MasterChef – day 3 – Shannon Bennett pressure test

The last apron is up for grabs and the contenders have to recreate a dessert from our fave MC chef, Shannon Bennett. I believe it’s a take on a Snickers bar.

Shannon has his hair tied back – yay!
He lifts the cloche on Bistro Vue’s Snickers-inspired chocolate bar. Peanut caramel fudge, peanut crumb, choc parfait, honey nougat, tempered choc, brown sugar crumble, caramel peanut icecream.
Headscarf lady got a brief confessional! I don’t know her name or occupation but I’m thinking pottery teacher or reiki healer.
Ranger Miles has never made parfait, nougat or tempered chocolate. No surprise. At least two of those feature heavily in each season. This is going to be a balls up. Some MKR-like casting here with character triumphing over skill. Does he just want publicity for a future business venture?
Love the theatre of Shannon pouring his soz over the tempered choc to enrobe the dessert.
Ooh, headscarf lady is named Melissa and she’s a barista. Dangerously, she says she’s quietly confident because she can follow a recipe. Yep, and she over whips her cream.
Not once, but twice. This is Jordan all over again with last night’s dodgy ravioli dough.
At least Gaz liked the taste of the butter she made.
Ranger Miles is actually the first one to finish his parfait, although that does not require specialist skill, and his cara el is nice and dark
Sarah (she of the stewed apple beef) looks a bit crazy eyes in her determination to succeed but she seems to be falling behind.
Blonde Lauren has a moment of madness and touches boiling caramel with her bare hand – ouch! That’s really going to make it hard to grip anything.
Intense Sarah “doesn’t have time” to check if her nougat is whipped to stiff peaks. Umm, you just look with your eyes and keep the mixer running! It’s way too runny, which is obvious to everyone but her.
Miles has been doing really well until this point but his peanut caramel seizes and he has to start it again.
Again there are invisible contestants – we haven’t heard from Ginny who liked Gary’s eyes, or the other blonde lady who made salmon tartare – or are they the same person?
Miles tries to temper chocolate for the first time, dropping the thermometer in in the process.
Jordan’s run out of time so Shannon tells her just to chuck melted chocolate on the acetate. Melissa does the same.

Time for judging and hopefully we will see the invisible contestants here. Everyone has five minutes to plate up their components.
Jordan is first and her nougat is rubbish and she has two shards of non-tempered chocolate. Can I just fast forward through the bits where each person is asked: how badly do you want the apron? They love the peanut caramel and ice cream but the presentation is a letdown.
Melissa seems like a lovely lady and did well to come back from her cream disasters but her chocolate is not tempered. Gaz loves the flavours. Shannon admires the ice cream.
Burned hand Lauren gets praise for her nougat. Invisible Molly is praised for her soz but the parfait is a dud. Flirty Ginny is missing the tempered choc and peanut caramel but is thrilled just to be in the presence of the judges.
Intense Sarah is having trouble getting her choc off the acetate and her nougat is super runny. George asks her: “Have you done enough?” Urgh. Shannon starts kindly, praising her for tempering chocolate (her first time, apparently). George likes the ice cream and Gaz said the parfait is the best of the lot, but the caramel and nougat are too soft.
Miles’s chocolate looks brilliant but his peanut caramel is very pale because he rushed the second go. His nougat looks soft, given his peaks looked stiff. He tears up as Matt pushes his emotional buttons. Shannon says the chocolate is the best thus far and he showed determination. The soz cascades beautifully. Matt is licking his lips. He loves the parfait and ice cream – both the best of the day. But the peanut caramel sucks.
Miles – I apologise. I fell for the editing trap and thought you would suck, and you did not.

Top three are Melissa, Miles and Sarah. And it’s Miles.
Sarah is trying to stay cool but she’s gutted.
So, that’s the top 24. There are quite a few faces in the crowd I’ve never seen before.
Tomorrow it’s an invention test set by the lovely Billie, last year’s winner – she of the cool, calm demeanour who was always drama free.



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107 Comments

  1. I think the Shannon Bennett dish is a take on something commonly found in a toilet bowl at first glance.

    Jowl$y on The Project tonight. He’s probably devoured everything in the Green Room.

    • Surely that is a big whopper? Who doesn’t know you have to temper chocolate, make pastry, have a cake recipe by heart and can reduce random stock stuff to make a jus.

  2. One of the invisibles (Melissa 47)has spoken .

    One crappy photo. Doing it for my kids sob story. No film package. Goneski.

    • That girl is vice president of marketing and branding for Food Network Channel. She’s on Food Network Star sometimes as a judge.

  3. 6 minutes in and we have the food dream. This was too easy.
    I am heading straight for the Cointreau (drank all the Drambuie last night).

  4. I’m calling it now Miles gets the apron. Why go all the way to Clermont to film him at home if he hasn’t got through?

  5. Poor old Miles. If he hadn’t volunteered for this, I would feel sorry for him. What else can go wrong for the poor bugger.

  6. Channel 10 stopped working for me last night (but the rain was worth it).
    I’ve just caught up with yesterday’s recap and comments – good work everyone!
    Tempted to join the drinking game but I’m not sure my liver would cope.

