02x06 - Alex vs Desserts

[bunniefuu]

Some competitors
prove themselves
in a sports arena,

others in a boardroom,

this is where I proved myself.

What's up with that, America?

There isn't a chef
more competitive than I am.

- She's like the shark...
- I know she is.

...she's like circling prey,
right?

Chefs from across the country
all want a shot
at Alex Guarnaschelli...

I'm about to take down
an Iron Chef.

Wow.

So each week,
three of America's best chefs

will battle Alex
at the same time.

These chefs
have been hand-selected

for their mastery
in a specific type of food,

and they're all here
for one goal.

To beat Alex.

- You are going down.
- I'm coming for you, Alex.

My name's up there
for a reason.

Pretending this is your head.

Oh.

I know they all want
a shot at me.

Bring... it... on.

This is the ultimate
culinary battle.

This is Alex Vs. America.

We all know Alex
is a wizard in the kitchen.

Her culinary bandwidth
is so great

that it's hard to come up
with cuisines that
she hasn't conquered already.

But I think we may have found
an Achilles' heel.

Dessert.

We have three
of the most talented
dessert chefs

here to take on Alex
in a Dessert Showdown.

I've taken down Bobby Flay.

So, Alex, you are next.

It's a new day.
I have no idea
what's coming.

That's unnerving.

You three have been chosen
for your mastery of desserts.

And tonight you'll see
if your superior talents
with sweets

will help you take down
a world-class competitor.

Please welcome
the legend herself,
Chef Alex Guarnaschelli.

Hello, chefs.

Hello, chef.

Chef Alex,
We have chefs from Texas,

California and Walla Walla,
Washington State.

They look pretty happy
and well-adjusted.

This must be pastry chefs.

Correct? You got it, chef.

Oh, no.

Alex, are you ready
for a dessert dust-up?

People that don't understand
pastry is its own art.

- It's its own craft.
- Yeah.

It's a lifelong thing.

So mad respect
for pastry chefs.

Well, chef, we always bring
the best of the best
to try to take you down.

Alex,
meet chef Lasheeda Perry.

Hi, chef.
How are you?

Panicking.

She's the owner
of a dessert company
in Long Beach, California.

She was a finalist
on Best Baker in America,

and she beat Bobby Flay
with her lemon meringue pie.

Okay, that's amazing.

Bobby Flay's one
of the best cooks on earth.

Alex, meet
chef Michele Pompei.

He was a baking
and pastry instructor
at Le Cordon Bleu in Seattle,

Miami and Orlando.

It's a really hard thing
to do.

Chef was also a pastry artist
and chocolatier
for the Ritz-Carlton.

And get this,
he was the lead pastry chef

for Team USA in
the Gelato World Cup in Italy.

That's impressive.

And last
but certainly not least,

this is Chef Leen Nunn.

She's an executive pastry chef
at a luxury hotel in Texas.

She's won the Lewisburg
Chocolate Festival
not once, but twice.

And she's won Chopped Sweets.

Whoo-hoo!

So no pie,

no ice cream,

no chocolate.

Perfect.

Chefs, first up,

the Survival Round.

All four of you will prepare
an original dessert.

Our expert judges
will then rank your dessert
in a blind tasting.

The top three chefs
of this round will move on,

but the bottom ranked chef
will be eliminated.

Chefs, if you can survive
the first round

and outrank Alex
in the second round,

- there's 15 grand up
for grabs.
- Ooh!

So I'm going to let
the three of you

pick all the details
for the dessert
you're about to prepare.

Oh!
- First thing,
you'll be choosing

which flavor will be the star
of your dessert.

You have your choices
between vanilla,

chocolate and strawberry.

There is more options
on chocolate.

It's chocolate
or vanilla for me.

That makes sense.

I want strawberries
because we can just do
so much with strawberries.

They're deeply delicious.

Chocolate gives you
more range of possibilities

and you can add
other fruits to it.

- All right. Chocolate it is.
- Chocolate it is.

Yeah, chocolate's the choice.

Okay.
That's good for them.

Definitely not great for me.

All right, let's move on
to the second choice.

Let's raise the bar a little.

- Oh, boy.
- Oh.

- You're making me nervous.
- Ta-da-da!

Which bar snack
will you be using?

Your choices are pretzels,
peanuts and tortilla chips.

So we want to do something
that's going to be

- little hard for her.
- She's gonna be good
with chips.

- Yeah.
- If they pick
what tastes best

to make
the best tasting dessert,
they'll pick peanuts.

If they want to trip me up,

they'll pick
the tortilla chips
or the pretzels.

Pretzels have that crunch.

- Yeah, true.
- And the salt factor...

I think she's gonna have
a hard time

making a pretzel dessert.

Sounds good, guys.

You're also competing
against one another.

You've been fixated on me,
you forgot about each other.

Pick what you like
and what you want
to work with.

- Peanuts.
- Peanuts.

You must incorporate peanuts.

Really smart gamesmanship
by Chef Alex.

