Tonight, one of you in particular rose to the occasion.
We were wowed by the flavor combinations, by the technique, and by the final decor.
The best birthday cake of the night belonged to Shaun.
- Good job, brother.
- Ah, thank you.
- You are safe.
- Wow.
Get on up there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Nice job, buddy.
What a comeback.
Whoo, Shaun! Good job, buddy.
Oh, thank you.
Terry, Dan, please step forward.
Terry, your cake was fabulous, elegant, minor mistakes.
Dan, that cake you made was so complex, but lose the frivolity.
Get serious.
You guys are both safe.
- Please go upstairs.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Nice job, boys.
- Good job, fellas! - Whoo! This is tough.
All three of you had issues.
Alejandro, there were many mistakes with your cake tonight.
It was too dense.
Any trace of frosting was lost.
Tanorria, yours was way too sweet.
And Eric, delicious sponge, but everything else on top of that was questionable.
Alejandro, please step forward.
You had some issues tonight, but there were too many of them.
Say good-bye to Tanorria and Eric, please.
Damn.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
I love you, brother.
Tanorria, Eric, make your way upstairs, please.
Phew.
Alejandro, you've been tenacious.
You're very passionate.
It's been great to get that Venezuelan insight to your life.
How are you feeling? I'm feeling very thankful.
This marks the beginning of something great for me.
Please take your apron off.
Place it on top of your bench.
Thank you very much.
- Good night.
- Thank you, good night.
Pardon me.
Ale! Love you, Ale! I feel very proud of myself, because I really stepped out of my comfort zone.
I came from Venezuela to the United States five years ago in search of an American dream, and MasterChef has opened my eyes to a whole new culinary world.
We love you, Ale! Good-bye, Ale! Everything that seemed far-fetched or impossible before - now seems so tangible.
- Thank you.
It has been a blessing.
Next week, it's a two-hour MasterChef We are on a farm.
Go! The top 11 get down and dirty.
Our farmers are starting to arrive.
- Blue team! - And while some dig deep for the win - Beautiful.
- Others Katie, chops on the plate! fail to cultivate a victory.
Oh, my God.
And then the most shocking elimination.
I can't eat that.
in MasterChef history.
I can't quite believe, i am saying this
Your fate is in the hands of teenagers.
- Party! - God help you.
- Watch it! Watch it! - Oh, my God-- - But when tempers flare - Don't hit me! - What's going on? - Un-( bleep )-believable! - whose party - That's raw.
You're going to kill someone.
will come to an end? Get a ( bleep ) grip.
Okay.
Come on down, guys.
Whoo! - Whoo! - Uh-oh.
- Look at this.
- Look at this.
Oh, man.
I see a red side and a blue side.
The kitchen does not look normal.
It's pretty clear there's a team challenge.
They never fail to surprise us in the MasterChef kitchen.
Before we tell you what you'll be doing for your next big challenge, you're to welcome back one of the most highly respected names in the culinary world today.
In an even brighter shirt than last week, chef Edward Lee, guys.
Come on.
Chef Lee.
Now, listen carefully.
Tonight, our world-class restaurant is going to host a big celebration.
Yes, that's right.
It's going to be a party back there.
I love parties! All of you will be cooking for a very sassy group of-- brace yourselves-- teenagers.
- Whoo! - Wow.
But not just any teenager.
Their sweet 16th birthdays.
Every single one of our teens tonight were nominated by their schools, teens that, without us, may have never had a proper sweet 16 party, so make it nice.
Your next challenge will be a team challenge.
Eric, Katie Yes, chef.
because you had the best dishes in the last challenge, you will be tonight's team captains.
- Chef.
- Yes, chef.
Please come on up here, and join us.
Good job, guys.
I'm very excited to be a team captain.
I'm used to working on a team being a firefighter.
I'm ready to show the judges I'm more than just a home cook, that I can lead a team.
Eric, you won the last challenge, so you will get to pick first.
You know, you want somebody that can cook a savory dish, but at the same time, you want somebody that can bake the hell out of a cake, - and that person is Shaun.
- Wow.
- Nice.
- Ready to go into the fire with you, brother.
Thank you, sir.
Back in Vegas in my DJ career, parties are where I live, parties are what I do, and I'm gonna rock the MasterChef restaurant just like I rock a Vegas nightclub.
Katie, first choice? Well, my first choice is someone that is a very passionate home cook, well-versed.
I would love to have Brandi on my team.
Wow.
Brandi.
Come over.
Good.
Excellent.
Right.
The second pick.
- My pick is Tanorria.
- Apron on.
Thanks, love.
Okay, next pick.
Katie.
I just love everything about her.
Drea, I want you on my team, honey.
Good.
Well done.
Wow.
- Terry.
- Terry, let's go.
Pick up your apron.
Right.
Perfect.
Katie.
David.
Wow.
David.
My next person is Alejandro.
- Alejandro, huh? - Thank you very much.
- Three left.
- I'm ready to have Diamond be a little Diamond tonight.
- Interesting.
- Thank you.
