Gordon: Previously on "MasterChef"...
Welcome, everybody, to sweet week.
It was a baking battle to the balcony...
One of the most difficult frostings on the planet.
...With only one home cook claiming immunity.
- What in the hell? - ( bleep )
One thing that you cannot afford to screw up tonight
- is a cheesecake. - Yes.
I have nothing good to say about this.
- Noah: That's awesome. - The buttercream is so luscious.
Congratulations, Dorian!
Oh!
I got immunity. Finally!
Renee, say good-bye, please.
Tonight, sweet week continues.
We go from big desserts to incredible tiny ones,
with a surprise guest judge, Candace Nelson.
- All right. - Whoo!
And an elimination challenge that's no sweet treat...
Tonight, we eliminate one more of you,
then we enter into the top ten.
- Come on, Subha! - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Noah: This is what disaster looks like.
...As one home cook says good-bye
to the MasterChef kitchen.
This is just maca-wrong.
I'm sorry. Your journey's come to an end.
( music playing )
- Let's go. - Oh, wow.
- Oh, my god. - Macarons.
Noah: It's season 10, baby.
Expect the unexpected.
But I can't get over
that there's a dadgum nine-foot structure
full of "macrones."
Wow! That is beautiful.
( laughs )
Subha: Holy "kamoley."
Bri: I'm scared.
Are we gonna have to make that?
All of you, welcome back to sweet week.
Now, check out that macaron tower.
- That's awesome. - Beautiful.
Dorian, it's your first time not cooking in an elimination challenge.
- How are you feeling right now? - I'm relieved,
and it feels a little strange at the same time.
I love to cook and I love to challenge myself,
but it's okay to take a breath,
and I'm so happy I'm taking a breath today.
Especially with a nightmare like that.
Continuing in sweet week, we propose a challenge
that has a whole different skill set than cakes.
Here you're talking about very technical macarons.
We're asking a lot.
Shari, do you feel good about that?
I do.
At home, I bake between three
to six batches of macarons a week.
- Joe: Oh. - My family loves macaron.
- I mean, it's... - Shari, look down the line of the ten people
who are standing facing elimination with you.
Tactics of intimidation are often very successful
in games of war, Shari. Good job.
Oh, jeez.
Tonight, we eliminate one more of you.
Then we enter into the top ten.
Please, all of you, put on your black aprons.
- Exactly. - Nick: You know, coming off that last challenge,
being in the bottom three, I have to prove myself.
I can't ride on my early success for too long,
because I know that at any point in time,
I could be asked to leave the kitchen and go home.
Tonight, we go from big desserts to incredible tiny ones...
the mighty macarons.
And here to provide a little more insight,
we have a very, very special guest.
One of the most prolific pastry chefs anywhere in America.
She is the mastermind
behind sprinkles cupcakes.
Candace Nelson?
All of you, please welcome Candace Nelson.
- All right! - Whoo-whoo!
- Welcome back. - Thank you.
Oh, wow. Holy crap, it's Candace Nelson.
Candace introduced me to cupcakes,
and that's what really sprang my whole journey
as a pastry cook nine years ago.
( bleep )
I can't believe she's gonna taste my macarons.
I'm both as terrified as I am excited.
It's an absolute honor having you back here.
- First of all, congratulations. - Thank you.
- 24 stores, a second new restaurant open... - That's right.
...And this gorgeous tower.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It looks amazing.
Thank you so much. Well, I hope it will prove inspiring to you
on your macaron making journey today.
A macaron is a seemingly simple cookie,
but can be surprisingly complex.
There's only a few ingredients that go into one,
but there are so many things that can go wrong.
Gordon: One tiny speckle of water in that mix,
one tiny speckle of egg yolk in those whites,
and it's flawed, right?
The technique must be flawless.
Now, I know you're all feeling a little nervous about this tower.
Relax. You do not have to make us an entire tower of macarons.
- Okay. - You will have 60 minutes to bake one dozen.
That's 12 macarons, and put them neatly
and beautifully into the boxes
that we have provided for you.
We wanna see at least two unique flavors
perfectly situated in your boxes.
It's our tenth season,
and it's time to get down to our top ten.
- Prove to us tonight that you deserve it. - Yes, chef.
Candace, would you like to do the honors, please?
Your time starts now.
- Traffic jam. - Whoa, you know what?
- This is amazing. - Oh, jesus.
- Where is... - All right, y'all.
Y'all got it. Come on, Subha.
Macaron is one of the toughest pastries
for even an experienced professional baker.
Where the heck is the measure things?
I've tasted them before because my wife and kids
are crazy after macarons, but if I didn't say
I was nervous, I would be lying.