Chefs, this is
a very important decision.

Mm.

Is it a dessert
that you'll eat with...

- Ooh!
- Oh!

...a fork, a spoon
or no utensils?

I feel like you need a spoon.

I want to go with no utensils.

This is a chance
we could beat down
with Chef Alex.

But we already know
we're going to beat her
with the chocolate.

But she's Iron Chef.

I think we need to go
with the spoon.

I'm going to lean in
towards the spoon as well.

Okay, spoon it is.

All right.
Leen might have been right.

We'll see.

All right, chefs,
you have anywhere between
one or up to 60 minutes.

I want more than 30.

- Yeah.
- Okay.

Why would we choose 45?

- It's just good.
- Then we're giving her
too much time.

Well, but it's the same time
for us, too.

Things can go wrong.

You don't have time
to recover.

Forty-five.

You want 45?

So 45 minutes
on the clock, chefs.

Here we go.

Your sweet dessert starts now.

Chocolate desserts.

Peanuts, they kind of speak
for themselves.

Salted, roasted,

the ultimate kind of like
one-two punch dessert
with a spoon.

Pretty straightforward.
45 minutes on the clock.

So I'm a savory chef,
but I'm also a competitor.

Knowing what these chefs know

and if I was Alex,
I would stick to classics.

You can incorporate
the peanuts in a crumble.

You can create
some sort of, like, ice cream.

Can she do it?
It's tough, but if anyone can,
it'll be her.

I am not a pastry chef,

and that's one of
the many reasons
why the title of this show

feels very correct.

And tonight I might rewrite it
to Alex versus ingredients

and chefs that are way
better than her at stuff
she doesn't do very often.

So set your DVR
for that show.

That's going to be
another show
I'm going to be doing.

I want to do
something whimsical,

so I'm going to make a bowl
out of tuile batter.

It's just
a crunchy thin cookie

with chocolate ice cream
and some candied peanuts.

I start by mixing
that tuile batter together.

I add flour and melted butter

with orange juice
and lemon zest

'cause I like a little bit
of citrus with the chocolate.

What's fun when it comes out
of the oven,

it's kind of bendable
and then it cools

and it won't move anymore.

But I've never made
anything like this.

I just hope it's good.

Mousse time!

This is nice,
softly whipped cream.

I am making
my 61% chocolate mousse.

That's right.
Bring in the flavor.

I am making
a 61% chocolate mousseline

with a milk chocolate ganache

and a salted peanut streusel.

- Chef Michele.
- Hello.

Tell me about your dish
and what do you have in mind?

I'm going to make
a milk chocolate
honey cremeux,

chocolate truffle
with tapioca maltodextrin.

And I'm going to do
some, uh, peanut butter
microwave sponge cake.

Beautiful.

For my peanut butter
and microwave, sponge cake,

ingredients that
I need for that is egg whites,

sugar, flour, egg yolks
and peanut butter.

Looking good.

I really enjoy this technique
that Chef Michele
is pouring right now.

So there is a cool technique
with a siphon, an iSi g*n.

So you might've seen it
in your local coffee shop.

It's a really cool kind of way
to get pressurized gases

and air into your
batter in this case.

And then you microwave it
really for about
30 to 40 seconds.

And what comes out
is really soft, nice,
moist cake.

I'm very happy
with this sponge cake.

I really feel like
the use of the siphon
is a great time-saver.

- That's so smart.
- Thank you.

Leen.
Yes.

So tell me what the judges
are eating.

I am going to make
a warm chocolate lava cake

with a nice ganache
in the center,

the creme fraiche ice cream.

And I'm going to make
some caramel peanut crunch.

Love it.

Chefs, we have 31 minutes
on the clock.

So now I want to make
some chocolate ice cream

'cause I feel like
I got a straight up
do somethin'

that's just pure chocolate.

So I mix cocoa powder
and cream and milk together,

and then I mix egg yolks
and sugar together.

Okay.

My strategy here is hope that
I'm not the lowest
hanging fruit.

Like not make
the worst dessert

and get to the next round.

I'm going to go
with like a mousseline

because that requires a spoon.

So I put my chocolate
onto the double boiler,

but I also need
a double boiler
to pasteurize my eggs

with a little bit of sugar.

I'm adding my 61% chocolate

to my whipped egg
and sugar mixture.

Now I'm going to add
my softly whipped cream.

Oh, this is going to be
one silky mousse.

I can see it. Look at that.

I wanted to bring in
another chocolate component.

So I'm making
a milk chocolate ganache.

That's only two ingredients,
which is cream
and then chocolate.

Oh, I love chocolate.

I'm going to use
a cognac base orange liqueur

to give my milk
chocolate ganache
a little oomph.

Chef Alex, she probably bakes
with chocolate,

but for a competition
like this,

you need to do more.

That's the upper hand
that pastry chefs have.

That's why the chocolate
is going to be great for us.

Boom! Dun-dun-dun!

