MasterChef – Mon, July 18 – Christy Tania elimination

The bottom three contestants from the invention test now face the elimination pressure test set by pastry chef and dessert specialist, Christy Tania.

She’s been on the show before and – yay – another female chef. Here’s one of her desserts from Instagram.


She set a dessert challenge in 2014 MasterChef story here
In danger of elimination tonight are Mimi, Trent and IM.
(Oh and the Sunday night recap is finally up http://talkingtv.net/2016/07/masterchef-sun-july-17-mystery-box/)

Here we go … Christy appears carrying a giant cloth-covered dome. What’s inside is shrouded in vapour and looks more like an alien specimen in a giant test tube.


It’s actually what she calls “Mystique”, which is a chocolate, caramel, marshmallow and passionfruit curd cake with lots of tempered chocolate work on top. We learn Christy used to work as a project manager for IBM but eventually risked her parents’ ire by becoming a top pastrychef instead.
The contestants will have 4.5 hours to replicate the Mystique – that’s a looong challenge. Hope they get toilet breaks and time to nibble on some beetroot and fennel for energy.

IM is freaking out at the thought of doing such a complex dessert and Elena points out IM has never been in a test like this before. He’s panicking and stuffs up the first step of 65 steps, which is his marshmallow. Christy comes over to tell him his mixture was too cold for the gelatine. Oh, Intense Matt – get it together! It could only be worse if George came over and did a “Yes, George! Yes, George!”, but luckily he’s spared that horror. IM manages to fix his marshmallow so hopefully he’s back in the right headspace.
The gantry observers note Mimi is in her element, whereas GE says Trent is freestyling it and not measuring his layers. Now IM is having dramas with runny passionfruit curd and looks to the gantry with a “what now?” laugh of frustration.
“I’m just having an absolute shocker. I feel like it’s my first day in the kitchen,” IM says in a talking head.
Once again, George thinks he’s a midwife: “You need to push – c’mon!”
Now, IM has stuffed up a ganache, putting things in the wrong pot. Oh dear. It’s a hat trick of shockers. George – in his weird two tone black and purple suit – and Christy come over to either calm him down. Uh oh – there’s flashback footage of IM wistfully staring out at a lake, and then cooking at home with his wife. It’s either an elimination edit or a redemption arc. I’m thinking the latter and Trent’s going home. At least his next element seems to work and then his next. He’s even making caramel.
Mimi’s just trucking along, measuring everything carefully and putting up with George asking: “How much do you want it?”
And now Trent is having brownie dramas – it feels soft. I’m worried he’ll overcook it as brownie should be a bit fudgey. It looks a lot higher than IM and Mimi’s and Christy – after opening the oven door to slow down the cooking process even more – says he’s put too much of the mix in the pan.
IM is in a happier place and Mimi is powering ahead. Yet again we have to watch agonising footage of contestants trying to force desserts out of moulds.
Mimi manages to do it without breaking it and starts slopping mousse on top of the ring, until Christy pops over to say she’s forgotten the brownie layer.
We’re getting quite a lot of Christy helping them avoid mistakes tonight, instead of waiting til the contestants fall on their faces.
IM starts to peel the mould off his dessert and the marshmallow layer looks a little rough on top but it’s intact.
Poor Trent still has his brownie in the oven but has to bite the bullet and pull it out of the oven, or it won’t cool down enough to layer into the dessert. The texture looks very crumbly. He knows it’s not right but he’s a practical fellow and powers on. You can see the steam rising off it as he layers it with the cold elements. They may not set.
It’s time to create the blue chocolate moulds and IM is reminded of the traumatic time we all had watching Harry and Elise trying to get out their white half domes in Anna P’s pressure test. He has a lovely gloss on the dark choc for his twigs. So, IM CAN do desserts after all (although he did make a terrific carrot cake earlier in the comp).
Mimi and IM are up to the glaze stage and they both look great. Now it’s time for Trent to unmould his ring and it’s all sludgy because of the warm brownie. He has to try to squish it into the right shape. Awww, poor Trent.


Yet again we have to watch choc domes that won’t come out of moulds. What is the trick to this? IM is the only one who has success. But he can’t get the dark choc twiggy dome out so uses another blue dome instead with some cut outs in it. Good one, IM.

