Previously on
Top Chef: Just Desserts.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Morgan is very aggressive,
and he elbows me.
Look at my lip.
Oh, Jesus.
Yeah.
Shaq knocks you on your ass,
uh, you learn not
to go to the post with Shaq.
Thanks to Morgan.
I find him disgusting,
actually.
Just disgusting.
Her ice cream
has this strange flavor to it.
It tastes
a little like glue.
And the winner is Yigit.
Thank you.
Erica,
please pack your tools
and go.
I love you guys.
Now six pastry Chefs remain
to compete for a feature
in Food & Wine magazine,
a showcase
at the annual Pebble Beach
Food & Wine Festival,
a German-engineered,
sport-injected Buick Regal,
and $100,000
furnished by Godiva Chocolatier.
Who has the creativity,
the skill,
and the drive to win
Top Chef: Just Desserts?
[Laughter]
Last night was the first time
I was in the bottom three.
[Laughter]
I'm sure everyone was happy
that I was in the bottom three.
I've been in the top three
five times already,
so I'm not gonna cry over it.
You know, your face
really doesn't change
when you do that.
Shut up, Zac.
I won the last
elimination challenge.
I think I've had
a target on my back
since the second
or third day here.
We're hoping that Team Diva
truly is gonna go
to the top three.
Morganza.
Morning.
How are you?
Now that it's three and three,
it almost seems
like there's factions.
Team Go Diva,
I need to break them up.
Yigit is a technical master,
Heather is sharp as a tack,
and Zac
just brings this flair.
Together, that makes it
a dangerous combo.
Good morning, Chefs.
Good morning.
Now we're gonna make things
just a little bit harder.
From here on in, the winner
of the quickfire challenge
will not receive immunity
in our eliminations.
Today we're gonna test
your pastry skills
and your ability to stay calm
under pressure.
It's a Top Chef
quickfire classic.
The mise en place relay race.
Yeah.
I think that the relay
is certainly the most
anticipated quickfire.
I mean, it's
edge-of-your-seat excitement.
You know,
there's three major factors
to working in
a busy pastry kitchen--
organization, speed,
and precision.
So I'm really excited to see
how well you guys fare
in this competition.
First, we're gonna divide you
into two teams.
Heather, please reach under
your station
and pull out the cookie jar
and pick a cookie to see
what team you're on.
Red.
Red.
By the luck of the draw,
Team Diva
actually comes together.
This is kind of what we've been
hoping for from the beginning.
I think we're gonna
actually kick ass.
I wonder what I got.
I wonder.
Black.
Always bet on.
Tada. Got black.
Team Diva think they're
too cool for school.
I can't stand them
and I want them to go home.
Okay, guys.
So for the first leg
of this challenge,
you're gonna mold
For the second leg,
you need to pipe eight
perfect butter cream roses,
each about the size
of a silver dollar.
When I see
the butter cream roses,
I'm like,
"yeah, I can do that."
You know, so I'm even
more excited to do this.
For the third leg,
you need to separate
and whip six egg whites
to firm peaks.
They need to be stiff enough
that you can hold 'em
over your head for ten seconds
without falling out.
And for the final leg,
as a team,
you need to stretch
strudel dough
over the entire length
of the table,
and then roll the strudel.
In the end, you should end up
with something like this.
The first team
that finishes wins.
Stretching
the strudel dough,
if you don't
do it quickly enough,
it will cr*ck and tear.
It must be done
with absolute perfection
to be successful.
Chefs, that's not all.
To sweeten the pot,
each member of the winning team
will receive $3,000
furnished by Dawn Hand Renewal.
Seals moisture in.
Money is great incentive,
you know?
I love what I do, but if I
can do something I love
and make a lot
of money doing it,
that's even better.
You'll now have one minute
to decide which person
on your team
is doing which task.
Butter cream roses.
Yes.
Tart.
I can do tarts
or egg whites.
I'll do egg whites.
You don't roll it.
You stretch it. Okay?
I am absolutely thrilled
to have my boys on my team.
I think we want to win this
and we're pretty determined.
Okay, Chefs,
are you ready to go?
Yes.
Yes, Chef.
Your time starts now.
[Whistle blows]
Go.
We're all super competitive,
but to have that kind of thing
where we're being timed
on such quick things,
it's, like, super intense,
and you can't be like,
"mm," nervous and shaky.
My hands never shook so much.
Team positive.
Team positive.
Son of a...
The difficulty
in doing tart shells
is everything
has to be precise,
so I'm just focusing on being
very fast and meticulous.
Come on, come on,
come on, come on.
Nice.
Nice.
Danielle
is like a whirlwind.
She's cranking out tarts
way faster than Yigit.
How many is she on?
[Bleep].
She's got ten done.
Are they nice?
Move on. Move on.
Yes!
This is the last one, baby.
Let's do it.
Very nice.
Check.
[Blows whistle]
Stop.
Okay, Danielle, you're good.
[Blows whistle]
Go.
Check.
[Blows whistle]
Stop.
Uneven dough.
Even it out.
Yes, Chef.
[Blows whistle]
Go.