Now the butter
is all melted,

I am adding my chocolate.

For my chocolate lava cake,

the end goal is to have
a nice, warm,
chocolaty fudgy cake.

Everybody likes chocolate
and a nice warm cake.

Who doesn't like
a warm cake?

I'm going to add
a little crunch
by using some potato chips,

chocolate and chopped peanuts.

It will help develop
a nice little bit of texture

and taste as well.

Really nervous,
what Chef Alex
is going to make.

Chefs, we're closing in
on 25 minutes.

It's so clear right now
that everyone here

is the best at what they do.

I've seen
some crazy competitions
before in my life.

This right here, insane.

We're more than halfway
through now, chefs,
20 minutes.

Ah!

It's tight.

Come on, baby.

Our judges tonight
are in for a treat, literally.

Let's go talk to them.

We want the food
to always speak for itself.

So that's why we always do
a blind tasting.

The judges have no idea
what the challenge is
or who the chefs are.

We've got two dessert
heavy hitters.

Sherry Yard is a three time
James Beard Award winning
pastry chef

and cookbook author.

Our other judge,
Dahlia Narvaez,

is a James Beard Award winner
for Outstanding Pastry Chef
of the Year.

Dessert, dessert, dessert.

Any pieces of advise
that I can offer the chefs
from you guys...

Oh man, stay focused.

- Try not to do
too many things.
- Hmm.

Do what you do and do it well.

I like it.

I'm sure this will be
an exceptional challenge
for Alex.

Okay.

Come on.

So the tuile batter
kind of is very fragile,

but I'm finding that balance
between taking them
right out of the oven,

getting them cool enough
on the counter
where I can pick 'em up

and mold them
around the bowl.

You know, if I don't have
these tuiles then I'll just
have ice cream.

So I need this.

And I wanna really
let the judges know that,

well, if you're going
to be eating with a spoon,

it's only going to be
out of a bowl
and mine is edible.

- Cool.
- That's gorgeous.
Look at that.

Highly skilled, all right.

Stand back.

So the other required
ingredient is peanuts.

I can't think of much
that is as delicious
as just candied peanuts.

I literally just put sugar
in a pan,

and I heat it
until it melts down

and turns amber
caramelized.

And then I stir peanuts
into it.

Peanuts, peanuts, peanuts.

I love peanuts.

I am working
on my peanut streusel now.

This one
is very straightforward.

I'm going to take the peanuts
from the food processor
and then in a stand mixer,

I'm gonna combine the nuts
with some flour,

as well as some brown sugar
and some softened butter.

Spread it onto a silpat,

get that bad boy in the oven.

Okay.

My secret weapon
is tempering chocolate

here and there I want to do
some garnishes.

I selected the chocolate

because I love that you can go
so many ways with it.

You can do milk,
you could do white,

you could do dark.

Okay. Let's say that
sets up in time.

Eleven minutes, chefs.

How's it going, chefs?

It's going.

So for the chocolate cremeux,

I start pre-melting
the chocolate.

Cremeux is more like
a ganache kind of style.

A cremeux in French
means creamy.

It's, uh, heavy cream
and honey.

I want this cremeux
to be silky smooth rich.

So when people eat it,
just gonna cool the palate

and give you
that chocolate sensation.

Okay. I'm pleased
with the result.

I'm going to do
peanut butter powder.

I want to make sure
that it's at different layers
of chocolate flavors

and textures.

So I'm making a bittersweet
chocolate truffle

using tapioca maltodextrin,

and it will give you
the ability
to form the chocolate.

But as soon as you put it
in the mouth,

it will melt and it will turn
into a melting chocolate.

I'm going to make sure
that I'm put the judges
in a chocolate coma.

They resemble
like chocolate rocks.

Oh, wow!

Oh, we came to play.

6:15 left, chefs. 6:15.

I'm gonna try to make
my creme fraiche ice cream

and also work on
my peanut element as well.

Typically what pairs
really well
with chocolate lava cake

is vanilla ice cream.

So I thought of making
a creme fraiche ice cream,

a little bit of sugar cream
with creme fraiche.

I saw Chef Alex
using the ice cream machine.

I knew that
I really didn't have time.

So then I thought
liquid nitrogen
to help make ice cream.

The important part
of the dessert for me
is textures.

You want the creamy,
you want the crunch,

and you want to have
fun with the dessert.

I'm going to make
a little crunchiness
with peanuts.

I thought of adding
some peanuts

toss around the caramel

will have
a nice little bit texture

and nice
little bit presentation.

I know Chef Alex is a fighter

and she's very talented,

but Chef Alex
is not a pastry chef.

So today is the day
that I'm going to beat
Chef Alex.

3:30, chefs. 3:30.
You wanna be plating now.

I dust my tuiles
with a little cocoa powder

just to chocolatize them
a little bit more.

I sprinkle some peanuts
and peanut dust on the bottom,

and then I just do
little canals of chocolate
ice cream inside each.