The judges taste
Trent is up first and it doesn’t look that bad, even though he’s had to use two twiggy domes instead of a blue half sphere. “Please don’t be disappointed of yourself,” says Christy. “Do you think there’s any other sparkies in Australia that could put up something like this?” George asks. They cut the cake and there’s a lot of marshmallow and not much curd or caramel mousse. Christy says the flavours are good but the quantities are out of whack. His choc work is good but who are we kidding – Trent is going home.
Mimi: She also does not have a blue dome and did a twiggy ball like Trent. Mimi’s cake layers are well defined. “Looks bloody great,” says Gaz. The tempering is good and the textures and proportions are right. “I wanna eat the whole lot,” says George.
IM: He’s worried about his runny curd and the fact he had to replace a twiggy half sphere with another blue one. “It wasn’t just a cooking experience today, it was a life experience,” IM tells the judges. Christy notes the decorations aren’t right but they still look good. They cut and his layers are defined. “There’s no doubt there’s mistakes on there,” says Gaz. “The curd – it’s very runny.” Matt says his flavours are great. “The biggest surprise – he nailed the brownie the best,” says Christy. “The stripe is the finest… The twist of one blue ball is really brilliant” [That last sentence is one we never expected to hear on MasterChef]

And the loser is …
They cut straight to the chase. It’s Trent. The other contestants are more shocked than him.
“You are one of life’s true gentlemen,” says Matt. It’s cuddles all round and a big bro hug with IM.


Bye, Trent – you were a silent and barely glimpsed presence for the first three weeks of MasterChef, mainly because you were competent, drama free and did not have a swingy pony tail. Good luck to you and your yummy-looking rustic fare.

Where is he now?
Trent is working at Local Press Cafe in Canberra. He is also writing an e-cookbook and plans to open his own cafe next year.

Tomorrow night
We’re left with IM, GE, Elise, Mimi and Harry. They’re off to Daylesford to replicate one of Alla Wolf Tasker’s signature dishes. After this, another three will be up for elimination.



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51 Comments

  1. That Exotique Tart looks seriously good. But then I have a serious fondness for a lemon flavoured dessert.

  2. Yes, the dessert looks delish. I want a bite. Is Mimi looking red eyes in the talk to camera shot? I want Matt and Trent to stay.

  3. Poor Matt is messing up with basic baking skills. Cant see how he will be safe. So far all the elements are not good

  4. Gees, how long does it take to bake a brownie? I made some last week and they took about 30 minutes. I understand the depth thing but couldn’t he (Trent) turn up the temp and cover with tin foil so it wouldn’t burn?

      • I notice they don’t weigh butter, flour or sugar, seem to just tip out when they think is right. Baking is supposed to be “exact” – I thought?

        • Greatest evah home cooks like these can do it by “feel”. Yeah?

          This is finals week, so they don’t need the scales anymore.

  5. They all have faults but Trent has more fault. Its a shame.

    It was expected actually because we don’t see a lot of Trent throughout the series.

    • I know. Judges all have the ‘acting’ look that the runny curd is no good. I bet it tasted good

    • Very quick. Gary’s accusing “you know who ****ed up” , then bang, “Trent , you’re fired”

      It was like “if you’re not going to cry, Trent, get the **** out now”

      • Good on Trent for stoicism under intense needling of the ‘but how much does it REALLY mean to you’ variety.

    • Love how Jowl$y lauded him for “respecting other people”, something George and Gary can’t lay claim to in their wildest dreams.

  6. Bugger.
    I did like Trent.
    I absolutely hate this type of challenge that is purposefully designed to trip them up. Eg make a truckload of brownie batter but only use a bit. Designed solely to test how good you are at reading instructions.

    Well done BDD on correctly identifying the producer fake out with IM. I am happy that it was so.

    Still can’t raise much enthusiasm for the finish of this series but appreciate Juz’s recaps!

    Kind of optimistic that Alla Tasker Wolf (sp?) won’t have braised fennel Beetroot sphere parfait on her menu, but sadly, I know my way around disappointment

    • Yeah, why give a recipe that makes three times the quantity necessary? So wasteful, and it seems a deliberate ploy to catch someone out.