Okay, final pick.
So, Eric, here's the advantage.
You get to pick for both teams, so it's time to make your decision.
Will it be Dan or Nathan? I absolutely do not want Nathan on my team today.
I want a team player, and I want someone that's good under pressure.
I don't feel like he does that very well at all.
There's two people left.
They're both very talented, but I'm gonna go with Dan, 'cause I trust his palate.
Wow.
Yeah, baby.
So, Nathan, please come up, and pick up your apron.
Okay, team captains, jump into the center of your teams.
Good job, by the way.
Good picks.
Interesting.
Well done.
So let's get real.
What's a birthday party without a little element of surprise? Yeah.
Oh, no.
Oh, my goodness.
I mean, after all, guys, what's a birthday party without presents, guys? Presents! - I will pee myself.
- I know.
I'm scared.
Last time the judges rolled something out, I had to cook testicles.
I don't know what's gonna be under these boxes, but I'm praying it's not a set of balls.
All right, each gift box contains some amazing ingredients for you to use tonight.
Now, nothing is replicated in either of the two boxes, and you'll have to make your incredible sweet 16 dish from whatever you find inside.
Got it? All right, both teams, please very carefully take your gift boxes back to your stations.
I'm closest to the 16-year-olds, so I can remember my 16th birthday party.
I liked sushi, lots of green vegetables.
I'm hoping there's a lot of great ingredients in this box, 'cause we can't just serve them chicken nuggets and pizza.
Each of our 30 guests tonight will be served a plate from the red team and the blue team.
and then vote for which dish they prefer.
All of your fates is in the hands of a restaurant full of teenagers.
I've got four of them.
God help you.
The winning team will be safe from elimination, and the losing team will face a pressure test where at least one home cook will see their MasterChef journey come to an end.
Your 90 minutes starts now.
Let's get this thing off.
All right, all right.
Chicken.
So we got the chicken, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes.
We got eggplant.
We got squash.
We get in the huddle.
I'm seeing cashews, spinach, squash, zucchini, and then all of a sudden, I see chicken and bacon.
What 16-year-old doesn't love bacon? Hell, yeah.
I really like the chicken cooked in the bacon.
- Yeah.
- Give the chicken a nice crunch.
- What's in here? What's in here? - I got it.
- Shrimp! - Shrimp! - Yes! - Y'all excited? Look at these tomatoes.
- Ginger.
- Red chilies.
What are you thinking? Brandi.
A sweet and spicy glaze, a grilled shrimp, and a roasted corn salsa.
- Mmm.
- That sounds delicious.
Let's do a nice sweet potato mash.
I can knock out the mash.
You two are the vegetables.
You two handle the protein.
I'm there for whatever you need.
Okay, we're gonna go with the idea of doing the rice.
We're going to do the lemongrass in there also.
The peas are beautiful, and I think we need a green side We're going to bring fresh cilantro on top.
That doesn't go with our plate.
Can you handle making that for the shrimp? - Yes.
- Okay.
Brandi, you and David are gonna be on the shrimp, okay? Clearly Katie sees me as a baby, as a 20-year-old kid who doesn't know what he's doing in the kitchen.
Can you help me get the vegetables ready? - Yeah, but-- - I'm putting Nathan on the vegetables today, because it's the absolute safest bet.
I'm just not comfortable with him on the protein.
- One, two, three.
- Blue! - One, two, three.
- Red team! 10 minutes gone.
Speed up, guys.
Let's go.
- Oh, baby, look at this.
- Yeah.
Let's think about our guests.
This is the first time we've ever cooked for a restaurant full of sweet 16 teenagers.
Kids these days, they're picky.
They're opinionated.
Presentation is going to be key.
Find a comfort food that they might have known when they were younger, and find a way to elevate it.
That, for me, is the winnig strategy tonight.
One of these teams has gotta come up with it.
I just want you on the corn and tomatoes.
Okay, we need beautiful on the plate.
We need color.
Between Katie and Eric, who do you think - is the more natural-born leader? - Eric.
- Give Dan a hand.
- He's a firefighter.
He knows how to be the leader.
He works on a team every single day.
Remember, these are baby, baby squash.
We don't peel them.
We just cook 'em - Yeah.
Totally.
- You know that, right? Listen.
I need 30 portions of rice.
Katie's a mum.
She's a personal trainer, so I think you're seeing much more harmony in the blue team than you do with the red team.
If we each stay focused on our job, we got this, okay? Nathan, can you grill corn? Katie, look, I need you to listen to me, please.
- Okay, what do you need? - We cannot put it on the grill till we have a marinade.
You just need salt and pepper on there.
- We're gonna toss it in.
- We don't need a marinade.
- Okay.
- Char it for now.
Then explain that to me, please.
We're just gonna put it on the grill.
- I can't be yelled at like this.
- I'm not yelling at you.
- I just need-- - You're just like, "Get it on the grill.
" - Just get it on the grill.
- Please, just We know that teams really get in trouble when it gets dramatic.
Don't slip it so much.