And I sprinkle the cocoa nibs
bloomed in butter,

the candy peanuts
and some of the peanut powder.

I mean,
enough with this chocolate.

I'm ready.
Bring on the pork chops
and the steaks.

I'm grabbing
some large vessels here.

The vessel
that I'm going to use
for my mousseline,

it's like a fish bowl
meets a champagne glass.

I start by adding
my whipped chocolate ganache

and then the peanut streusel,
'cause I wanna make sure

they get some
textural contrast.

Okay.

I pipe
more chocolate ganache,

add my orange supremes.

Lastly, I'm going to add
my garnishes
and some micro mint.

Obviously I've made
these components before,

but I've never made a dessert
that looks just like this.

Sixty seconds left, chefs.

Sixty seconds.

Take my bowl
of chocolate cremeux,

and top it
with my sponge cake pieces.

Next, I add
my chocolate truffles
to the bowl,

then my peanut butter powder,

and I add micro flowers
just to add a little bit
of visual element to it.

Looking good.

Thirty second time call.

Thirty seconds.

I had a little bit
of leftover caramel,

so I put that on,
added my crunch element,

take my molten cake
out of the tin

and I didn't want
the top to be bare.

So I've used my ring cutter
to cut the peanut
potato chip crunch

into a nice circle shape.

And I grabbed my ice cream
and that came to my plate.

All right, chefs.

Five, four,

three, two, one.

That's about it, chefs.
Well done.

Ooh!

- Good job.
- Good job, guys.

Good job.
- All right, chefs,
very important.

You guys are now tasked
to write down your menu
descriptions in full detail.

Write down exactly
what your dish is.

And I'm gonna have to kindly
ask you to leave the kitchen.

We'll bring the judges in,

they'll deliberate
one through four,

and they will call you
back in.

This is beautiful.

Lava cake.

Yeah, it looks perfect.

Cremeux in that peanut butter
microwave cake.

- That's super cool.
- Yeah.

That's beautiful.

And then
a chocolate mousse.

Wow! This is beautiful.

- Isn't it?
- I love it.

They have brought
their A-game.

So if I look nervous,
it's because I am.

Oh, boy.

Uh...

This is a tough one.
I think chef had an advantage.

It's her arena.

Right. She's competed
in this kitchen
how many times?

And I know
she's not a pastry chef,

but that's a huge advantage.

I just really hope
that we beat Chef Alex

and it's going to be
three of us
on the next round.

Hello, chefs.

Ooh!

Well, you guys are in
for a real treat.

I just want to remind you
what the chefs decided
to choose.

Their first option
was chocolate,

they decided to use peanuts,

dish has to be eaten
with the spoon

and they gave themselves
45 minutes to do so.

- Okay.
- So the first dish
that you have in front

of you is a warm
chocolate lava cake

with peanut
potato chip crunch,

with a creme fraiche
ice cream.

Enjoy.

I thought Leen's dish
was absolutely beautiful.

It has like
a 100 components.

It's stunning.

The plate up
is a very elegant.

- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah, it's pretty.

- You need a spoon.
- You need a spoon
for this dish.

- Yeah. I think they did
a good job with their time.
- Sure.

You had the cake,
you had the caramel sauce,

as well as
the frozen component.

There is a lot of textures.
It's very nice.

I do love the crunchy bits
on top.

- Oh, okay.
- Yeah.

- The potato chip.
- Sure.

Where it's lacking
is the molten.

The cake is more brownie like
than it is, uh, oozing
or molten chocolate cake.

- Didn't get molten...
- Got it.

...or peanuts.
Maybe a little more salt.

You know, sometimes
that really brings out
the flavors of chocolate...

- Totally.
- ...and peanuts together.

Okay. Let's go ahead
and move on
to the next dish, please.

Ooh!

I love
the first reaction.

Presentation is gorgeous.
Yes.

Definitely.

So, chefs, you have
the 61% chocolate mousseline

with a milk chocolate
whip ganache,
salted peanut streusel,

citron notes
and contains orange liqueur.

- Enjoy.
- Hmm.

So much effort
into the garnishes.

It's really nice.

It's like a party in a globe.

I thought the presentation
and everything Lasheeda
made looked stunning.

The use of the chocolate
is spot on.
- Sure.

The texture of the mousse
is creamy, light.

Yeah.

I appreciate the use
of the different types
of chocolate.

There's cocoa powder,
there's white chocolate.

This drizzle
on top works in balance
with the mousse...

- Sure.
- ...on the bottom.

And yeah, I don't want
to just do this.

You have to,
like dig in across.

- So speaking of that spoon...
- Scoop it up.

It's... it's working.
It's... it's doing
what it needs to do.

- You need a spoon.
- Okay, check on that.

I also like the addition
of the citrus.

I like the fresh component
of the tangerines.

I think we could say
a couple things here.

Perhaps a whisper of salt.
Just a whisper.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

The tangerine could
have been a little smaller,

so that I don't have to dig
and I can have one bite,

so it's not overwhelming me.