      I’m getting very bored with them just cooking one dish every episode. I want to see some more of the challenges, like having to fillet a fish then portion to an exact weight, or make a single perfect element (such as the chips they did in a previous season), or a tasting challenge. I would prefer that these didn’t directly cause elimination, but they could qualify a group for the elimination. I’d especially like to see any challenge that prevented the contestants ‘playing to their strengths’, really testing their whole food knowledge.

      How about a challenge that is complex but given plenty of time.

    • Thanks Brusselsprout, I think it’s much easier to predict who’ll be safe whereas I’ve been getting Mimi’s alimination wrong at least twice now. She’s the baby fur seal who refuses to be clubbed, living on borrowed time.

      Mimi knew she was safe, because normally at culling time , she looks like she’s facing a firing squad. But she was well proud of her chocolate toilet seat.

      Even when the shit appeared to hit the fan for I.M. last night, I still had supreme faith in the lack of integrity in $hine’s promo.

    • Would like a challenge where they can taste a dish and then have to replicate it without a recipe. You can provide them with all the ingredients. Up to them to come up with the best looking and tasty dish

  7. The sight of Mimi running around with a big grin, doing stuff she’d done a thousand times was too much.
    I’d love to see them give her and Elise a whole pig to carve and cook – with a silicone mould.

    I think these patissiers are getting a bit over-the-top and trying to outdo each other, or maybe demented. The cake looked delicious, but the rest was just showy and superfluous – too much information.

    So glad that Matt survived, but sorry for Trent, who seems to be a good egg.
    I’m tipping Mimi will have her smile wiped away next.

  8. I was kind of proud of all three tonight. They each put up a reasonable facsimile considering, let’s face it, none of them, no one this year really, is very talented. Having the guest chef make such a big deal of how difficult the dish is, and then apologising to the contestants for using it as a test, is kind of mean.

    I’m sure there have been more difficult dishes, but this one did look like a pig to make. Four and a half hours is a long cook when every minute of that time involves more work.

    I wish the makers of this show would realise that routine makes for boring television. All the dramas Matt had at the beginning meant he would be safe. Trent’s exit was telegraphed from fairly early on. I would much prefer to see them cooking only, no clues, no obvious hints, no talking heads.

    Sorry to see Trent leave; he’s another one who acted like an adult throughout the competition. This year, that makes more of a difference to me than cooking capabilities. MC is sliding down the hill to MKR quality.

  9. Disappointed that Trent is gone but he did make the most mistakes. Would like to see the judges participating with the contestants in a pressure test like this but that will never happen. However, Elise should have been in the pressure test due to her total lack of inventiveness and her overuse of parfaits, mousses and silicone molds.
    Trent rushed through some of the recipe without measuring ingredients or taking measurements and that was his downfall. Matt was stressed and was also rushing but then, happily, calmed down and made it through.
    I would definitely eat a piece of that cake, no need for the disks or chocolate sphere on top.

  10. Thanks for the great recap Juz.
    That dessert looked impossible.
    Can you buy those moulds in the shops or does she have them specially made?
    I missed the end because I had to switch over to Love Child, but thought it would be Trent. If Matt went home because of runny passionfruit & no chocolate nest there would be something really screwy.
    Poor Matt was really struggling in the beginning but he came good in the end.
    Why didn’t Trent cut the top off his brownie when he realised it was higher then the others & wasn’t cooking on time?
    Matt & Mimi should have swapped their blue dome for a chocolate one.

  11. Oh, I liked Trent very much. Decent chap. Hope Mimi goes next.

    They’ve made it so obvious what’s going to happen each epsiode, I’ve found I can just watch the start, and the finish, for my own satisfaction and maybe pop in for a minute twice in the body of the show, or not – and what I expect to happen will happen, anyway, in the end. Shame.

    I mean it’s always been telegraphed by the editors, but this year seems extreme. I loved this show and used to scour through the eliminations in particular and rewatch them, I found it so fascinating, all the tiny details and mishaps and how they reached the verdicts, and was on tenterhooks the whole time. Now it’s X, Y, Z are in elimination. It will be X. Every. single. time.

  12. I wonder how pre-meditated these elimination challenges are. Does the guest chef get a minutes notice or they’re already scheduled to be there months in advance.

  13. Valiant effort by Trent but he needed to build a BMW. Mind you, if he was going to wing it he needed a plane.

  14. Poor Mimi is going to get the George psychobabble pep talk tonight. Looks like going into another alimination.

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