You're an animal.
[Growls]
Check.
You're good.
Thank you.
[Blows whistle]
♪ ...And baker ♪
our team is in the lead
at the moment.
I think just because
we're against Team Diva,
it's just kind of making us
work harder.
Get that base.
Yeah.
Good.
His are smaller.
[Groans]
My hand is kind of
shaking a little,
and I notice that Heather's
really whipping through those,
and I look over and hers aren't
nearly as nice as mine.
I'm so nervous.
No, you're not.
Heather picks up the pace
and we are Team Diva.
We're gonna kick some ass.
Oh, my God!
God,
it's so [Bleep] Stiff.
Go. Put it down.
Nice and easy.
Call check.
Check.
Eric, stop, please.
Heather, you're good to go.
Whoo!
She ends up finishing
just a few seconds before
and it's frustrating,
because I lost the lead.
Check.
[Blows whistle]
Zac, stop.
Nice flowers.
Thank you.
[Blows whistle]
I start my eggs
just slightly before Morgan.
But Morgan's big.
Morgan has g*ns.
Morgan has muscles.
And, you know,
I have these.
That's six, right?
Go, baby, go.
So I am just
whipping like crazy.
I mean, I'm not even
doing any, like,
classic figure eight pattern
with the whisk.
I'm just b*ating.
b*ating, b*ating.
Get the air in there.
I start whipping my whites,
and I can't help it,
'cause I know
he's got to work his ass off
to get this done.
Tap into that energy, girl.
And this is gonna be
easy for me.
Morganza.
Morganza. Morganza.
Feel the burn!
Round.
Go round. Go round.
Come on,
queen diva.
Come on. Come on.
Check.
[Blows whistle]
Flip it.
So Morgan calls time first.
I really want
to call time too,
but I just need to make sure
that my eggs are perfect,
and I'm not gonna
get egg on my face.
[Blows whistle]
Eat it, baby.
Whipping egg whites
faster than Zac.
No problem.
Check. Check.
The second Morgan
puts his bowl down,
I call check again
and turn mine.
There was actually four seconds
between our checks,
which I'm pretty happy about.
Yes! Go!
Take that, muscle man!
Our table was about
ten feet long,
and the dough is only
about the size of a football,
so at this point
it's really gonna be about
stretching everything
as a team,
because you're actually gonna
have to pull from every angle
to make sure you have
just enough.
Whoa, girl, easy.
Remember, back of your hand,
okay?
Back of your hand.
Stroke it, baby.
Stroke it.
Stroke it out.
I think I'm the only person
that's really pulled out
a strudel dough
in the last decade.
Come here.
Hold here, okay?
And I don't
use my hands upward,
'cause your fingertips
have a tendency
to tear holes in the dough,
so I try to use
the back of my hands.
You guys, let's work over here
and stretch this.
Okay.
We got a tear.
Tear at the end.
Heather, help me here.
Right here.
Help me pull as I pull this.
Very gently.
Team Diva takes
the slow and steady approach.
That dough is very delicate,
and you have to handle it
very gently.
I look over
to the other team,
and Morgan is just
drill, drill, drill,
pull, pull, yank.
That doesn't work
with strudel.
That's how
you destroy the dough.
Okay, okay, okay.
Easy, easy, easy.
Let's not go crazy.
Our dough is in one piece
and all we're trying to do
is just stretch out the edges
and the other team's dough,
it's not looking good.
Danielle, you're off the edge
of the table again.
It's so dried.
Yup. Yup, yup, yup.
Yup, yup. Done.
Check.
[Blows whistle]
Okay, go.
Yes!
Whoo!
Apples.
Let's go.
Apple. Apple time.
Nice and gentle, guys.
Let's not lose focus.
At this point,
we start filling our dough
with the apple.
We're rolling it beautifully.
Pull this way.
Stick.
But with the black team,
there is holes in their dough,
and it actually makes it
really difficult to work with.
Jesus [Bleep].
One, two, go.
Yeah.
Beautiful.
I got swiss cheese
down here.
Lift up.
Check.
Check.
[Blows whistle]
That's it.
[Cheering, laughter]
Mwah!
We lost to Team Diva,
and I don't like to lose.
For your next
elimination challenge,
we're gonna put
your pastry Chef skills
to the test
in the real world.
We're putting a sweet spin
on the Top Chef
restaurant wars.
Yes!
It's time for the first ever
dessert wars.
Yes!
Yeah.
All right.
I've seen restaurant wars
on Top Chef before,
and I know this is the challenge
that people really remember.
This is my dream.
I still want to open up a shop,
but it's, like, such a huge,
huge undertaking.
You will work
in these same teams
to create the ultimate
dessert shop experience.
Each one of you
will be responsible
for three items on the menu.
It's up to you
to create your own
ultimate
dessert fantasy land.
But since you're pastry Chefs,
you also need to include
a bread item on your menu.
Chefs, you know the name
of the game is competition.
You have to figure out how
to make your bakery stand out.
You have to figure out
how to please the customer.
It's a complete experience.
Since this is
a dessert battle royale,
the winning team is going home
with $30,000.
