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Top Chef: Just Desserts

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ugot2bekidinmeny,

the jury is still out on Just Desserts. The personalities in the Pastry Chef world are certainly more flamboyant than what we see on regular Top Chef. Whether that gives a total viewing experience that is as good as top chef is debatable at present. for me, I don't think so but it is still too early to tell for sure.

ugot2bekidinmeny:
OMG!! SETH needs to GOOOO!! :lol3:  he doesn't do the challenge and still gets to stay!  in any other topchef he would have been gone!

 i know they need some "comic relief" <clears throat> personality.. but i think others will come forward once  :crybabe: is gone!

 maybe that's him  we see in next weeks coming attractiins on the floor having a panic attack... i dont want to see him go that way but  seriously i do not think what WE are being shown  proves anything but that he's an unstable guy

apskip:
TC-JD1, ep. 3

The Guest Judge is Sylvia Weinstock of Sylvia Weinstock Cakes. The Quickfire was a wedding cake competition. They were given base cake rounds in various sizes. In 90 minutes, they had to decorate them, fill them and develop great taste. Immunity for the Elimination challenge was the prize. The pastry chefs/bakers got right to it, except that Seth did not know what to do (he had never done a wedding cake), so he made an engagement cake. Malika’s cake started falling apart as soon as she put a second level on it so the appearance of it was ruined regardless of how tasty it was. The cakes presented were:

Danielle - Cream Cheese Lemon Filling w/ Strawberries & Pistachios
Eric - Pistachio Buttercream + Apricot Brandy Filling
Erika - Mocha Explosion w/ Kahlúa Buttercream
Heather C. - White Cake w/ Vanilla Simple Syrup + Nutella Buttercream
Heather H. - Lemon + Orange Zest Buttercream
Malika - Coconut Custard Infused w/ Cardamom and Vanilla
Morgan - Italian Ice Cream Cake w/ Coconut, Rum Syrup + Toasted Pecans
Seth - Engagement Cake: Caramel Chocolate Mousse w/ Orange, Marsala, Absinthe + Honey
Yigit - Passion Fruit, Vanilla + Lime Soaked Cake w/ Vanilla Orange Diplomat Cream
Zac - Toasted Meringue, Fruit of the Forest Jam w/ Dark Chocolate Ganache

Sylvia named Seth, Malika and Eric as the bottom 3 cakes. Seth had not even tried to do it, Malika had failed at maintaining cake structural integrity and Eric had a mediocre execution.

The Winners’ group was Erika, Morgan and Heather H. Erika won immunity.

Elimination Challenge

The Glee Club and Pep Squad from Santa Monica Catholic High School came into the kitchen to display what they do. Both were raising money to allow the Glee Club to perform at Carnegie Hall and the Pep Squad to go to a special camp. The pastry chefs drew tokens with either Glee or Pep on it, which resulted in these teams:

Glee Squad – Danielle, Heather C., Seth, Yigit, Zac
Pep Squad – Eric, Erika, Heather H. Malika, Morgan

Their mission was to create one dessert each for a bake sale, selling for either the Glee Club or the Pep Squad. They had 2.5 hours to bake, 0.5 hours to set up and 2 hours to sell. The desserts sold were:

Glee Club
Danielle - Coconut Cupcake w/ Salted Caramel Buttercream
Heather C. - Peanut Butter Cookie
Seth - Mocha Financier w/ Orange Creamcicle Sauce
Yigit - Chocolate Caramel Pudding w/ Ginger, Hazelnut Crumble & Marshmallows
Zac - Strawberry Shortcake w/ Rainbow Sugar

Pep Squad
Eric - Peanut Butter Krispy Bar
Erika - Peanut Butter Cookie
Heather H. - Butter Cookie with Chocolate & Dulce de Leche Cream
Malika - Toffee Fudge Brownie
Morgan - Vanilla Bean & Milk Chocolate Cupcake

Comments from the judges on things that concerned them particularly were:
Coconut Cupcake – no better than one any home cook could make
Peanut butter Cookie – too dry
Financier – a complicated dessert not really suited to a bake sale
Pudding- way too much ginger

The results of the bake sale were $240 for Glee Club and $250 for Pep Squad, with one corresponding team losing to the other by a very narrow margin of $10. Top Chef - Just Desserts multiplied the results by 10 and also gave a donation to the school of $5000.

The 3 best chefs selected by the judges were:
Eric
Erica
Malika

Eric was selected as the winner.

On the losers’ group based on the comments above, Danielle was in trouble for her coconut cupcake which sold the least, Heather C. for her peanut butter cookie and Seth for his financier. In addition, Gail pointed out some dysfunctional team dynamics. Danielle did what she wanted to do by accepting the request from her team that she do a cookie when there was another cookie and her heart was not in it. Seth was similarly in his own zone, unable to live by the directions and restrictions of the tasks.