All right. Let's go ahead
and move on
to the next dish, please.

Salt, even in sweet,
a little bit, a whis--

It does exactly
what it does for food.

- Exactly.
- Ooh.

Oh, wow.

Oh, nice.

You guys are like kids
in a candy store.

It's so much joy coming off.
All right, judges.

Our third dish is as follows.

A crunchy bowl
of chocolate ice cream

with candied peanuts
and cocoa nibs.

Straight to the point.

I did not think I won,
but I really like what I made.

That's fun.
Just get in there, right?

- Playful.
- Yeah.

I have to say,
I think the bowl structure
was really nice.

The fact that...
that they made it,
that was really kind of cool.

Fair enough. Yeah.

And the chocolate ice cream
does not disappoint.

- Mm-hmm.
- Beautiful, creamy texture.

Yeah. It tastes good.

It's very well ex*cuted,

but I still would like
more peanuts.

Yeah, I feel that
the chef used the peanuts
more as a garnish.

Okay.

I just feel like you could
incorporate peanuts
in so many ways.

It just seems like
they made a brittle

and they just pulverized it
on top.

More peanuts
then it sounds like...

- More peanuts.
- More peanuts and salt.

Okay. All right.

You have one more dish,
but is there a one stand out
thus far?

- Hmm.
- Ooh!

I don't know.

All right, judges,
our final dish
for the first round.

A milk chocolate honey cremeux
with a tapioca maltodextrin
dark chocolate truffle,

peanut butter microwave
sponge cake.

Oh.
Peanut butter powder.

Oh.
- Peanut butter brittle
powder and micro flowers.

Okay, see,
they've incorporated peanuts.

Michele's dish
is very chocolate forward.

It's like a chocolate soup
with a white chocolate
microwave cake

and fennel fronds.

So... chocolate
on chocolate.

- It's very modern.
- Sure.

Very modern.
- Mildly
Fred Flintstoney

at the same time,
it's modern
and Fred Flintstone...

- I can see that.
- ...if that's possible
at the same time.

- It's really decadent.
- Mm-hmm.

I think for me when I have
like a chocolate dessert,

like I really want it to be
very chocolaty.
- Okay.

Like, I want it to be like,
knock-your-socks-off
chocolate.

It's really nice.

- Chocolate is good?
- Chocolate is good.

Peanut is...

It is the most peanuty
of all the desserts
we've had yet.

- 100%.
- That is good to know.

- Okay. That's really good.
- 100%.

And it seems like
it's a successful spoon dish.

Oh, yeah. Without a question.

It's a cremeux.

To me this is more
like a filling
you'd put into a candy.

- Yeah.
- Ah!

Like, I'd put it in a bonbon

- where you have
one glorious bite.
- Okay.

So this would be
put all these things together
on one little spoon.

Mm-hmm.
- And then
all I would need is...

A little this
a little that.
- One little bite.

Yep.
- And I'll leave off
the flower.

- Yeah.
- And now that's it.

And I'm done for my meal
because it's that rich.

- It's that rich.
- Yes.

And it is a very big portion.

Got it. Okay,
let's clear the plates.

This part I don't envy.

In this competition
it's not about
winning initially.

It's really about making it
to the next round

by not having
the worst dish.

Let's go ahead
and bring the chefs back in.

Well, chefs, welcome back.

This unfortunately
is my least favorite part
of the night.

I do have to send one of you
chefs home.

And the chef
that is going home
in round one is...

Chef Leen, I'm so sorry.

It was coming down
to just the molten cake.

They felt like
it wasn't molten enough.

They wanted
a little bit more peanut
out of the dish.

Obviously really
strong flavors.

So thank you so much
for taking your time

and coming out here
and cooking for us, chef.

Thank you.
Thank you, chefs.

It's only one plate
of food in your life, really.

It was an honor to be here.

It was an honor to have you.

Congratulations
are in order, chefs.

You are officially moving on
to the Money Round.

But there is
a bigger congratulations
for one of you.

One of you had a top dish,

which means you will
also pick all the variables
for the Money Round.

The winner
of the Survival Round

and gets exclusive pick
for all the options
in the next round is...

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli,
well done.

The reaction of that ice cream
to die for.

The whimsicalness
of the bowl

they just had so much fun
cracking into it.

I think you should be proud.

It was a dish
that they really enjoyed.

- Thank you.
- Of course.

But moving on, the Money Round
really only has one rule,

to win money your dish
has to outbreak Alex's.

If Alex comes in first,
you two chefs will be
going home empty handed.

Let's see what happens?
Chef, you ready?

Let's get it going.
Money Round.

Alex, for the first time
tonight,

you are driving the car.

First you'll be deciding
the flavor in your dessert.

Are you using lemon,
coconut or cinnamon?

Thoughts?
Wait a minute.

Didn't you win
with a lemon meringue pie?

Oh!

You have a good memory.

She beat Bobby Flay
with her lemon meringue pie.