Oh, my God.
Everyone that is left
has received some sort of money
except for me,
so I really want
to win money.
The starting point for your
shops is right next door.
Go take a look and good luck.
Thank you.
Two bags of lemons
are missing from my stuff.
I did not take your lemons.
If that's not
an accurate statement,
you go ahead and correct me.
Lovely.
Wow.
So let's get to planning.
We leave the Top Chef:
Just Desserts kitchen
to actually go see
our own dessert shops.
We have 45 minutes
to menu plan
as well as planning
for our store's ambience,
decor,
and our plate ware.
Considering I've been trying
to plan my own shop
for about the last year,
a limited amount of time.
I think if we have
that display case
whether we do, like,
entremets
and tarts and stuff
like that,
we can keep 'em in there.
Okay, what do you want
the concept of the bakery to be?
Don't get snappy with me.
No, that's--I think that's
what we need to nail down.
Okay.
The first thing that
I want to get out is theme.
Yes, I know it's exciting,
like, to think about
the space and whatnot,
but, like, let's figure out
what we're making first.
Fun.
I think it has to be fun.
It's an adult candy shop.
Yeah, exactly.
Perfect. Perfect.
Oh, let's talk about--
do we want an overall theme?
Yes.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Okay, so do we want to do
really bakery style?
I want to do it comfort.
Comfort.
I wanted to do, um,
"drunken doughnut,"
so, like,
a salted caramel doughnut
with a whiskey milkshake.
Sounds good.
Morgan,
can you come here and--
look. Look here.
Look here. Because now
we're, like, all over the place.
Okay, I'll just sit here
and be quiet.
No, I don't want
you to be quiet.
But if we can all
stay in one place
then we get to see
everything together.
Yes, Chef.
There's arguments
about decor,
that, you know,
and the plates to use
between Danielle and Morgan,
and so basically I'm sitting,
I'm waiting for them
to fight it out,
and then when it stops,
I'll keep going.
This or this?
I kind of like that.
I agree.
Done.
Thank you.
At the end of the menu plan,
we are on track.
We know what
all three of us are doing,
and we all already
have our prep lists.
So we leave and head to
Albertsons to do our shopping.
Go diva.
[Laughter]
Yes.
Balloons and bubbles.
Yeah.
We want some fun decor items--
ribbons, balloons, bubbles.
We want to
put the flower arrangements
in candy instead of water.
Like, we can just
scatter candy everywhere.
The black team has no style,
whereas we're the [Bleep].
Like, we are the best people
in that kitchen. Really.
Got you a present.
Oh, thank you.
[Speaks spanish]
It was, like, a huge rivalry
between us and Team Diva.
Oh, spices.
Spices.
Especially after
losing the quickfire.
They think
that they are so hot.
Let's check out.
The other team,
they have a lot of produce
on their carts.
So at this point, you know,
they could be making anything.
I have no idea what
their plan of action is,
but I'm sure ours is better.
And five hours will be gone
before we know it.
The dessert wars challenge
is nine desserts,
three from each person.
Of those nine desserts,
one has to be a bread item,
and two has to be
a la minute.
Team Diva is on one side
and team...
Loser is on the other side.
I love my team.
Team Diva's great.
Since we have a lot
of work to get done,
we're just gonna kind of take
an assembly-line
approach to this.
So long as we keep
our head in the game,
I think our technique
will get us there.
I'm gonna have a lot of whites
left over, guys.
Uh, save 'em,
'cause I'm sure we can use 'em.
I want to do
a different texture of citrus
with a Margarita sorbet
with some mango foam.
Zac is gonna make
the bread item,
a savory fennel brioche,
and Heather is creating
a frozen key lime pie.
What number is this to?
Do you know?
I didn't do it
on the sheeter.
I'm just rolling it out
by hand.
Okay.
Do you want me
to do yours by hand?
I'm just gonna
do yours by hand.
It's gonna be easier.
They're using it.
Heather is actually making
the dough for all of us.
It's a huge responsibility.
She says that she doesn't
feel comfortable
working with
the dough sheeter,
and she wants
to roll it by hand.
You know, she's a Chef,
so I'm gonna let her
do as she feels comfortable.
I hope this doesn't come back
to bite us in the ass.
I'm afraid if we do it
on the sheeter
it's just gonna
get really warm.
And our team's
first a la minute item
is Danielle's
ginger ale float
with tangerine
and raspberry sorbet.
Did you just
check the cookies? Oh.
Eric's making the classic
chocolate chip cookie.
Good?
Yeah, very good.
Our bread item will be
a warm, soft pretzel,
which I'm making.
We bought four bags of--
I threw four bags
of lemons to you.
Yeah, I know.
Why do we only have
two bags of lemons now?
They were right here.
We don't have any
in the pantry?
No, 'cause Yigit
took 'em all already.
Well, I did not
take your lemons. For sure.
Two bags of lemons
are missing from my stuff,
so if that's not
an accurate statement,
you go ahead and correct me.
Dude, you know what?
Seriously.
I grabbed a case of lemons,
and I'm not gonna use
every single lemon on there.