The choice by the judges was to eliminate Danielle.

apskip:
TC-JD1, ep. 4

This episode opens with Guest Judge Dale Gand, Executive Pastry chef at Tru in Chicago, introduced. The Quickfire was an ice cream challenge to create the ultimate Ice Cream Sundae using Breyer’s ice cream as the base. Seth was acting rally strange while the competitors were waiting for the producers to finish setting up. He left the kitchen and passed out outside. There must have been production crew with him, so 911 was called immediately and paramedics came ASAP, evaluated him and sent him to a local hospital. He was judged unable to continue in the competition, which a producer announced to the other chefs. The types of ice cream assigned to each one was:
Morgan – mint chocolate chip
Yigit – chocolate chip
Danielle – Neapolitan (when I heard Neapolitan was one of the flavors, I felt sorry for the person getting it because I expected that would prove the toughest challenge)
Eric – natural vanilla (my favorite Breyer’s flavor)
Heather H. – vanilla fudge swirl
Malika – cookies and cream
Zac – cherry vanilla
Erika – chocolate

The sundaes developed were:
Danielle - Rocky Road Meets Neapolitan Sundae
Eric – Natural Vanilla w/ Sautéed Peaches, Brandy & Crisp
Erika – Chocolate Banana S'mores Frangelico Sundae
Heather H. – Vanilla Fudge Twirl Bananas Foster Sundae
Malika – Cookies & Cream w/ Malted Chocolate Caramel Sauce & Bananas
Morgan – “Sunday Snack” Oreo Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwich w/ Chocolate Milk
Yigit – Peanut Butter + S'mores Cookie Dough Sundae
Zac - “Black Forest is Burning” Sundae w/ Fried Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream

The losers’ group as evaluated by Gale Gand was Eric, Danielle and Erika. The winners’ group was Morgan, Yigit, and Zac. Zac’s use of panko crumbs and use of chocolate ganache were both noted as excellent. Morgan was praised for the flavor contrast of hot cocoa against mint chocolate chip. Morgan was judged the overall winner and gained immunity in the Elimination Challenge as a result. His dish was the result of a Sunday tradition he has spending special time every Sunday with his son, so his win was poignant.

The Elimination Challenge was really complex and difficult. It was designed to test innovation, creativity and teamwork. The judges were Johnny, Gail, Hubert Keller and Gale Gand. This was designed for 3 teams of 3, so the producers decided on the spot to bring back Heather C. in place of Seth. How much will a second chance do for her? We will have to wait and see.  3 teams of 3 were created by having the 3 top finishers in the Quickfire act as team captains and chose the rest of their teams. Zac chose Malika and Heather C.  Morgan chose Heather H. and Eric. Yigit chose Erika and Danielle. Each team had 2 strong players and one weaker one. The teams were sent observe the Lucent Dossier Experience, a special show somewhat like Cirque du Soleil which had characters, costumes, smoke and magic, but most of all fire. The mission was to do a special presentation structure called a showpiece, create 3 desserts consistent with that showpiece and one flaming dessert, all for a group of Lucent Dossier special guests. Teams had 4 hours to create and then 2 hours to setup.

The ultimate dishes and structure presented by each team were:
Morgan - Mango Panna Cotta, Açaí Fluid Gel & Passion Fruit Sorbet
Eric – Lemon Caramel Roulade with Pomegranate Sauce & Candied Kumquats
Heather H. - Triple Chocolate Chai Tea Mousse Torte
Almond Cream with Spiced Cherry Flambé (Team Exotic- Morgan, Heather H., Eric)
Zac - Banana Crème Fraîche Cake with Red Curry Frosting
Heather C. – Black Pepper Pineapple with Chocolate Sherbert & Meringue Shards
Malika – Saffron Panna Cotta with Feuilletine Crunch & Candied Ginger
Chocolate Cake with Flambéed Cherries (Team Naughty & Nice- Zac, Heather C., Malika)
Yigit – Crème Fraîche & Sweet Lime Bavarian with Vanilla Bean Sorbet
Erika – Almond Ice Cream Bar with Roasted Pineapple
Danielle – Chocolate Mousse Cake with Basil Ice Cream
Almond Mirliton Flambéed with Bourbon Peaches (Team Sassy, Sexy, Sultry-Yigit,  Danielle, Erika)

The showpieces were varied and interesting if you like that sort of thing (I don’t, as I do not like to see the focus taken off the food; it’s like ice carving, which is visually appealing but will do nothing for your palette). Morgan’s team showpiece (created exclusively by Heather H.) was judged as the best creative achievement. Morgan’s pannacotta, gel and sorbet flavors were judged superb, which won him individual honors over Heather H. and Eric.

Yigit’s team failed to present a flaming desert to the judges. Yigit defended this by stating that the other diners had received it, but he had a lame excuse for why he could not do one for the judges right then and there. The judges were clearly ready to punish him for this decision to not even try it for them. They stated that it did not meet the requirements of the challenge.

The final team rating was that Malika had an exceptional dessert of spot-on creamy pannacotta with exceptional crunchiness. However, Malika had had enough of Top Chef-Just Desserts. She told the judges that she wished to withdraw so that one of her teammates could be saved. She said she did not enjoy the competitive aspects of TC-JD and just wanted to go home to return to a more comfortable environment. Malika was told that she was not in any jeopardy, but she insisted on withdrawing and leaving.

ugot2bekidinmeny:
ahh Seth Seth .. :groan: you knew you were emotionally not right way before this panic attack :iok . dont try and say  that you never had one before.  I'm no Doc. but looks to me you stressed yourself out  before since you talked to ur self many times about calming down.

 I'm glad that he left.  unfortunately  it was due to the panic attack., i hope he's doing way better now.

 Bringin back another contestant seemed like the right thing to do however i think they should have  pulled a name from a hat instead of bringing the last person eliminated. the whole time Heather C  didn't seem  like she was 100% there

i get why malika left . i think she's happy now. 

 she's right some people loose thier passion when they have to compete with  and in something they get more joy out of JUST doing.

Congrats on Morgan being a double winner last nite!

I'd ratehr see more of the actaul work than the manic chaos which ensues in the last 5 mins of the challenges.

 I wonder how tey can make this a better show ???

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