That might be
good enough reason
not to choose lemons.

You're dangerous
with a lemon.

I mean, I love coconut.
Like, I see coconut
and I get crazy.

- I like coconut, too.
- I like coconut.

Coconut.

All right, we know
that this dessert

is going to be
coconut flavored.

All right, let's hop
into the second detail.

You have to choose
what type of candy

you're gonna incorporate
into your dish.

- Candy?
- And how long?

Ooh.

Honey candy
in 40 minutes.

Gummy bears in 50 minutes

or black licorice
in 60 minutes.

Sixty min...
I hate black licorice.

I'm not a fan
of black licorice either.

You can't be telling me
you hate black licorice.

You do too, though.

I don't care about the candy.
I want time.

- This is an hour.
- Yes.

- And this is 50.
- Correct.

You pick.

Whatever she choose
I have a plan.

- Oh, it's on me now.
- Oh, it's on you.

Then I have to pick
those gummy bears.

I think in the kitchen,
we all work together
even when we're competing.

Gummy bear.

50 minutes
and coconut gummy bears.

All right, chefs.

What type of dessert
are you making?

Anniversary dessert
or kid's birthday party
dessert?

- I don't love anniversary.
- Okay.

But kid's birthday,
kid's birthday?

Kid's birthday.

What do you guys like?

I like anniversary,
you know?

Yeah, that's where
I was going.

Happy anniversary it is.

All right, there we go.

Chef, your time starts now.

Oh, Lord,
here we go!

- Good luck, chef.
- Good luck, chef.

- It's gonna be great.
- Yep.

This is the most random
bunch of ingredients
I think I've seen.

Coconut, the gummy bears,

50 minutes
and a anniversary dessert.

So it's really
a lot of fun things

or some peculiar things
we might see
from these chefs.

- Chef Alex.
- Yes.

A wacky list of things
that you have to do
for this dessert.

- Yes.
- What are you thinking?

I'm going to make
a coconut cake

with coconut frosting
and passion fruit sorbet.

Cool. What's this technique
that you're doing?

I am creaming butter
and sugar,

but the butter is too cold,
so I'm warming it.

So they cream better
because you...
don't have cream.

You don't have a good cake,
right?

Got it.

For my cake batter
I mix together cake flour
and baking powder,

and I slowly start adding in
a combination of milk,
vanilla, coconut extract, rum.

It's like an angel food cake,
but with more structure.

This is a cake I make at home
a lot for my daughter.

And then I eat
the whole thing.

And then I go back
and I start to make
the cream cheese frosting.

Nice stick of butter.

A stick of butter,
pound of cream cheese

I start whipping them together
and I splash in
a little bit of rum.

I'm just at every turn here
trying to cut the sweetness
of everything

with either vinegar or rum
or a little vanilla

something to break it up

and make it a little bit
more exciting to eat.

I got to get through
this round, man.

Come on, baby.

Now, you're gonna get
some coconut.

When I think
of anniversary dessert,

I wanted to go
with the whole shareable idea.

Chef Lasheeda,
tell me what you have
going on.

I am making
some cream puffs...

- Okay.
- ...with a nice crackling
topping.

I'm using some
beetroot powder

as a natural food coloring,

'cause it's happy anniversary.

- Right.
- So I want to play up
the pinks, the reds,

the lovey-dovey stuff.

All right. What are you doing
with the gummy bears?

I haven't gotten that far yet,

but I'm gonna do
some type of gel with it.
- All right.

Crackling topping
is a type of dough

that you can put
on top of a dessert.

Try to get this
as thin as I can.

And it's going to bake
with the pate a choux.

It gives it
a nice textural contrast.

I'm gonna roll with this.

Let's make some cream puffs.

I'm going to work
on my pate a choux,

which is the cream puffs
themselves.

Hot stuff.

Pate a choux is a staple
in the pastry shop.

It's the dough that you use
to make cream puffs, eclairs.

My cream puffs
are going to puff up,

have a nice firm exterior,

but then the inside is going
to be filled with a nice,
flavorful coconut cream.

We got this,
we got this.

Chef, what do you have
in mind?

Nothing come
more romantic for me
than passion fruit.

Okay.

So I'm going to do
a passion fruit panna cotta,

and I'm going to use
the gummy bear

to change it
into a pate de fruit.

- Okay.
- Like a mango pate de fruit.

So I'm going to be
a little bit Caribbean...

- Okay.
- ...with a coconut sorbet.

All right, chef.

So the first thing I need
to start is the base

for my panna cotta.

Panna cotta
is the gelatin ice cream.

As the gelatin cream
is reducing,

I'm going to start
with the passion fruit
and mango puree.

Passion fruit is very acidic
and mango is very sweet.

When you combine those two,
you have a perfect balance.

I add my cream.

I have only one shot
to beat Alex.

And this is
going to be the one.

Definitely start
to smell the flavors
of the coconuts

toasting right now
on different stations,

definitely smelling a lot more
tropical than round one.