It's just a efficiency thing.
But it's not about the lemons.
I think Morgan would
kind of like to see me go,
because perhaps he feels like
I could be good
competition for him.
Morgan,
there are plenty of lemons.
Next time you could just ask
instead of blaming me, please.
No need for drama.
Your teammate is very stressed.
Huh?
Your teammate
is very stressed.
[Bleep] Suck [Bleep].
[Bleep], dude.
This is just
[Bleep] Bull[Bleep].
We're nearing
the end of prep,
and Morgan is starting to turn
into, like, crazy person.
You know,
I got to form all the pies.
Yeah.
And I've got to form
all the [Bleep] Pretzels.
Morgan's making
the pretzel dough by hand,
and that takes a long time.
Three minutes!
And he's used to finishing
things before everyone else.
And so he's going off
and--and just,
like, super tense.
[Bleep].
My day just got
super harder tomorrow.
We're really hoping
we can pull this off,
but we need Morgan to, like,
stop acting like an [Bleep]Hole.
And if he can't do that,
we're screwed.
There's no way
I'm gonna finish everything.
Time up!
Come on, team.
Do we want to have a talk
before we go to bed?
Yeah.
It should go something like,
"I'm sorry. We're [Bleep]Ed."
I'm a little worried
that Morgan is going
to destroy our chance
to win this challenge.
I've got to knock out
This is the one challenge
that really means
something to me,
and I have enough
to be worried about.
I don't want to be
worried about Morgan.
I've had my worst day
here yet today.
I'm sorry, guys.
Yeah, I agree.
I'm not having
a good one at all.
Just take the judges' plates.
Well, I don't want him
to get confused,
so just shut up.
Did you just tell me
to shut up?
Shut up.
Get away.
Our challenge today
is dessert wars.
We have two hours
to complete everything
and to be ready
for the customers.
Hey, Eric?
Yes?
They're peanut butter
and honey on white bread.
Even though I think Morgan
is in this great mood,
I'm not sure it's enough time
to get it all together.
Morgan, you know...
Oh, I got it.
Well, we're a little
in the [Bleep],
but you know what?
Everything looks great, Heather.
I hope it tastes good.
My over-ambitious attitude
is working a little bit
against us,
because we still have a lot
of work to get done
before we even start
to put together our shop.
Jesus [Bleep]
All [Bleep]Ing mighty.
Zac, love, is this you?
What is it?
Was that your bowl?
Not mine.
That's awesome.
It's fine.
Just give it to me.
It's chaos.
It's just whipped cream.
Yeah, well,
I'm covered in it.
Jesus.
Zac is running
back and forth.
We'll have 'em
bring all of them in, right?
Yes, yes.
Great.
And we need to fill up
the display case,
and compared
to the other team,
we don't really
have a lot of stuff,
and so it's chaos
in its worst form.
I'm coming.
The board,
it's got to be done
before time is up.
I got it. I got it.
We need to make the milk
chocolate pudding, right?
No, no, no, no.
It's already done.
There's a key lime in there
for the case.
Where is it?
It's in the freezer.
They just need to come down.
Oh, oh.
They turned the tray.
Excellent.
You guys know where the cooler
with the ice is, by chance?
I didn't have time
to pre-scoop this, okay?
I don't even know
what you're talking about.
The first ever
dessert wars has begun.
Hello, everyone.
We also have
all sorts of things
to order a la minute.
What's the name on that?
Joe.
All right.
Should be just a few minutes.
As service starts,
Zac and I both take
the front of the house,
and Heather is in the kitchen.
There you go.
Thank you so much.
And the servers
are going back and forth
from the kitchen
to the dining room.
One more doughnuts
for the kitchen, please.
He just sent me
with a doughnut.
No.
No, those are extra.
Heather is
a very good pastry Chef,
but she is definitely
not the best person
to have in the front
of the house.
There is your key lime.
Hi.
How are you?
How are you?
Welcome to whisk me away,
our little dessert shop.
For our team,
I'm having the server
take all the orders.
I plate everything,
and then Eric,
he's able to be
out with the customers.
Thank you very much.
And Morgan's in the kitchen,
preparing the a la minute items.
Sometimes he just says,
like, really rude things
and it only makes sense
to have him work in the kitchen.
And if you have any questions,
let me know.
Hi, Zac, hi, Yigit.
Hi, Gail.
Hey, Gail.
I'd like to introduce you
to our judges for this
challenge.
Our handsome head judge,
Johnny Iuzzini.
Our guest judge
for this round,
multi-award winner,
author, founder of La Brea
Bakery here in Los Angeles,
Nancy Silverton.
Nancy Silverton is an amazing
inspiration to me.
She has a very methodical
approach to baking,
and I have a lot
of respect for her.
And of course, returning
judge, Chef Hubert Keller,
Chef and owner of
Fleur de Lys in San Francisco.
So tell us
about Pastry Playland.
We made kind of very elegant
and sophisticated desserts
with an absolute
kid's visual palate.
We'd like one of each,
please.
Coming right up.
All right, kitchen,
I need one of each.
These are for the judges.