Just let it char-- - Yeah, I'm fixing-- - Here, Nathan.
I need you to chop the tomatoes.
I'm not good at cutting tomatoes.
Well, you're gonna have to do it.
Get the tomatoes, and start cutting.
Cutting how? Katie? How am I dicing these tomatoes? Perhaps slices.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
- In a tray or in a bowl? - Katie.
- I'm gonna marinate - Come here, please.
That's fine.
I just need you chopping the tomatoes.
Nathan is driving me absolutely crazy at this point.
I mean, we are cooking for teenagers today, and Nathan's acting like a teenager.
Nathan, I'm sorry, but chopping tomatoes should not be that hard.
He has to step up, act like a man in the kitchen, not a little boy.
I'm trying to ask you.
Please don't treat me like an idiot.
- Okay.
- What is going on back there - with Nathan and Katie? - Like this? That looks like ( bleep ).
Oh, my gosh.
I am totally lost here.
Why do you have to ask everything? Looks like ( bleep ).
Katie? Katie? How am I dicing these tomatoes? Nathan, I'm sorry, but chopping tomatoes should not be that hard.
Oh, my gosh.
I am totally lost here.
Why do you have to ask everything? Try another one.
Try a different way.
Andrea, come show him how.
Come here.
Drea, I need you.
Can you show him how to do that? You know, I'm only a year older than Nathan.
He should be taking care of himself.
Layer this with the avocado.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Fresh tomato and fresh avocado? We're in the top 12 here.
Like, people shouldn't be babysitting other people.
- Like, get it together.
- You know what I mean? 20 minutes gone.
70 minutes remaining.
Let's go.
Right, Katie.
Yes, Chef.
Tell me what you're doing.
We are making a chili-and-citrus infused shrimp.
Is that wise for the teenagers? Yeah, I think they're gonna love that.
- Not too spicy? - Not too spicy, just a little kick.
So chili-and-citrus infused shrimp.
Yes.
Basmati rice.
It's coconut, lemongrass, and fish stock.
- How many shrimp? - We're gonna do three per plate.
We also have grilled corn and the heirloom tomato salsa we're gonna put on the top, and then Drea's making a dipping sauce for the shrimp.
- What kind of sauce? - A Thai chili with shallot, garlic-- So it's Caribbean, Latin, Mexican, Thai.
No, there's no Latin in this.
It's pure Asian.
Corn salsa.
Yeah, I don't know what that is.
- Um-- - Shh! Please don't shush me.
Do we know what we're doing, blue team? - Yes, sir.
- I mean, it's all over the ( bleep ) shop.
We've got multi-cultures coming over this plate here.
Get it together, regroup, and just have a 30-second chat.
Yes, Chef.
- Yep.
- Thank you, Chef.
Listen.
Okay, so we need to nix the corn.
- Nix the corn.
- Oh, my gosh.
Stop.
Listen, is everybody okay with going Asian? Yes.
Yes, perfect.
Okay, we're going Asian.
Okay? Everybody get back to their station.
Red team, blue team, just over an hour left! They can do it, guys! They can do it! Come on! Come on! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
- All right, Eric.
- Chef, how are you? - What's the dish? - So what we're gonna do, we're gonna have a chicken breast.
We're gonna pan-sear it with the bacon fat, gonna put it in the oven.
It's gonna go over a maple bacon mashed sweet potato.
We have a spinach, green-pea, parsley puree, and we got some beautiful baby squash and zucchini to go in as well.
You have a lot of vegetables going here, huh? We have a vision.
We all went with the same vision.
Now, you know who your guests are tonight, a dining room full of 16-year-olds.
- Yes.
- What about the dish do you think is going to appeal to them? Who doesn't love bacon? Bacon, I think is an indisputable flavor that 16-year-olds love, but parsley, peas, spinach You want a little freshness.
I think that's what's gonna come together at the end.
It's good.
I think it's about how you're gonna get all the flavors to work with one another.
Good luck.
- Yes, Chef.
Thank you.
- Work neat.
We gotta scratch something.
- We gotta scratch something.
- Yeah.
- You're right.
- All right, let's scratch the puree then.
We have a green with this.
We have the yellow, and we have the orange.
- Let's go, guys.
- Guys, taste everything.
Wow.
Okay, so blue team for me are fragmented.
They got no team spirit, and, Katie, right now is confused.
Like this? The plate doesn't make sense.
Katie, I really think we should use the peas and not the salsa.
Do you know how to do the peas? - Yes.
- By yourself? - Yes.
- Okay, go do the peas.
You blanch 'em, and then-- You just said you knew how.
Go do 'em.
- You got it? - Let me get a dish.
To be honest, Gordon, the red team is confused, but in a completely different way than the blue team.
I don't know any 16-year-old that wants to eat that many vegetables, and they're focusing more on that than-- which I think is the star, which is the bacon and the chicken.
Let me know when we're gonna throw those veggies in.
Good.
Teamwork.
Yeah, that's teamwork.
Red team, blue team Yes, chef.
33 minutes remaining.