  7. They need a new script writer. I am getting tired of the old ‘How bad do you want this?’ It’s an awkward question and can only result in an overblown and overrought answer.

  8. How many seasons of Masterchef? And still we have contestants who don’t practise the MC basics including tempering chocolate.

    • Exactly. I thought that is something basic you need to know with all these fancy desserts on MC.

      Its still the same. They just have a few recipes at hand and hope for the best.

      • Or do they just say they haven’t done it so if they stuff it up the judges will look more kindly on them.

    • Reminds me of what happened to Bel in 2010. She should have gotten through but the judges prefer the eye candy.

  9. Natural chocolate temperer… Don’t think so. I can’t see any shine.

    Miles’ definitely had a shine.

    • Don’t use that word. The Turtle will sneak into the kitchen and start telling us she deserves the two fiddy kay because her tarts are amaze balls.

  10. I’m about half an hour behind – late start.
    Hope that nasal girl doesn’t get through, don’t want to listen to her for the season.

  11. 🙋 I knew it. Yes I’ll be cheering for the Queenslander but will wait until I get to know them better before I choose a favourite.

  12. And it’s Miles. Like we didn’t see that coming three days ago.
    Part of me is annoyed at the dragged out agony, but a part of me is okay with it. He seems to be a nice guy, tired and emotional, and there are too few men in the group.

    • When the education dept decided in their wisdom that grammar lessons were unnecessary, Maz. 😕

    • Approximately the same time we decided that teaching the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ was optional. Likewise ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’.

      • PRONOUNS. No one seems to use pronouns correctly anymore, and it’s not just the “Me and Jono…..”, it’s all the “Her and her boyfriend…..” . It’s so easy, teach them to take away the other person and see which pronoun to use.
        Yep Alan, English is evolving into people mumbling and grunting like apes.

        And ggggrrrrr when people call from businesses and mumble at the speed of light to say who they are, or a waiter or waitress mumbles the specials of the day really fast. I tell make them all say it again clearly. Battle axe aren’t I.

  13. I saw his bald pate as one of the apron wearing gang in the intro the first night but didn’t spoil anyone. *smirking proudly, even though I was hoping to somehow be wrong*

  14. How about the dropping of ‘ly’ off the end of words. As in, She was hurt bad, rather than She was hurt badly. It drives me crazy.

    • English has been dropping stuff for around 1200 years. The first line of the Our Father in Old English was: ‘Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum’. The subjects of Alfred the Great probably complained bitterly about people writing th instead of þ. That doesn’t mean the anti-grammar thing in schools, which only happened in English-speaking countries, was not completely brain-dead.

  15. I was wondering who the old granny was & couldn’t remember seeing her before. Then they put her age on the screen & she’s 47. She stuffed up whipping cream 3 times. I’ve whipped cream heaps of times & never turned it into butter.
    That other girl had a big chocolate smudge right on her boob.
    Well everyone stuffed up at least one thing but good on Miles, he did well. Such a shame about his caramel, he was doing so well till then.

      • Yeah, I think they had a challenge a few years ago where they had to make butter by hand. I though why would you bother with that when you can buy it in the shop.

  16. She looked a lot older than 47, but then the hippy scarf on the short hair and op shop clothes didn’t help that cause. Who doesn’t know how to whip cream. Sheesh

    • When they showed her back story, the pics had her hair down and she looked about twenty years younger. The scarf and granny glasses aged her.

  17. Well, that was interesting. I’m glad that Miles got through, because he did step up to this challenge–and was the only one who had the nouse to peel the plastic off his tempered chocolate instead of the other way around.

    I’m also pleased that Jordan with the adenoidal voice and swinging ponytail has gone home. I could not have listened to her for the next umpteen weeks, and her stupid hair would have driven me crazy. Same for the short woman with the sad eyes, who never smiled once, was that Sarah? I think the one who stuck her hand into molten sugar mix should stay out of kitchens altogether.

    MPW is still my favourite chef, but isn’t Shannon Bennett a nice man.

  18. Miles did surprisingly well. He seemed very organized. Am glad Jordan was eliminated. They focused on her so much the other day I thought that she would get an apron.
    Do the contestants watch Masterchef? You would think they would have been practicing tempering chocolate due to the fact that this has been required more than once.
    Molten sugar burn…I can see how someone could do something like that. I make jewelry and was doing ice casting where you pour hot wax into a pan of ice and water to form interesting shapes and patterns. Instead of waiting for my wax shape to cool I picked it up and burned my fingers. Was in pain for several hours. In a hurry and not thinking.

    It’s great to have Shannon back. Supportive, not condescending, no fake drama (at least not yet).

  19. It seems Miles might be one of those contestants who will do very well with the challenges with a recipe. A real asset in pressure tests, to have the ability to read the recipe clearly and analytically, and follow it precisely. His knowledge will grow very fast, as he will quickly learn from the others, and from the atmosphere of learning that seems to happen in the house when everyone is together.

    His downfall may be the invention-type challenges.

    Like everyone else, so glad that we have lost Jordan. She was very irritating.