I think it's nice to see
that they actually created
some extra items
on top of their workload
to decorate their shop.
You know, they have
these beautiful little
playful lollipops
out of meringue.
It's a nice touch.
I probably would have done
one thing a little different.
They have so much pastries
on these racks.
I would probably--
would fill up the front.
Why didn't they fill up
their display case?
It looks sort of
empty and sad.
There you go.
Hello.
Hello, Yigit.
These are Zac's dessert.
He made for you
a fresh doughnut.
It's actually
essentially a beignet
filled with a wild blueberry jam
and fried to order,
and it's served with
a lemon verbena milkshake.
Our bread for today
is a fennel seed and kalamata
brioche roll
and it's slightly warm
and it's served
with a white truffle butter.
And then we actually
made some caramel corn.
It's a hard cr*ck caramel,
which has slow-rendered
bacon bits in it,
and it's a little salt
and a little savory.
Can we get
a large tray, please?
Each team was responsible
to do two a la minute desserts
and one bread dessert,
and I see Zac has taken on
both the bread
and one of
the a la minute desserts.
No, these are very nice.
Very light, right?
Really brought me back
to my childhood.
But I think the shake
is a little less exciting
than the doughnut, right?
I think his brioche
is terrific.
Was ex*cuted really perfectly.
Zac's bacon
caramel kettle corn,
I think there's a bit
of inconsistency here,
'cause I have some kernels
that aren't coated at all,
and others that are completely
drenched in bacon fat.
This is the best thing
I've ever tasted though.
Is it really?
Like, I want, like,
pounds of it.
Well, what's wrong
with that one?
I don't know.
He just handed it to me.
Told me to bring it back.
Jesus [Bleep].
I have no idea.
All right.
So this is
my set of desserts.
This is kind of a take
on a chocolate tart.
Inside, it has
a very dark caramel
as well as some
salted peanuts folded into it.
A very nice, dark,
chocolate ganache.
This I really love.
It's a Margarita sorbet.
It actually has
a pure silver Tequila in it
for a little kick.
And your last dessert,
you can't have a bake shop
without a layered cake,
so it's kind of a take
on a classic fraisier
raspberry, strawberry,
and a clear
Berry and hibiscus gelee.
Great.
Thank you.
Enjoy.
Thank you very much.
The Tequila's good.
You get it?
You get the Tequila?
Not yet.
Yigit has shown us before
he's pretty good
with his textures
of ice creams and sorbets,
and this one's actually
got a really great texture.
It's holding up well.
Very mellow.
It's actually
quite delicious.
And a true classic fraisier,
when he says fraisier,
you should identify
right away.
Here, the visual
was not fraisier.
That's not a good sign.
That was pretty hard.
I must say.
The dough is so thick
on the bottom.
I don't know if the caramel
is just overcooked
and that's not really cuttable
or Kn*fe tender,
but, like,
that's a lot of dough.
Go ahead and try it.
The shell's a little hard,
but it tastes fantastic
once you're in there.
Uh,
I need a garbage bag.
Why is this coming back?
All right, first of all,
this is too--this is too
big of a [Indistinct].
Okay, that's not--
this is going out--
I'll--let me deal with it.
Let's get your judges' plates
out right now.
Heather seems to be
struggling right now.
She's really thrown off
of her game.
She's not in a good place.
All right,
I'm gonna give you
the beauty plates first.
Just take
the judges' plates.
Well, I don't want him
to get confused, okay, Zac?
So just shut up.
Did you just tell me
to shut up?
Shut up.
We're stressed out.
We're busy.
It's chaotic.
It's a mess.
So tell me what you need done
and shut up.
What do you want first?
Get the judge's plate
out now,
because if we keep
the judges waiting,
it looks bad
for the whole situation.
And please don't ever tell me
to shut up again.
Shut up.
All right.
I told you.
Shut up. So...
What?
Just deal with it.
So these
are Heather's desserts.
A lemon cream tart.
And it has
a white chocolate cream
and just some
fresh raspberries.
Uh, this is Heather's
frozen key lime bar.
It has
a Graham cr*cker crust
which she made,
with a little strawberry sauce.
And, uh, this is her take
on a milk chocolate
pudding cup,
with a little chocolate plate
garnish and fresh mango.
Thank you so much.
Absolutely, guys. Enjoy.
I think that Yigit
has a lovely presence.
How do you think he's doing
as the front of the house
for the pastry shop?
I think Yigit
has a great personality, right?
Very jovial, young, fresh,
coming across really well.
I think just,
yeah, pleasant person.
I like the presentation of
all of Heather's dessert so far.
What you don't want to see
is actually the fingerprints
on the dessert.
Since it was frozen,
and...
You really see 'em now.
You really see the fingers.
Flavor of the key lime
is so timid.
Whenever I hear the word citrus,
I want to pucker.
What Heather did here,
I think, the pudding
is actually quite nice,
and having the
[Indistinct] On it,
it's a pleasant surprise.
I have a feeling that
the dough on Heather's tart
is the same dough that we saw
earlier on Yigit's.
Let's take a look.