The doors of the MasterChef restaurant are now open, and our guests are starting to arrive.
All right, I'm gonna go on this chicken breast.
All right, get it in there.
- Check this out.
- I'm so excited.
Oh, my gosh.
We're 16, guys.
- Isn't this so nice? - Wow.
- We're 16.
- I know, right? Happy birthday.
Happy birthday.
I thought getting my driver's license was a big deal, but this is even a bigger deal.
- Happy birthday.
- Let's party! Oh, my God.
Happy birthday.
I'm so excited to be here at my sweet 16th birthday party with all my friends.
It's so cool to see everyone here.
- 16? - Yeah, 16, brother.
Yeah, man! Yeah, man! And I cannot wait for the food.
- Shaun-y, how's that looking? - It's looking good.
Red team, blue team, all 30 portions need to be ready in 15 minutes.
Start thinking about your plating.
Speed up! We're gonna do mashed potato in the middle, like we said.
Okay.
There you go.
Candied bacon looks fricking beautiful.
So if we have three, let's think how we want to do it.
Oh, dear.
Blue team all over the place.
15 minutes to go, and they haven't started to even think about the conceptualization of their dish.
The blue team also doesn't seem to be working quickly.
Is that enough peas? - Is that-- no.
- I got rid of all my hot water.
I'll get you new hot water going.
That's not enough.
Nathan looks a little lost.
They don't seem to be moving towards this goal of serving a dining room full of 16-year-olds.
At least the red team's moving with speed.
Anything that's done, just toss on here.
That's what I'm doing, brother.
Done.
- Let's start plating.
- Done.
We got this, guys.
We got this, right? - Let's go! - We got it! 12 minutes remaining.
Let's go.
- Eric.
- Yes, chef.
- Who's putting the chicken on? - Eric and I, chef.
- Yes, chef.
- Every time, yes? Yes, chef.
We checked all these with a thermometer.
All the juices are running clear.
Make sure the skin looks nice, guys.
Make sure the skin looks nice.
- Got it.
- Stop.
Stop.
That one's gonna go back in? - That's definitely raw.
- That one's gotta go back.
This one is, too.
- Hey, red team, come here.
- Yes, Chef.
That's just gone on the plate.
A 16th birthday party.
You're gonna kill someone.
That's not even a minute away.
And they have been waiting for months for this celebration.
- Yes, Chef.
- Yes, Chef.
Get a ( bleep ) grip.
Hey, come here.
Come here.
- Hey, red team, come here.
- Yes, Chef.
That's just gone on the plate.
A 16th birthday party.
You're gonna kill someone.
Get a ( bleep ) grip.
- Yes, Chef.
- That is ridiculous.
I don't want one teenager spending the night in hospital.
- Yes, Chef.
- Stop it.
- Stop it, and wake up.
- Raw chicken on the plate.
It's their sweet 16.
And I definitely don't want to go home knowing I sent a kid to the hospital.
We've gotta recover.
Seven minutes to go, red team.
Guys, we gotta focus on making sure this chicken is cooked.
Chicken's the star of the dish.
Crank the ovens up as high as they can go.
We gotta make sure it's fully cooked through.
We got this, all right? Oh, dear.
Guys, I'm nervous.
Get this one back on.
Get that one flat down.
Get it seared, and get it on.
Serving undercooked chicken, pink in the middle.
Gotta make sure those are done, brother.
Got it.
Probably came out of mine.
- Mine are good.
- All right.
Salt, sugar, squeeze of lemon on those peas.
We got this, team! Come on, push it! Five minutes to go, guys! Five minutes! Come on, Drea.
We got it.
I need 'em all ready.
Katie, you need to start plating.
- Okay.
Yes, chef.
- Otherwise it's not gonna be ready.
Katie, taste the peas.
Salt, sugar, lemon.
Salt, sugar, lemon.
- Come on.
- Come on.
Please don't treat me like I'm an idiot.
- It's true, Nathan.
- Nathan.
- Yes, Chef.
Yes, chef.
- Speed up a little bit.
If you're not careful, they'll be 17 by the time we get this plated.
- One, two, three, four - Watch it.
Watch it.
- Watch it.
Watch it.
- We're almost done, guys.
How much time do we have? Three minutes to go! Red team, blue team, let's go! Peas are done.
Okay, then, Nathan, we need you plating.
- All right.
- I got 30 shrimp coming.
They have half their plates still empty on the blue team.
Get the shrimp on.
- ASAP.
- Get the shrimp on the plate, guys.
Red team, blue team, 90 seconds.
You gotta get more shrimp, everything we got.
Come on.
Somebody go bring that shrimp over.
Terry, we need your sauce.
- He's coming right now.
- Perfect.
You don't have to count 'em.
Just get 'em on the plate.
- You said count 'em.
- I know, but not anymore.
Just get 'em on the plate.
- 30 seconds to go! - Drive, guys! - Come on, we got this! - Get that nice piece of bacon over the top of each one.
- Get it right on that plate.
- Move! Move! Move! - We gotta make it pretty on the top.