Let's get to town.
Coming through.
I am going to be making most like a play on a carrot cake.
The other one is going to be... I'm thinking lemon blueberry.
Although I don't know too much about macarons,
my culinary goal is to create an afterschool cooking program
for the students in brooklyn.
So, the more techniques that I learn,
the more I can really show them.
I have not made macarons before,
but I'm gonna give it a good go.
Candace, we're so happy to have you tonight.
Obviously, macarons, super difficult,
super technical. What's your take?
Are we being too ambitious with our expectations for macarons?
I'd say two flavors of macarons in 60 minutes is really ambitious,
but if they've got their technique down,
they should be able to deliver exactly that.
- Micah, you got it? - Who got time for talking?
This is crazy.
Where's the sieve?
So, Candace, the importance of sifting...
I mean, this is crucial at this stage to set yourself up for success.
- Why? - Candace: It really is,
because what you're looking for in a macaron
is that smooth, glossy, eggshell-like texture on top.
And if you have any lumps
in that confectioner's sugar or that almond flour,
you're gonna see it in the final result.
This little shifting thing,
this is the most frustrating thing
I think I've ever done in my life.
I wanna throw this through the wall.
Shari's already admitted she's been making these things two or three times a week,
so we're expecting fireworks from her.
My kids love macarons.
It is my two-year-old's favorite food.
This dish is special to my family.
I'm really hoping that sweet week gets sweeter for me.
Guys, we're at 10 minutes gone.
15 minutes remaining.
I think I'm gonna do a vanilla latte with an extra shot.
So I'm gonna use some espresso powder,
and we're gonna throw in a little bit of a red and white peppermint,
- like a Christmas macaron. - Jamie, you in the zone.
Jamie: I've never made macarons. I've never been around 'em.
I've never eaten one, but I know this macaron has meringue.
When I was little, my grandma used to make little
meringue cookies for christmas.
I love christmas.
What can I say? I'm a christmas freak.
So, I wanna make a red christmas colored macaron
with peppermint filling.
- Dorian: Come on, Bri, you gotta get moving, sweetie. - Yeah.
So happy I'm not down there.
- Hi! Nervous. - Bri, how you feeling?
Give us an insight to the flavors. What are you doing?
I am doing a chocolate mint and then the chocolate orange.
- Sounds good. - Delicious.
Somebody's going home.
- Last night was a tough one for you. - It was so tough.
- You gonna bounce back? - If anything, the toughness of last night
just inspires me to not be there again.
- I'm glad to hear. - Bri: Macarons,
they are so involved and detailed,
which is kind of my strength.
I really wanna redeem myself with this challenge,
so I'm trying to stay positive in my head.
- Good luck. - Thank you.
- Is this stiff enough? - It's soft.
You want just a little bit more.
I'm gonna be doing a raspberry chocolate,
and then I'm gonna be doing an espresso cream.
I've never made these,
so I'm focused like a laser right now.
So, Bri looks in control.
Chocolate mint and chocolate orange.
I'm delighted to taste her work.
I'm looking forward to those flavors. And you know what?
The sky's the limit. Let's see some beautiful design on those shells,
- if they have time. - For me, it's important
that the color speaks to the flavor.
You eat with your eyes, so you wanna have a hint
as to what you're eating from the color.
- Exactly that. - Uh-huh.
Subha: 15 minutes into it, I start to panic.
I see others getting ahead of me.
- What is Subha doing? - Ah, colors, colors. Okay.
Rose. Uh, cherry.
In the pantry, I realized everybody took the colors that I wanted.
- Strawberry, lemon. - Subha!
I just have to make a decision
because time is the enemy right now.
- I'm getting worried. - Holiday green.
- Come on, Subha! - Strawberry and lemon, I can get rose color.
Subha: Colors, colors, okay.
Lemon and cherry will give me orange.
Come on, Subha!
- Subha! Vamonos! - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Vamonos. - Oh, my god.
Subha: I could not find the right colors,
but I need to improvise and catch up
because if I don't get it into the oven on time,
it'll be a disaster.
- Subha, you good now? - Yeah, I'm good now.
I'm trying to mix some colors to get the orange.
Subha, it looks like he's had a powdered sugar explosion.
Oh, my god.
- Young man, give us an insight to the flavor. - Hi, Subha.
- What are you doing? - I'm making orange one flavor
and the other one is the rose flavor, which is my ever popular rose flavor.
He's obsessed with rosewater. Explain.
I love my wife. 25 years we've being married,
and every single birthday, every single anniversary,
and every single valentine's day,
I have not missed giving her roses.