Definitely under-baked.
It's totally under-baked.
So then the judges leave
pastry playland.
What can I get for you?
And then come
the special requests.
Can I have a pudding?
Sure thing.
With--can you guys
add raspberries in there?
One of my friends
really likes, like,
rich,
chocolate something?
Maybe you guys can make
something special for us?
As these challenges come up,
it's just like a restaurant.
People have crazy orders
all the time,
and you just have
to suck it up, say yes,
and just make it happen.
Do you guys
have a few minutes?
Yeah, sure.
We can sit around.
Let me see what I
can throw together for you.
Do you have any of your,
like, key lime bases?
Like Graham cr*cker bases
or anything?
No, why?
People are wanting
specialty orders, so, um...
Special orders?
Can I grab one of these?
Yeah.
Great.
All right,
ladies, here you go.
It's very rich,
it's very chocolate
and it's got some citrus.
Okay,
so you are table 29.
You know what?
Can I get a cookie,
but with the vanilla caramel
ice cream on the side?
Okay.
Processed sugar and nuts?
Let me go ask, um, my other
Chefs to see what they say.
Because I know the judges
are about to arrive.
I just want
to go back there and say,
"no, sorry,
we can't do it."
Morgan's, like,
"no, I'm gonna make it."
I don't care
if the judges are coming.
We need to be b*ating
Team Diva.
I don't work
at the no factory.
The cream on this was good.
This was--I did like this.
That was actually
made on the fly,
which is pretty impressive.
I think the brown butter
glaze banana bread.
Long line.
Wow.
Is there only one
person there? Oh, no.
No, there's two people
back there.
Hi.
Hi, Danielle. How are you?
Welcome to whisk me away.
The judges come in, so it was
a little like...Frazzled.
So we really wanted to,
you know, take that concept
of things that make you happy.
You know, things like
chocolate chip cookie
that, you know,
people that really--
you really enjoy it, and you
really want to keep coming back.
Well,
we'll take one of everything.
Sounds great.
Where should we sit?
There is a table
waiting for you.
Thanks, Danielle.
Oh,
son of a bitch.
I think the look
of whisk me away,
the feel of that display case,
all really come together.
It looks really organized,
really appealing,
but Danielle
was a little bit low energy,
you know,
compared to Yigit,
who, really,
the second he saw us
brightened up
and had a lot to say.
Oh, thank you.
So I am presenting
Eric's dishes.
This is a classic
chocolate chip cookie.
He also did
a vanilla malted cake
with a chocolate butter cream.
And there's some
malted candy in there.
And then a banana loaf
that has a brown butter
and tangerine icing on top.
Great.
Thanks, Danielle.
Thank you.
That's my favorite one.
Yeah.
That's good stuff.
Those large cakes,
these layer cake,
it's not my
particular favorite.
It's pretty rich, right,
when you eat it.
But I must say, the texture
of the butter cream
is really well done.
And it's always nice to see
a chocolate chip cookie
that's not made with
pre-packaged chocolate chips.
You think perhaps
it's a little too simple
for Eric to have just done
a basic chocolate chip cookie
for the challenge of creating
a dessert shop fantasy land?
You know,
I agree with you, Gail,
and I understand
what you're saying,
but again, this is supposed
to be a business.
You want to make sure
you put things on the menu
that you guarantee sell.
I think the banana loaf,
you expect a little bit
more browner.
I have a problem
with the texture of this.
I have a feeling that the
proportion of chemical leaveners
is off a little bit.
There's something I like
about it, though.
The flavor for me
is really nice.
The banana bread was okay.
It was yummy.
Four glasses.
Four floats.
Okay,
so these are my desserts.
Ah.
I did a pistachio shortcake,
and there's a little
lemon cream and strawberries
tossed with a little tarragon.
And then I did
a coffee cream pie
and there's hazelnut brittle.
And then I did a float.
So I did, um,
house-made ginger ale.
There's raspberry sorbet
and tangerine lime sorbet.
Wow. Oh.
You're liking it too much.
It's that good.
Ooh.
I think Danielle's ginger ale
is delicious.
I know it's very light,
but I don't know
if I would have chosen
to do sorbets over
an ice cream in this case.
With the short cake,
I like the fact
that she used
little paper brioche cups
for delivery of this.
I mean, you could hold it in
your hand and walk out with it.
I think it's well done.
With Danielle's
coffee cream pie,
I want that beautiful,
unctuous, coffee profile
that you'd get
from a cup of coffee,
and I don't get it.
Yeah, should be
definitely much stronger.
I'm just not crazy about it.
Yeah, I don't know.
So now I am going
to present Morgan's dishes.
So for our bread option,
he made a pretzel stick,
and it is served
with two kinds of mustards.
Then he also made a chocolate
cake that has chocolate mousse,
and there's
a creme brulee center
with a chocolate glaze.
For the second a la minute,
it's a lemon fried pie,
and it's served with
a salted caramel ice cream.
Great.
Enjoy.
This is amazing.
Mm-hmm.
This is to die for.
I think we should start
with Morgan's fried pie.
Mm.
Caramel ice cream
is delicious.