- I'm trying, dude.
Make sure everything looks absolutely perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect.
Nothing on the rim.
Nothing on the rim.
Where are the shrimp?! Shrimp! Shrimp! Shrimp! Just take 'em, Nathan.
Just grab 'em.
Put 'em in my hand.
- Get the shrimp! - 10 - Move! I got two! I got two! - Go! Go! - Seven - Everything looks good.
Guys, those plates look beautiful.
- Five - Have the extra one.
- One there.
One there.
- three - two, one.
- One here! - Stop! - Stop! Hands up! - What the ( bleep ), guys? - Don't say that! - Don't hit me! - Katie! Hands in the air! No hitting, guys.
- Hey, guys, come on.
- Chill out.
You just hit me.
What's going on back there? Un-( bleep )-believable! Servers, please, line up.
I am very disappointed in myself that we were only able to get two shrimp on a couple of the teenagers' plates.
It is unacceptable to me.
- One shrimp.
- That shrimp is I mean I take all that responsibility.
I am the team leader, and I expect perfection out of myself.
At this point, I definitely feel that this could be our team's downfall.
- They'll all be cooked.
- They're all gonna be cooked.
I think that our dish is better than the blue team's, because we got a lot of flavor profiles on our plate.
You got the bacon.
You got the mashed potato, got the vegetables.
You got the chicken.
I'm happy with what we did, and I'm happy with my team.
This looks so good.
It's chicken and bacon.
I love the syrup around it.
This shrimp is calling my name.
What 16-year-old gets to eat this for their 16th birthday? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Happy birthday, guys.
- Happy birthday.
- Red light.
Happy birthday.
The chicken is well-cooked.
I like the red team, 'cause it's sweet chicken and bacon.
And that sweet potato, I just love how that's a simple taste and it's, like, really good.
Okay, I like the chicken more than I expected.
Overall, I feel like the foods on the red plate, the chicken tasted very bland to me, and there was no particular flavor that stuck out.
I would say I like the red plate more, because the bacon was really, really good.
This is about the biggest shrimp I've ever seen in my life.
- Oh, my God.
- I feel like the shrimp has more of a taste to it than the chicken.
The rice is really good.
The blue plate looks prettier than the red plate.
Like if I seen this, like, on a menu in a restaurant, I would choose this one.
I feel like they might've overcooked the shrimp a little bit, but it's actually still really great.
The food on the blue plate, I think, - mended together over the red plate.
- Yeah, my blue plate, it looks like they ran out of time on it.
You had two shrimps, and I had four shrimps.
Personally, I'm more of a fan of the blue plate, because the shrimp had more seasoning to it.
My vote is definitely for the blue team.
Blue or red? I liked the red plate more.
I'd say I'd go with the blue.
For the red team.
We have a split decision at our table.
Nice.
Thank you all for coming tonight.
Happy birthday.
Excellent.
Are you guys ready to meet the home cooks that cooked your dinner tonight? - Yes! - Yeah.
Please welcome, the red team.
Everybody.
And now the blue team.
Come on, guys.
Right.
Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, all of our sweet sixteeners have voted, and the results are in.
And trust me, it's not close.
The team that will be safe from elimination, tonight's winning team.
Congratulations All of our sweet sixteeners have voted, and the results are in.
And trust me, it's not close.
With 80% of the votes, tonight's winning team.
Congratulations the blue team! Whoo! I'm so excited! I am thrilled to have won my first team challenge in the MasterChef kitchen.
Happy birthday.
Their sweet 16 birthday was sweet for them, but it's super sweet for me, too.
- Thank you, Chefs.
- You're the winners tonight.
Red team, unfortunately that means you guys were not able to take the cake tonight.
But I'm about to.
Winning team, head up to the balcony.
You are safe.
Have fun, guys.
- Oh, yes.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
Red team, follow me.
Happy birthday, guys.
Have a good night.
- Thank you.
- Happy birthday.
Thank you.
the red team lost the team challenge.
It sucks.
I picked this team because I thought it was the A team.
I have five of the strongest cooks in the MasterChef kitchen.
So now if it's not me, another strong cook is going home tonight.
Red team, now you must face the dreaded pressure test.
All of you, put on your pressure test aprons.
For tonight's pressure test, you're all gonna have to make us a flawless, delicious, three layered, frosted and decorated birthday cake worthy of the MasterChef competition.
Now, this is my sweet-16-inspired birthday cake.
Look at these three layers, guys.
- Oh, my God.
- They look beautiful.
- Wow.
- Just as even of layers as frosting as there are even layers of cake.
It's perfectly moist.
It's just the right amount of sponge, and be thoughtful about how you decorate the cake.
If your cake disappoints us tonight, we'll be blowing out the candles on your dream of becoming America's next MasterChef.
Okay, game faces on.
Please head back to your stations.
Let's go.
I'm definitely feeling nervous.
Baking is a science, and cakes are not my specialty.
Not only am I going to go out of my comfort zone, I'm going to have the queen of cakes try it, so I need my cake to be perfect.