It's cool to see Chef Alex
putting like a completely
different atmosphere.

The cake.

Some true creativity
is happening at the moment.

Chef's, we are closing in
on 25 minutes.

Oh, God.
No.

Feel the love.

Love is in the air, Chef.

Clearly it is. Look at that.

Next,
I'm going to work
on my gummy bear gel.

So I'm adding
some blood orange.

Ugh, this is going
to be messy.

Agar-agar is going to act
as a thickening agent.

So it's gonna give
my jam here some, uh,
viscosity, if you will.

Okay.

Oh, this is going to be
a tough one.

So my strategy
using the gummy bear

is to try to transform it
into something else

that is pleasant
to the palate.

I take my mango puree,

I add some
passion fruit puree,

some sugar,
and I add the agar-agar.

The gummy bear
I have to use it,

but I want to hide it.

So I know that
I have to transform it

into an elevated type
of candy.

You got to tip
your hat to that.

Almost kind of gummy bear,
the gummy bear.

It's a 2.0 version.

So really smart gamesmanship
by Chef Michele.

They are not my favorite,
but I like them.

They're good for,
like, anxiety eating,

which is like, now.

I need to attack
the gummy bears.

So I sort some red ones out
and I put them in a pan

with some water
to soften 'em up

so I can turn it into a sauce.

Simultaneously, I start
melting down some yellow
and orange gummy bears

for my passion fruit sorbet.

I add corn syrup and sugar

and a touch
of balsamic vinegar

because the cake
is really sweet

and I want that sorbet
to be tart.

Perfect.

I am making
my toasted coconut filling

for my cream puffs.

I'm going to use that
to infuse my cream whip,

because I want to make sure
I gave my cream puffs filling

some depth of coconut flavor,

and then something
in my head was like,
add some rum, Lasheeda.

I am the queen of flavor,
so I got to bring the flavor.

If I say it's rum in there,
then they better be
able to taste that rum.

I'm making
a mango foam.

I'm just going to take
some mango puree, sugar,

a little xanthan gum
and whip it
until it looks foamy.

I got this. I got this!

So I'm gonna do
a coconut sorbet.

I'm a little bit concerned
about time, but we'll see.

Then I add my liquid nitrogen
cold freeze.

Looking good.

I'm using liquid nitrogen
again it's just to cold freeze

the orange segment
to bring another texture
and flavor.

So what I do is
I break the little segment

so it looks like a risotto.

Two minutes
on the clock, chefs.

Get that food
on the plate.

I just cover the cake
with frosting
and some splashes of coconut.

I lift the cake
right onto the plate.

I add
a little toasted coconut,
a little raspberry heart.

I also add
the passion fruit sorbet.

I definitely have
some techniques in my dish,

but I'm not
a modernist chef,

but I'm confident
with my flavors.

Happy anniversary.

I'm excited that
I have some cream puffs.

Cream puffs,
they've cooled enough

so I got that filling
in there.

I put down
my three cream puffs.

Next, I'm doing dots
of coconut cream.

I'm adding some
of my gummy bear sauce
onto the coconut cream.

After that,
I put some of my mango foam
onto each plate.

Then I sprinkled over
some of my toasted coconut.

I am proud of this.

I get
my panna cotta bowl,

I add some pineapple bits
on top.

Next, I get my pate de fruit
and I place it on one side
of the panna cotta.

Then I add my liquid nitrogen
orange segment.

Next, I canal
my coconut sorbet
and put it on the bowl.

Five, four,

three, two, one.

That's about it, chefs.
Well done.

- Give me a hug.
- Good job.

Oh, that's beautiful.

Look, I've seen
some crazy competitions
before in my life.

The dessert, the mastery,
the skill it's all here.

The flavors, it's all there.

These chefs are the real deal.

All right, chefs,

once you are done
with your menu cards,

head on out.

I'll see you in a few.

I think that's
one of the hardest things
I've had to do.

Yeah, true.

I just want to look
at everybody's dishes.

Oh, it looks beautiful.
I love it.
- Really nice.

That's gorgeous.
I love the pate de fruit
with the gummies.

It's really creative.
I love the monochromatic look
as well.

I think
this is stunning.
Look at the hearts.

This is screams romance.
I love this.

All right.
- Chief,
I'll see you soon.

Yep. Both gorgeous.

That makes me
extremely nervous.

You are stepping
into a totally different type
of desert arena this round.

Oh.

How cool.

All right, judges.
So as a reminder,

here's what
the winning chef picked.

They decided to work
with coconut
as their key flavor.

They chose gummy bears,
which gave them 50 minutes.

They also decided
to make this dessert

appropriate
for an anniversary.

- Okay.
- All right.

So what do you have
in front of you, judges,

is a coconut cake
with cream cheese frosting,

passion fruit and yellow
gummy bear ice cream

with a raspberry
and gummy fruit sauce.

I like this.

Nice, bright colors,
very playful, really nice.

I'm really loving
the coconut cake.