Aww! What a romantic guy.
- Maybe, but... - try to keep the powdered sugar in the bowl.
- Oh. Oh, sorry. - Oh, jeez. Come on, hurry up and sieve, man.
These things should be in the oven.
- Multitask. Let's go. - Thank you, thank you.
Oh, no.
Jamie: As soon as I put the dye into my buttercream,
turns out "burgundy red" means purple.
I gotta switch gears. I can't do the peppermint, because it didn't come out red.
So, I just switch gears and think for flavoring... raspberry.
The color's not exactly the way I want it,
but I think it's still gonna look good for this second one.
I'm moving as fast as I can move, though, so...
one thing I'm really worried about is anyone over-folding
during their macaronage stage,
because if there's one thing that you cannot save,
that is an overbeaten batter.
Like lava.
Sarah: This is my chance to redeem myself
after the last challenge,
so I'm making something a little different.
I'm doing blueberry almonds and raspberry rosewater,
and I hope the judges love it.
She's already piping. She's way ahead.
- Federico! - Hello, chef Aarón.
- How are you, sir? - Hello, Joe.
So talk to us out your macarons.
Fred: I'm gonna do a mixed berry cheesecake,
and my second one is gonna be a black and white sesame.
Knowing that I have to cook these macarons for Candace Nelson
and knowing that the judges have such high expectations
and standards for my baking,
it makes the pressure that much higher.
How are you with that pastry bag?
I would expect you to be a little bit more domineering
in your pastry bag technique.
- Are you just nervous? - A little bit, Joe.
If I don't deliver on these macarons,
it will be a giant embarrassment.
You got some good ones there. It's a good start.
- Thank you. - Good luck.
So, deep breaths, deep breaths.
Don't faint while you're baking.
So, Fred, he's doing cheesecake, black sesame...
no, stop it. That sounds terrible. Black sesame?
- Oh, my lord. Not tonight. - It sounds ambitious.
Let's see if he can get it done,
because the expectation is high for him.
Candace: I want a smooth shell. No lumps, no bumps.
And also, at a certain point in this kitchen,
it's gonna get loud. They are gonna start banging those pans
on the counter.
- That is the first pan I've seen being dropped. - There you go.
The purpose of that, it lets out any potential air bubbles.
What you're looking for in a macaron is that smooth,
- glossy, eggshell-like texture on top. - Absolutely.
- I mean, they should look like a box of jewels. - They should.
These look like crap.
Fred, I want one of those so bad.
- Those are really pretty. - Thank you, Dorian.
That means a lot coming from you.
Dang, them boys spread.
- Yee-oh! - Subha, just start piping.
You don't need the whole bowl.
Subha, you've got to pipe.
- Aarón: Pipe, Subha, pipe. - Yes, yes, yes.
- Let's go, mijo, come on. - I'm getting ready. I'm getting ready.
As I start to pipe, I realize I overbeat the eggs.
Oh, lord, have mercy.
Subha's macarons look chunky.
Subha: My macarons are out of shape.
Candace: They look like meringue kisses.
But there's nothing I can do. I gotta keep moving.
He has always this secret ability
through in his flavor to pull it out,
So maybe they can taste really amazing.
This challenge, it's an opportunity for me to try to redeem myself.
So today I'm making a passion fruit
with a purple exterior
and a yellowish interior like the fruit.
And then a really nice rosewater
with candied pistachios around the edge.
So, I hit on my favorite fruit,
and then also something from my persian background.
Well, Shari, you've actually talked macaron smack.
Did you like that?
I didn't know you were such an aggressive killer.
Let me tell you, my oven light has been burned out
for, like, two years and I refuse to change it
because I have not had a bad batch of macarons
since the oven light burned out.
Wow, you're superstitious, too?
- I use a flashlight. - Can you give Joe and I
some insight on what your flavors are?
So, I'm gonna have a saffron and cardamom,
and then t other one is gonna be a lavender ganache.
- Mmm. - Exotic flavors.
Don't be afraid to put some fairy dust on it.
Oh, I already got fairy dust on them, so we're good.
Right, Micah, how you feeling?
- Honestly? - Yes.
I'm not as happy as I wanna be with my macarons.
- Several of them spread. - Damn.
- But as long as I have 12 on, I don't care. - That's right?
- What are you doing? - Lavender and blackberry.
And then I'll be doing a lemon buttercream and a raspberry jam.
Wow, that's still... you still have all that to go?
- I'm making the lemon buttercream right now. - Okay, great.
- Good luck. Come on. You got this. - Thank you, chef.
- Good luck. - Let's go.
Gordon: Oh, boy. Guys, just over halfway.