Okay, in front of you, you have everything you need to make us one stunning birthday cake.
You will also have access to a limited pantry to help put your stamp on those cakes.
You'll have just 90 minutes to bake us one amazing birthday cake.
Your 90 minutes starts now.
Whoo! Let's go, guys.
Wow.
Now come on.
They're up against it tonight.
Time is of the essence.
They have to be as intense from the start all the way through the finish.
- This is not an easy challenge.
- No, you're absolutely right.
What are the basic things that we need to know to bake a cake? So right off the bat, it's about balance of ingredients.
Cream the butter, the sugars.
Add the eggs.
Get it divided evenly over those three cake pans, and then in the oven.
Today, I'm gonna make a raspberry sponge with a lemon curd and a white chocolate butter cream.
I just got married a little over a year ago, and one thing I really wanted to do was make the wedding cake.
My wife wasn't having it, so I'd like to make something that's a little bit wedding-inspired today.
Let's go, Terry! Come on, baby.
Come on.
I'm making a New York City Fire Department inspired lemon cake with a red raspberry frosting and a white chocolate ganache with some orange sprinkles.
It's the colors of the New York City Fire Department.
I bake for the guys at the firehouse occasionally, and I'm gonna make it look like a fire truck.
Fire truck? That's awesome.
20 minutes gone.
70 minutes remaining.
- Alejandro.
- Hi.
Tell me about your cake.
I am making a passion-fruit sponge cake with butter cream frosting.
I'm going to top it with chocolate ganache.
Taste this cake batter.
Is it smooth? Is it fluffy? Does it have the right flavor? I would like a little more lime sauce.
Good.
Sounds like you're going in the right direction.
No one else down here thinks that you're gonna make it through tonight.
It is out of my comfort zone, but if I paid attention to what everybody thought I would be, I would still be in Venezuela.
I love that attitude.
Good luck.
Get those cakes in the oven.
Come on.
Damn it, come on.
All right, Shaun, how you feeling? I'm irritated.
I think I'm in trouble because-- - Hey, stop.
- Yeah.
Big, deep breath.
- You can do this.
- I'm good.
Tell me about the cake.
What are you doing? I'm doing a raspberry sponge, and I'm still kind of working the filling out in my head right now.
- I wanted to get this in the oven.
- Just keep it simple.
- Okay.
- Great flavor.
- That's what I'm doing now.
- Just get through this test.
- I need this cake to be stunning, okay? - Beautiful.
- Good luck.
- Thank you, chef.
Shaun, positive.
Come on, dude.
Less than one hour to go, guys.
1/3 of the way gone.
58 minutes remaining.
Your cakes need to be in the oven.
Yeah, baby.
Tanorria, you gotta get your cakes in the oven.
You're the last one.
Everyone else has their cakes in the oven.
- I hear you.
- Are you used to baking? - Yes, I am.
Yes.
- Yeah? What flavors you going for? I am making a lemon-lavender, blueberry cake with a white chocolate drizzle.
I feel like lemon-lavender, blueberry is just super elegant, super fancy, and that's how me and my girls celebrate birthdays.
Okay, get on this.
Good luck, Tanorria.
Thank you, Chef.
Right, Dan, tell me what's going on.
I'm making a chocolate base, cookies-and-cream cake with cream cheese frosting.
Nice.
Okay, like that idea.
And then I'm gonna do a unique Dan spin - on the top to finish it off.
- Unique Dan spin.
- Yeah.
- Tell me.
I kind of wanted it to be a surprise for you guys.
You sure? A surprise could turn into a nightmare.
Yes, sir.
35 minutes remaining.
Those cakes better be out of the oven, cooling.
Uh-oh.
Alejandro's cakes still aren't out of the oven.
He's overbaking his cakes right now.
You cannot rush the cooling process.
When he goes to layer the cakes, they're gonna be slipping and sliding all over the place, 'cause they're gonna melt the filling.
Last 20 minutes! Let's go! Now is the time to finish those cakes and make them look stunning.
Let's go.
Look at Shaun.
Shaun's is falling apart.
The cake is still warm, and all the frosting is melting.
- Oh, my gosh.
- It's too warm.
Well, I'm done.
Shaun's wiping his like he's wiping someone's backside.
Look at the mess of that.
- No.
Shaun.
- Oh, no.
I've never seen anything like that.
- Seriously? - Oh, my God.
Butter cream keeps melting.
Nope, I'm gone.
- Oh, no.
- I can't watch.
- It's not gonna go.
- I can't even watch that.
- I can't watch it.
- Going home anyway, So why not? My gosh.
What has Shaun done? Shaun's is falling apart.
The cake is still warm, and all the frosting is melting.
My cake right now looks absolutely horrible.
I put the butter cream on way too early, and it's just melting all down the sides.
Shaun's wiping his like he's wiping someone's backside.
- Oh, no.
- I can't watch.
- It's not gonna go.
- I can't even watch that.
Butter cream keeps melting.
- Oh, my gosh.
- It's too warm.