The pie is delicious.
And it tastes like lemon.
And it tastes like lemon.
I love a beautiful pretzel,
but what's interesting to see
is as I'm just
feeling and touching it,
I look at my hands--
I have a feeling he might
have brushed them with butter.
But if I had a big pint
of beer beside me,
I would certainly not complain
about Morgan's pretzel.
Construction of Morgan's
dessert is just perfect.
I think it's the most
sophisticated
of any of the desserts
that we've seen so far.
I also think on the whole
Morgan showed us by far
the most range here.
He did.
The tarragon strawberries
were really good.
Thank you.
The plain yogurt
with the chocolate
is a really good combination.
Yeah, right?
Yeah, very interesting.
This is amazing.
Thank you very much.
Bye, thank you.
I think we should go back
to judges' table.
I agree.
Get some sleep, you guys.
We'll see you guys soon.
We tried really hard
on this challenge,
so I just hope
the judges see that,
because I think
we are the better team.
♪ My korean princess ♪
♪ collect all five ♪
that tangerine sorbet
is badass.
I gave this service 110%
and I hope
that we b*at Team Diva,
give me--give me
some love, girl.
Thank you so much.
You were a sweetheart.
We, as a team,
made some people smile.
I saw those smiles,
and I feel great.
[Shudders]
Okay.
[Blender whirs]
Were you happy
with the final product?
I thought it was
a little bit thick.
The shell was a lot thick.
You've got to be hitting
the ball, like, there.
D'oh!
Morgan drives me
completely insane,
and then I like him, then
I hate him, then I like him.
You don't need
to walk over there, do you?
Yes, Chef.
Morgan,
you're being a d*ck
if you're gonna say,
"yes, Chef."
I'm not being a d*ck.
Then don't say that to me.
She's very much
like a sister
whom you have
all this endearment for,
but you're really not friends.
Stupid [Bleep].
She can irritate me to no end.
Did you take 'em all,
or are there any left?
I don't know.
But at the same time,
I'm proud of her
for succeeding, you know?
Chefs, today we had our
first ever dessert shop wars.
There were some amazing highs,
but there were also some lows.
Black team, your concept,
whisk me away,
were you all happy
with how the experience felt?
We wanted just comfort food.
We didn't want
complicated food.
And I think everything
came together nicely.
The effort that you
put into making it a place
that somebody would want
to spend time in
was very noticeable.
Danielle, you took on
the responsibilities
of service in the front
of the house.
Yes.
You seemed a bit
"lacksadaisial" to me,
a little bit too casual.
Okay.
I'm sorry you felt that way.
I think I was just--
feeling of our place
as being more of a casual...
Just because
the food is casual
doesn't mean
the service should be.
There's a big difference.
Now let's talk
about the desserts.
Why don't we get into that?
Eric, you had a banana
sour cream loaf.
Eric, I think
when it came to banana cake,
first the appearance,
right?
When it was on the table,
it was literally pale
and then it was not sweet.
And then when you
broke it open,
there were
some tunnels in there
that sort of spoke to me
like there was some inaccuracy
with the leavening.
And you're right.
I just couldn't
remember the recipe
and it was k*lling me.
Morgan,
your chocolate mousse bar
with creme brulee,
have you made it before?
Never like that.
It truly was, I think,
a dessert to be proud of.
I mean, it looked like
a dessert that you would find
on any glossy-paged
french cook book.
Thank you.
Danielle,
now let's talk about
the coffee cream pie.
You're probably gonna say
the coffee wasn't strong enough.
That's exactly
what we're gonna say.
No, I think that there's those
flavors in life,
whether they're coffee,
chocolate, or lemon,
that when
you say those flavors,
they have to be assertive,
or don't do 'em.
Red team, how do you think
pastry playland
took shape today?
I think, you know,
we took risks,
and we put together
a really complex menu.
We really created
a dessert experience
that wasn't, like,
a grab and go bakery.
I was really happy
with our product
and where we got to
in the end.
Yigit, did you like
your experience
at the front
of the house tonight?
The first hour
was so physically
and emotionally and
psychologically challenging,
but I had a ball.
Zac, what about
your specific desserts?
Well, I do love
the deep fryer
and I do love
jelly-filled doughnuts.
I think, Zac, when it came
to the doughnut,
really, it honestly remind me
of my childhood.
Perfect consistency,
the flavor.
That was perfect.
Then when you go
into the milkshake,
the milkshake didn't stand up
to the beignet.
It was a total
different caliber, right?
[Sighs]
The brioche was perfect.
Really was.
It was really
a delicious brioche.
Thank you.
Wow.
Heather, let's start
with your frozen key lime bar.
I don't know if it came out
exactly the way I wanted it to,
but overall
I was happy with it.
When you were plating it,
since it was actually frozen,
when it reached our table,
you could literally
see the fingerprints.
In what form
was your key lime?
Juice.
For me,
it was a bit weak.
I was waiting
for that, like,
beautiful key lime flavor
to come through
against that chocolate
and it really just didn't.
Yigit, let's talk about
your dark chocolate
peanut tart.