Yeah.
- I got to say, like,
it's a very moist cake.

It's fluffy. It's all melt
in your mouth.

I think the frosting came out
really nice,

and I love the texture
of the toasted coconut on top,

but it is big enough
to share,
which is nice, I guess,

if you're celebrating
an anniversary.

Well, I think it's creative
that they melted
the gummy for the sauce.

It doesn't bring
anything other than sweet,
more sweet.

Yeah.

If you find that perfect bite,
a little bit of this,

a little bit of that,
it comes together nicely.

Sounds good. Let's go ahead
and move on
to the next dish, please.

Ooh!

Look at that.

Oh, very refined.
Very nice.

So what you have
in front of you

is a passion
and mango panna cotta.

Mango gummy bear
pate de fruit,

orange segment risotto,
coconut sorbetto
and a pineapple cube.

Michele took a candy,
UN-candied it

and then remade it
into his own candy.

If that's not game play,
I don't know what is.

There's a lot of
really nice components.

I think it's pretty balanced.

If it was for an anniversary,

it might be a nice dessert
to just kind of
finish the evening.

Overall, I love it.

Oh, really?

The passion fruit here
balances the bright acidity
with the sweetness.

- Yep.
- I find it
incredibly refreshing

and I want to keep going back
for more.

The coconut sorbetto
is lacking real coconut.

- The texture is gorgeous.
- Yeah.

- It's very one dimensional
coconut...
- Sure, yeah.

And this is
a coconut challenge.

I don't know
if the gummy bears
really add anything to this.

Maybe it's just like
some texture.

I'm not getting
that many.

I'm getting more pineapple.

The coconut
and the gummy bears
seem to be an afterthought.

That being said, delicious.

Look, I'm almost finished
with mine.

You really are,
you're not kidding.

It's really good.

Couldn't be
an anniversary dish,
because I'd be like,

"no, sweetie,
that's not yours, good luck."

- Oh!
- Oh, so sweet.

- Wow.
- Lovely.

Very precious.

All right, judges,
your final dish
is a coconut rum,

crackling cream puff,

mango foam, blood orange
gummy bear sauce.

And the chef
is asking you to taste

all the components together.

It's got a kick.

I like a good c*ck.

This is a 21-and-over dessert.

Yeah.
- It's the coconut rum cream
in the center.

- Love it.
- Yeah.

- Very sweet presentation.
- Yes.

Very playful.
Very nice for an anniversary.

I love all the components,
they had 50 minutes

to make
all these little things.

- Yep.
- That was nice.

They've definitely
utilized their time.

What about the flavor
of coconut and the,
the use of the gummy bears?

What you guys think
about that?

For me, this blood orange
did give some acidity to it.

So if I had to choose
one of the sauces,

I'd choose
the blood orange sauce
on this plate.

- Okay.
- Coconut is definitely there,

especially if they put
the toasted coconut with it

that actually adds more crunch
to the crackling
on the outside

of the choux paste
and boozy.

Oh.

Maybe just a...
Just a touch.

Just a touch. Okay.

All right, let's hop up front
and then we'll bring
the chefs in.

Oh, wow.
Oh, boy.

Sounds like a plan.

There we go.

It's showtime.

So judges,
we have Chef Michele
from Washington,

Chef Lasheeda
from California

and an up and coming
pastry Chef Alex Guarnaschelli
from New York City.

Up and bombing.

Hello.

So, chefs,
we have not one,

but two James Beard
award winning pastry chefs.

Both worked for some of
Southern California's
most legendary restaurants.

- Chefs, this is Sherry Yard.
- Hey everybody.

- And Dahlia Narvaez.
- Hello.

I have gained 10 pounds
because of the both of you.

So, Chef Lasheeda,

she made the cream puffs.

Chef Michele
made the panna cotta.

So that means that Chef Alex
made the coconut cake.

So, chefs, I'm sure
you're dying to know
what these two legends said.

They ranked your dishes
one through three.

And the chef
who finished third is...

I'm sorry, Chef Michele.

Chef, they didn't get
enough coconut,
that was the challenge.

- Thank you, chef.
It was so delicious.
- Yeah.

If it wasn't
a coconut challenge,

I think you might have
won this.

Thank you
very much.
- Thank you for coming.

- Thank you, chef.
- Nice meeting you.

Thank you.
Nice to meet you.

Chefs, do you know
what's at stake?

Chef Lasheeda, if you win,
you walk away with 10 grand

and you get to say that
you beat Alex Guarnaschelli.

But if Alex wins,
you're walking away
with nothing

but a great experience.

And the winner
of Alex Vs. Dessert is...

The Iron Chef herself.
Congratulations, Alex.

Well done.

Congratulations.

Let's go ahead
and bring it in.

Alex, well done.

I guess
my love of dessert

has really come out tonight.

Who would have thunk it

every once in a while,
a savory chef
gets to have her cake

and eat it, too?

- Thanks for coming by.
- Thank you so much.

It was wonderful.