I literally have a cake zombie sitting on my station, so I have to wait for my cakes to cool down for a few minutes Shaun, don't freak out, okay? You got it.
Just keep going.
I am not letting this birthday cake take me down today.
- Shaun, come on now.
- I'm good.
Keep it up.
- It's gonna chill.
- I'm good.
Okay, good.
You got it.
Last 10 minutes, guys.
Should now start thinking about your finishing touches.
Come on.
Decorate.
Decorate.
Decorate.
I'm worried about Eric, guys.
That frosting is not a frosting.
Terry is performing like he's plastering the shower.
Looks like he's grouting his cake.
One of the biggest struggles with a home cook making a birthday cake is you oftentimes don't know when to stop.
Frosting doesn't cover all of your mistakes.
You can't just hide your inexperience.
Four minutes to go.
- What is Dan doing? - Dan, what are you doing? I'm just trying to make a specific shape.
I don't want to give it away.
That is not a good idea.
Terry, that cake is amazing, bro.
Terry's in the zone right now.
He is in the zone.
Shaun, that looks beautiful.
Very dainty, Shaun.
- I'm so surprised.
- I know.
I can't believe I'm doing this right now.
- You guys, look at Shaun's.
- Beautiful.
90 seconds remaining! And for one of you, your last 90 seconds.
Eric, you gotta get to decorating at this point, bud.
- Let's go! - Let's go, guys! - Come on, guys.
- 15 seconds to go.
Come on, guys.
- Let's go, guys! - Finishing touches.
Let's go.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Stop.
Hands in the air.
Good job, everybody.
Way to go, guys.
Holy crap.
All of you, very carefully bring your cakes down to the front bench.
Now, this is a pressure test, which means at least one of you will be leaving the kitchen tonight.
So I'm looking down the line, and I notice that pretty much every other cake looks better than mine.
I know that the inside is delicious, but the outside leaves a lot to be desired.
I am definitely not proud of this cake.
We're gonna begin the tasting with you, Eric.
Yes, Chef.
All right, we wanted celebration.
- Yes, Chef.
- We wanted mind-blowing.
What'd you give me? This is a lemon sponge cake with a raspberry cream cheese frosting, a white chocolate ganache, and some white sprinkles.
This cake makes me feel depressed already.
You said you wanted to make a red ganache.
You needed to take out the cream and add more color to it.
Yes, Chef.
What'd you do to that sponge cake? I added lemon zest, and I added lemon juice just to give it that nice acidity and a nice lemon essence that I thought would counteract the raspberry cream cheese frosting.
The color of the sponge cake looks nice.
That frosting, however, it's really thin, and it's uneven.
Your sponge cake is nice, the lemon, the citrus.
It's a little flat, though.
The frosting needs to have more flavor, more punch, - more fat.
- Yes, Chef.
We wanted a showstopper, and it looks like a five-year-old kind of put it together.
Shaun.
Chef.
Describe the cake, please.
So today I did a raspberry sponge cake with blueberry and lemon butter cream, and then I did a white chocolate ganache.
Visually, it looks beautiful.
Let's get that right.
- Thank you very much, chef.
- This one really catches your eye.
I got worried about you.
You've never been in a pressure test before, so I thought you were gonna buckle, but you got out of that zone, and you got composed.
That's the most important thing.
Here we go.
A slice, in the middle, tell me what I'm expecting.
That's actually my main concern, 'cause I think I put my butter cream on while my cake was a little too warm, so I'm hoping that I have an even layer.
Yeah.
So great cook on the sponge.
Love the ratio of frosting on top to coming down the sides.
Mmm.
- It's really good.
- Thank you, chef.
The flavor combination, great.
Love the blueberry, raspberry, the acidity.
The decor on the side, beautiful, really cool indeed.
When you don't panic, you get a little bit more composed, yeah, you're unstoppable.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Well done.
Thank you very much, Chef.
Phew.
All right, Terry.
Tell me about the cake.
I used a vanilla sponge that I swirled with a raspberry puree, layered it with a lemon curd.
and I topped it with a white chocolate butter cream.
I'm gonna take a big slice, 'cause I look like a little girl, but I like my cake.
That lemon curd looks beautiful.
It looks glistening.
- Ooh.
- Ooh.
Cake on the outside, gorgeous, but you can see we have more cake over here, and this last tier of cake is even further in.
Mmm.
It's delicious.
You got the flavor spot on.
The cake is moist.
It's baked beautifully.
Over 90 minutes, with a challenge like this, I tell you, I'm pretty impressed, Terry.
Nice job tonight.
Thank you, Chef.
Hi, Tanorria.
Before we even begin, I'm gonna tell you how much I love the color of your cake.
You already sold me on that.
Tell me about the inside of your cake.
The cake is a lemon-lavender cake and then of course, the blueberry frosting.
Are these whole pieces of lavender right on top? I did sprinkle some lavender on top.
To be quite honest, it looks mouse droppings on top of your cake.
Okay.
Whoa.
Look at that.
You have two different colors of blueberry frosting.