Were you happy
with the final product?
I was, but I thought it was
a little bit thick.
That shell wasn't
a little bit thick.
The shell was a lot thick.
We were trying to eat it
and I literally
almost broke the plate,
but it was a shame, because
the ganache was sensational.
You both had sable.
Was it the same dough?
It was.
I want to defend Yigit,
because I was the one
that made it,
and I rolled it out,
because of course we were
sharing responsibilities.
So perhaps you're to blame
a little bit.
One comment that we all noticed
about your shop
in terms of decor
and experience
was that your vitrine,
your showcase,
was almost empty.
We got slammed.
Like, right before
you guys showed up,
the doors opened,
and it was, like,
everyone came running
through the doors,
and it, you know,
it looked great
right before you showed up.
Who is responsible?
We all take ownership.
We were a team,
and this is our pastry shop.
Yeah, the display case
was unfortunate,
but in terms of the team,
we will all rejoice
in $30,000,
and we'll all sink
as a team.
Unfortunately,
the team that loses,
one person goes home.
Well, Chefs, it's really,
really close.
Nancy, as our guest judge,
please announce
the winning team.
We all agreed
that if these two shops
were across the street
from each other,
the one shop that we would
keep returning to would be...
Whisk me away.
Oh, my God.
Oh, come on!
Congratulations.
To hear our team name
was just like,
"aah!" You know?
"$10,000!"
Oh, my God.
You stop it.
Come here.
It was an amazing moment.
We're the underdogs,
but we pull out
something amazing.
Oh, my God.
Congratulations,
whisk me away.
You've won $30,000
furnished by Dawn Hand Renewal.
I can't believe
that the other team won,
especially with Danielle,
because I really question
her cooking ability.
You did an excellent
job tonight.
You can return
to the stew room.
Thank you.
Red team, as you know,
one of you will go home
tonight.
We're going to discuss it
and we'll call you back
when we've made a decision.
Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
Whisk me away.
That's us.
That name kicked ass.
I'm sorry, but I love that name.
No, it was.
It was perfect.
Team go diva is done.
It's over. It's gone.
It's a cut.
That's a wrap.
Whoo-hoo.
We certainly learned a lot
listening to our Chefs.
Now we need to decide
who goes home.
Unfortunately, Zac's
lemon verbena milkshake was...
A little bland.
Flaw was that it existed.
He didn't need it.
It didn't bother me as much as
his cashew-bacon caramel corn.
It was inconsistently mixed.
The fat was too heavy
on some pieces
and non-existent on others.
He could have done
a better job in making it.
And then there was Heather, who
made the frozen key lime bar.
And I think the key lime bar,
the frozen bar,
I really didn't
care much of it.
As we tasted it,
suddenly it was something
not very pleasant sticking
to your palate.
And then there was
her lemon tart,
which I thought was beautiful,
but used the same
sable dough that Yigit used
and both times
were totally undercooked.
Classic mistake.
She didn't taste her food
before she sent it out.
What about what Yigit
presented for us?
His fraisier
really fell short.
That was the lackluster
of his repertoire.
And then his tart, the pastry
dough was a big problem,
even though the inside
was great.
All right, well, I think
we've made our decision.
Let's call them out here.
[Suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
This all comes down
to the details.
You guys fell short
on the atmosphere and the food.
Zac, you shared
front of the house duties,
and as a result, the blame
for an empty display case.
Plus your desserts
were inconsistent at best.
Heather, we had issues
with each one of your desserts.
Serious issues.
At this level,
those tart shells
were just unacceptable.
Yigit, while you
were good in service,
you should have made sure
your display case was full.
And your fraisier didn't meet
our expectations.
Heather, your desserts
just didn't measure up.
Please pack your tools
and go.
No.
I think there were issues
with everybody's dish.
I don't know why I was asked to
leave between the three of us.
I'm sure there were other people
that should have left,
but, you know, I mean,
shoulda, woulda, coulda.
I can leave
with my head held high.
It's okay.
I'm proud of my food.
Everything I did
had my signature
and I was proud
of what I put out.
Guys, I'm going.
No!
Yeah. Do awesome.
Thanks, Heather.
I love you. I love you.
The only regret is that I don't
get to hang out with my buds.
I love you.
I'm so honored to have been
a part of their experience
and their lives,
for sure.
You're gonna do awesome.
You're gonna be okay.
Oh, come here.
[Crying]
Bye, guys.
Good luck.
Keep it up.
Keep up the spirits.
Being in this competition
has definitely given me
a different perspective.
It's been a great experience
and I wouldn't change anything
for the world.
Next time on
Top Chef: Just Desserts.
There's definitely
certain ingredients
that I've become
very addicted to.
Really?
You're joking.
Oh, that's really uncool.
Now I don't know
what to do.
What happened back there?
Your lack of creativity
was disappointing.
It actually reminded me
of the frozen petit fours
that cruise ships buy
and take out of a box.
For more about the recipes
you've seen tonight,
go to bravotv.Com.
01x07 - Restaurant Wars
Watch/Buy Amazon Merchandise
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.
Show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges.