MasterChef Mon – lammo challenge

The chef director behind Dinner by Heston in Melbourne and London, Ashley Palmer-Watts, sets a lamington-themed pressure test. One contestant will be sent home with only days remaining in the comp.

MC LOVES a lammo. Didn’t we already do this with Peter Gilmore? And Heston? Can’t we give other bakery treats some love? How about a vanilla slice/snot block challenge?



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29 Comments

  1. Bring on the lame lammos, then, Ma$terchef. Best of the best. Couldn’t eclair less.

    Gimme a fennel lamington then, amata!

  2. Wow. Anushka did a great sorbet just like that the other night. And she understands how to achieve those things and what they should look like along the way but time is on no-ones side, to read the recipe & create it. Nicole has the capability too for that dessert but same constraints of course. Poor Tim – it’s not his thing, so it will be incredibly difficult for him to follow the recipe in the time allowed, and to know whether he has achieved the right intermediate results along the way. Let’s see…

    • You also have to remember that English is Anushka’s second language. I think she ought to be given extra time to read the recipe as I know from experience that reading technical things in another language is not always that easy, no matter how fluent you are in everyday speech.

      • I agree about that and how hard would it be for the boffins that produce this bilge to supply a recipe in her first language? Or at least offer that?

        This is Ma$terbastard.

      • I think if it was a “ make this without a recipe” challenge Nushi would have aced it. She has a lot of technical dessert skills

  3. The girls have strange coloured skin, especially Larissa. Must be wrong colour makeup or shocking fake tan – the latter i reckon. Larissa looks very jaundiced. Can’t believe these are the best cooks, I’m hoping for the dark haired one!

  4. Oh no, the judges just talked about the elements of raspberry jam as (not in their words) quintessential lamington (& I beg to differ, but that’s wot they needed to copy) and Anushka didn’t have time to get the raspberry gel on.

    • At no point EVER in my long life as an Australian have I even thought/considered/ optioned raspberry as a quintessial element of a lamington!
      I don’t mind pointing out that Anushka left of a vital ingredient from THIS challenge. But it is not lamington 101 to have flaming raspberry ointment. Plus I am totally sick of the word ‘gel’.

  5. This year the standard is so below par.

    In Series 9, Ice cream Ben to serve 40 dinners in Heston’s restaurant.

    From Wikipedia:
    Ben was tasked to replicate the complexed 105 step Lamington Cake. After being affected and struggled with the recipe, he took control to produce the best replication of the dish which impressed the judges overall and Ben advances to the semifinals.

    Thus Ben have to make 40 portions and tonight they only need to make 1!

  6. Bye Anushka. You have talent, skills & creativity. Just not time. If I had peanuts telling me to push and multi-task I still wouldn’t have dinner ready until a few hours after I get home (& seriously, tonight I am eating simply cooked fresh Tassie veggies with cottage cheese!). Did I see a corn cob charring on a hibachi or bbq in the promo for tomorrow? That will be Simple Simon, Figane. Unfair.

  7. I just saw a promo for tom nite with Larissa presenting parsnip icecream to the judges. “Is it too far out there?” Actually, I think it could taste good. Parsnip is quite subtle unless caramelised, and is very underused. Lovely parsnips here in Tassie.

  8. The peanut gallery were telling her to get her raspberry gel out for what seemed like ages as she just kept stubbornly putting blobs of the white and brown on, leaving no room for the raspberry anyway, in that final minute. Then she ran over and stared at her red gel as the time ran out. Bizarre. Where was she going to pipe it, had there been time left?

  9. Well, it was on the cards. They finally got rid of the contestant with the most charm – and quirky appeal. Too old and lack of peroxide, not suitable for their target demographic.

    Suddenly, the journeyman, Nicole, turns into a whiz kid . She blazes through all those ailments like a NASA physicist. Is there a ‘casting pantry’ somewhere?
    And ol’ Timbo fluffs his way through, as usual, like Yogi Bear with sunstroke.
    He’s only there for gender balance … for the moment.

    It’s all rigged. Tomorrow, Simon will put up some stupid mush again, and they’ll love it. This serial killer of vegetables is a lock for the final.

  10. Well we knew Anushka was going.
    The gantry would have been sooo annoying. Didnt seem to hear much of Tessa but a bucket load of dumb arse stupid remarks from Larissa and Simon. Had to mute. I did hear them specifically coaching timbo though.

    I see from the trailer there is parsnip ice cream. What an unexpected dish – another ICE CREAM. I understand that parsnip might be a milder flavour than some other veg, but still, it just does not appeal to me. Honestly Masterchef, just because you can, doesnt mean you SHOULD.
    Even though

    • oops.
      even my comment was half-baked. .. . couldn’t even bother finishing it.
      This season has nearly lost me!

  11. Well, we all knew who was going home last week, so while I’m sad, I’m not surprised at the result. Something that did surprise me though was Matt declaring “a lamington is a quintessential combination of raspberry, chocolate and coconut”. What on earth are you smoking, Matt? Raspberry is not essential in a lamington. I’ve baked enough of them, plus done enough lamington drives for schools, sport clubs etc to know that. You need a sponge, chocolate and coconut. Jam and cream are optional extras.

    It was smart of Larissa to help Tim, as he is going to be easy to out cook later in the week. Anushka would have been harder, so better to have Tim in rather than her. Anything she addressed to Anushka on the other hand was quite patronising. Funnily enough, Tim said “I realised I’ve forgotten cocoa”, then “I realised that I’d forgotten the sugar” YOU didn’t realise a thing you knob – eagle eyed dessert queen Larissa realised and got Slimy to tell you.

    Gary is a complete jerk. “Anushka” says Gary with a huge Simon-like grin on his face” I’m afraid that is why you are going home”. Hypocrite – you aren’t sorry at all and could not even be arsed to look sad. I get the feeling that Gary has never warmed to Anushka and has been quite short with her several times.

    I thought Tim might be next to go, but it might be Nicole so we end up with two of each gender in the final four. They are both cannon fodder before the main event anyway, so they’ll both go soon.

      • Gary had to dig deeper into his arsenal of hate because George was having a sickie.(in jail for assault, industrial fraud etc)

        So far , this encore looks like the mother of all SET UPS.

  12. The results of that challenge were predictable. Did the stooges like Tim’s biscuit? I started fast forwarding so might have missed some of their comments but I don’t know how that biscuit would have been OK since he added cocoa butter by mistake. The gantry occupants should not have been allowed to help him by repeatedly telling him to reread the recipe. In fact they shouldn’t be allowed to coach anyone and should be in another room where they can watch on a monitor so they will have no influence on the outcome.
    Maybe Anushka should have listened to them regarding the jelly but it probably wouldn’t have made a difference, IMO. The die was cast. The writing was on the wall. As for the comment that Anushka’s wasn’t a lamington because there wasn’t enough raspberry flavor and the raspberry jelly was missing…LOL. Raspberry filling and raspberry sorbet and still not enough raspberry flavor for them. Would just a few squirts of jelly made a big difference? Agree with you Ozswede that raspberry jelly is not a requirement for a lamington. Anushka’s may not have matched the professional chef’s lamington but even if hers was perfect she would have been eliminated.

  13. Anoushka missing the raspberry gel is enough to send her home is BS. 3 drops of raspberry gel is not going to make a difference. To me, those gels on top of the cake is just to make it look pretty.

    Like mentioned by others, there is enough raspberry flavour from the sorbet and filling.

    • I agree with everything you said, Littlepetal. I find it so hypocritical that they bang on about “flavour, flavour, flavour” all of the time, but even though they said that Tim’s lamington lacked chocolate flavour, it was still enough to save him. I’d have thought a decent chocolate flavour was vital to a good lamington. They thought Anushka’s chocolate flavour dominated (as it does in all lamingtons) and it desperately needed those three drops of raspberry. What bollocks – they aren’t even trying to find convincing reasons to send her home.

      Last week, Slimy left off that gold tuile biscuit thing from his dessert, but that was okay. This week a missing element is not okay. There is a distincy lack of consistency in the judgements and a high level of favouritism going on that detracts from the enjoyment of the show. As people have pointed out, Slimy can serve any slop on a plate and he’ll be safe – and more importantly he knows it.

  14. I agree on all points OzSwede – I’ve had a full rant abou the quintessial lamington also!
    Yes, I also give Larissa full credit for realising that Tim is a pushover and far easier to knock over than Anushka – and so was completely strategic in her subtle reminders of missing ailments.

    The judges have clearly been wanting to flick Anushka for weeks but she has simply outcooked them and they were forced to ditch other people. Sadly, she gave them an easy opening tonight with a clear excuse and they leaped on it. Gary’s massive grin was just awful – couldn’t even fake being regretful – he was positively gleeful.

    Nicole is barely a journeyman though – that’s talking her up. She can read a recipe but you could tell that Anushka had a much better understanding of flavours and actual cooking. Nicole is the kind of person who does something ‘amazing’ and ‘innovative’ like swapping out one ailment for another (e.g. figs for dates and producing a sticky fig pudding say) to get lauded for stretching herself and pulls in the rave reviews. Whereas Anushka actually understands flavours – remember her being very assured with native ingredients (lemon myrtle maybe?) based solely on tasting them? So even though I was very dismissive of her early on, I gave her full credit for ditching the layer cakes and doing a whole range of stuff. I ended up being sad she was left when bozo and slimy and bimbo are still in the so-called competition!

    Given that most so-called challenges this year have been of the “we know you are not very good so cook whatever you can manage” variety – open pantry/garden in play – what are we expecting?
    Dessert from Larissa. Fish from Tessa. Pork from Tim. Cauliflower (or possibly beetroot) from Simon. Whatever seafood recipe Nicole has absorbed lately from her. ho hum.
    Please Tessa – do something OTHER than fish with butter sauce – you are BETTER than this.

  15. It’s Ba$tardchef for being so obviously sexist and ageist.

    With the glowing endorsements above, hell, I’ll watch the encore.

  16. Sad to see Anushka go, really enjoyed watching her and she’s a better cook than Tim and Nicole. Final 5 and the entire season just seems underwhelming, too many cook whatever you want challenges that lead to same old type of dishes being plated.

  17. Another wanky lamington. Though it did look yummy. And yes Juz, they did do one last year. I do like lamingtons with cream & respberry jam but they are not standard lamingtons.
    I thought they were tricking us with Nicole not making any mistakes & it would be her going home. But no, poor Anushka forgot her raspberry gel.

  18. Never, ever eaten a lamington with jam of any sort inside it. And I have definitely eaten (and sold) more than my fair share.

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