Is that right? You've gotta make sure the color of your crumb coat is the same as your outside frosting.
- Okay.
- Okay? It's good.
The addition of the fresh blueberry gives it a little pop, but everything is really, really, really sweet.
Okay.
There's a couple of really serious errors here though.
- Okay.
- Okay? Alejandro.
Talk to me about this cake.
This is a vanilla sponge cake with lime zest, passion fruit juice as well, - and a butter cream frosting - Okay.
topped with chocolate.
How do you feel about your cake? Are you happy with it? Not at all, chef.
Me neither, to be honest.
It just feels unfinished.
Let's see what we got here.
It definitely looks like the frosting just melted with the heat of your cake there.
We should be able to see the frosting there, but we're not.
I struggled with the temperature.
I just did not cool it enough, so I had problems when I was spreading my frosting.
I like the idea of lime and passion fruit, but I think the chocolate throws the rest of the flavors off balance.
The sponge is baked, but I think because you layered it when it was so warm, I'm struggling to find the difference - between sponge and frosting here.
- Okay.
Thank you.
Dan.
Yes, Chef.
Describe your cake, please.
So we have a nautically themed cookies and cream three-layer cake.
A nautical cake? Yes, Chef.
Apart from the anchor, what else is nautical? - Just the anchor, Chef.
- Just the anchor.
And the anchor chain.
And the anchor chain.
So it's times like this that I want to get an anchor and chain and wrap it around your ( bleep ) neck, 'cause you've gone a little bit off piste now.
Priceless.
Dan, apart from the anchor, what else is nautical? - Just the anchor, Chef.
- Just the anchor.
And the anchor chain.
And the anchor chain.
So it's times like this that I want to get an anchor and chain and wrap it around your ( bleep ) neck, 'cause you've gone a little bit off piste now.
Okay, take me to the bottom of the ocean.
What am I expecting on the way up? I have chocolate sponge cake with a little bit of almond essence and a little bit of espresso, 'cause I know that goes really well with chocolate.
That actually looks quite delicious.
Your flavor on the inside's actually quite tasty.
Love the coffee against the chocolate.
Frosting's nice.
The anchor, that's ridiculous, okay? Cookies on the outside, that's just stupid.
At this stage of the game, I think we're above that.
When you actually get serious, you know, you can produce some decent stuff.
- Thank you, Chef.
- But an anchor on top of a cake Yes, Chef.
It's not all right.
An anchor on top of a cake It's-- yeah, it's a pretty bad idea, - now that I think about it.
- Yeah.
I guess I took putting yourself on a plate way too literally.
The frosting's the good part.
I'm just hoping the anchor I put on my cake doesn't sink me to the bottom of the competition.
- Yeah.
- Happy? Guys, tonight was a very tough pressure test.
Let's get that right.
The reason why it's getting tougher is because we're getting down to the wire.
Tonight, one of you in particular rose to the occasion.
We were wowed by the flavor combinations, by the technique, and by the final decor.
The best birthday cake of the night belonged to Shaun.
- Good job, brother.
- Ah, thank you.
- You are safe.
- Wow.
Get on up there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Nice job, buddy.
What a comeback.
Whoo, Shaun! Good job, buddy.
Oh, thank you.
Terry, Dan, please step forward.
Terry, your cake was fabulous, elegant, minor mistakes.
Dan, that cake you made was so complex, but lose the frivolity.
Get serious.
You guys are both safe.
- Please go upstairs.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Nice job, boys.
- Good job, fellas! - Whoo! This is tough.
All three of you had issues.
Alejandro, there were many mistakes with your cake tonight.
It was too dense.
Any trace of frosting was lost.
Tanorria, yours was way too sweet.
And Eric, delicious sponge, but everything else on top of that was questionable.
Alejandro, please step forward.
You had some issues tonight, but there were too many of them.
Say good-bye to Tanorria and Eric, please.
Damn.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
I love you, brother.
Tanorria, Eric, make your way upstairs, please.
Phew.
Alejandro, you've been tenacious.
You're very passionate.
It's been great to get that Venezuelan insight to your life.
How are you feeling? I'm feeling very thankful.
This marks the beginning of something great for me.
Please take your apron off.
Place it on top of your bench.
Thank you very much.
- Good night.
- Thank you, good night.
Pardon me.
Ale! Love you, Ale! I feel very proud of myself, because I really stepped out of my comfort zone.
I came from Venezuela to the United States five years ago in search of an American dream, and MasterChef has opened my eyes to a whole new culinary world.
We love you, Ale! Good-bye, Ale! Everything that seemed far-fetched or impossible before - now seems so tangible.
- Thank you.
It has been a blessing.
Next week, it's a two-hour MasterChef We are on a farm.
Go! The top 11 get down and dirty.
Our farmers are starting to arrive.
- Blue team! - And while some dig deep for the win - Beautiful.
- Others Katie, chops on the plate! fail to cultivate a victory.
Oh, my God.
And then the most shocking elimination.
I can't eat that.
in MasterChef history.
I can't quite believe, i am saying this