    • Same with Rose from last season. Can follow a recipe and survived a few pressure test.

      • Rose had real talent for sabotaging her team and sending someone to alimination and then home while she escaped, like a penguin avoiding a leopard seal. “We gotta hustle” was her war cry.

  20. I seemed to accidentally make tempered chocolate the other day. I bought some choc blocks, then left them in a warm car for a couple of hours accidentally. To firm them up I popped them in the fridge for a few hours. Got one out yesterday, and it is shiny and cracks at room temperature. I sort of now get why tempering is a preferred method.

  21. Dessert looked interesting but the “theatre” how is pouring hot chocolate over a chocolate plate worthy of theatre… why the plate at all…

    Anyway… anyone ever heard of tempering the chocolate in the microwave..?? You already are using Valhrona (best choc in the world and already tempered).. microwave tempering the small amount they needed would’ve taken under a minute… or since it’s already tempered just heat it up to the right temp without going over… stir it up and bobs your uncle. And for those who didn’t temper right.. why not just pop it into the blast chiller for a few seconds would’ve hardened right up enough to pull off the acetate (and since the bloody tempered choc is going to be destroyed by hot sauce you don’t need to worry about the snap of tempered choc anyway)

    I still don’t understand the thought process of a lot of these people… you’re making only one serve! Save time by halving some component recipes… you don’t need to make 1 litre of the icecream.. you don’t need to make 12 serves of nougat, choc panels, peanut caramel etc… the only thing they probably needed to make the whole batch of was the parfait as the provided tray needed a full batch to get the right height for a serve.

    So far no contestant is grabbing me… but Canadian Sis and the blonde tall (gay?) guy are getting lots of screen grabs.

    • (So far no contestant is grabbing me… but Canadian Sis and the blonde tall (gay?) guy are getting lots of screen grabs.)

      Are they going to having both of them in an elimination challenge?? More drama and tears as one will be eliminated.

    • So let me get this right. Melt, smoosh, freeze, cut, eat.
      Sounds like all my experiences with chocolate.

  22. Youse should go to Coles and check out the “theatre”of Ma$terchef propaganda on show. They’ve decorated the store real bad with balloons and Ma$terchef logos everywhere…..check it out when you’re next harvesting there.

    True Blue pulled through,done it for the kids and he teared up. He had no ponytail to swish but he wanted it real bad and read and followed the recipe. How many Park Rangers do youse reckon Jowl$y’s met to be mocking the bloke about his occupation?

    • Thanks

      They can be printed up and affixed to a dart board to go with the drinking game.

    • So, it is Chloe that looks like she could be Emilia’s sister. And we have two older people, Miles and Brett. They said Theresa was 44 (I think) and she says Jim is older, but both of them look the same age as the PYTs (pretty young things).

      Zoe also reminds me of a past contestant, but I can’t put my finger on the name.

    • Adam certainly got the looks in this group. I imagine they are hoping he goes a long way. Very quiet, though, at least at this stage.

  23. Did Miles say as well as “250 large”, which I liked, in his “space-rocket” for pocket?! I am glad it was him, after all. I thought they’d just brought him in for a bit of colour and would flick him when he blew the dessert. It was a relief to see someone cooking competently. And thank god perky Jordan is gone – was sure we were being set up to endure a season of her. Tricky editors,

    PS: Not sure how this pic got attached to my name. Is there another Tina on here? Apologies, if so. The photo just appeared. I don’t mind being her, though!

    • Hi Tina – The avatars come from another site linked to this one. I think most of us set them up when we moved from realityravings. Drop Juz an email via the contact tab at the top.

      • So they’ll keep Miles around for a while as the token ‘mature-aged person,’ then offload him. When will people learn – over 40s never win Masterchef evah!

        There will invariably be a ‘big showdown’ between the siblings, and it will be milked to within an inch of its life.

        Seeing George has let half of Athens in, we’ll being seeing more of the duelling Yia Yias.
        Good to see last year’s winner, Rapunzel, has had a haircut and will no longer be serving food with Pantene.

        Is RR defunct now?

        • Agreed, lulu. Miles won’t win because of his age but in his favour it is a male’s turn to “win” Ma$terchef this year. He ‘s a made to order “battler”

          Good to see lola and yourself turn up here.

        • Hi Lulu, the RR site is there but Emma hasn’t added any new post for ages and some of the old threads can no longer be commented upon. Not sure what’s going on. I started this site just st before MKR and I’m A Celeb launched so we’d still have somewhere to chat.

          • I’m glad you did. It’s been really good to have some recaps to read. I got sick of MKR and found I could catch up with it via the recaps here, and they are good humourous recaps as well.

    • For sure Miles said “two fifty large”.I think it was “sky rocket” for “pocket” Miles is what $cotty Cam would be like if he was a Park Ranger.

    • It’s weird because it should be tied to your email as well as your name. Try posting as Tina2 next time just to see if the people pic pgoes away.

    • Weird. You could sign up to Gravatar and put your own image up. Or go with the blonde thing and create a whole new secret online identity. Thanks for the good feedback!

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