Look, Bri hasn't even started piping yet.
I mean, they should be piped, resting, tapped,
- and forming that shell. - Bri, what's happening?
I'm just making sure that everything's the right consistency.
After you mix that and get it piped, you gotta move like lightning.
- Okay? Wow. - Yeah, definitely.
She's really running behind now. I'm a little worried.
Okay.
Bri: Looking around, everyone seems to be ahead of me
and the clock is just ticking away.
- Bri, you've got to start piping. - Yes.
I'm worried I'm not gonna finish on time.
- Oh, my god. - Lord god almighty.
30 minutes gone, 30 minutes remaining. Come on!
- Come on, Bri. - Almost there.
Bri, peel one at a time, just so you can get one sitting.
- Then come back and do the other ones. - Good idea.
All right.
Jesus, take the wheel.
Candace, in a perfect macaron,
- what is the cook time? - 325 for about 12 minutes.
They need to be careful of the bake.
They need to be careful of the temperature of the oven.
If your pink color becomes marred
- by the caramelization in the oven... - Yep.
- ...That's not a pretty color. - Yeah.
What kind of spices you got for your carrot cake filling, Wuta?
Cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Right, Wuta, how you feeling? - Hey!
I'm feeling pretty good. These are about to go in in literally a minute.
Just be careful. This liquid is looking a little bit too runny.
- That's too big, as you know. - Yeah, that one's too big.
- Just be careful. - You're gonna have to find a mate for each one
so that they're exactly the same size on both ends.
Right, a lot of work to do, yeah?
- We need perfection tonight. - Yes, chef.
- Good luck. - Thank you.
I've been in six elimination challenges
and I've gotten out of all of them.
I'm hoping that I can do it again
and make it into the top ten.
Gordon: 20 minutes to go.
Hello, sarah. You came out of the gate today
like a wild, rampant horse. Where do you stand now?
I'm making my swiss...
my swiss meringue buttercream right now
and my preserves.
So you're making your own preserves at this point?
- I am. - That's pretty ballsy because you gotta get the water out
and you don't have a lot of time.
The worst thing that can happen
is you put a macaron in the box
and a little bit of syrup drips out
from having too watery a filling and stains the box.
Macarons a very intimidating thing to do
because you have to be so precise.
Get yourself a wider pan,
a big wider pan, and throw it in to reduce quicker.
- Joe: It's gonna go faster. - Aarón: And it will go faster.
- Understood. Thank you so much. - Cool. Come on, sarah. You can do it.
- Joe: Good luck. - Thank you.
I just have to keep my head in the game.
I'm a big believer in, like, mind over matter.
It sounds ridiculous, but two weeks before a marathon,
I told my husband I was gonna run it without training,
and I ran the whole marathon.
Looking good.
15 minutes, everyone. 15 minutes.
Okay.
Guys, all your macarons should be out of the oven now.
Take them off the tray to cool them down quicker.
You gotta get these things cool.
You can't pipe a buttercream in there...
- No. - ...Butter frosting, any form of cream inside
unless they have cooled down.
- Nick, they look beautiful. - Thank you, Dorian.
Come on, Bri, you're almost there, sweetie.
- Thank you. - Jamie don't really fish for a living.
- I think he owned a bakery. Look at them right there. - They're not bad.
I was worried for awhile that we may not have anyone finish this challenge.
- Those look perfect. - But I see shells coming out of the oven.
I see buttercreams almost done.
There is a race on right now.
- I mean, the energy is incredible. - Yeah.
Those are all trash.
Micah: I looked in my oven, and for some reason
my pink macarons turned brown,
and my ( bleep ) started to caramelize.
Damn, damn, damn.
I gotta make sure that they look decent.
If I can make the box at least semi-presentable,
I have a chance.
I'm just praying to god it doesn't send me home,
because I'm not ready to go home.
I have so much more to prove.
But I can't think about defeat right now.
All I can think about is fixing what I got.
- Ten minutes to go. - All right.
I should be able to do it.
Oh, my god.
Subha's are still in the oven.
Candace: Oh, he's shaking his head. Not a good sign.
Subha is not gonna make this.
Gordon: Let's go!
The most important part, actually assembling your macarons.
5 minutes to go, yes? 12 stunning macarons.
Oh, no.
I'm trying to peel these delicate macaron shells off the tray,
and they're not coming off.
The bottoms are just not done.
They're basically breaking off
and leaving two-thirds of them behind.
No. Oh, lord.
Nick has just put his macarons back in the oven.
- Can you do that? - Why? I don't know.
The only option I have is to toss them in the oven again,
hopefully get them to kind of hold together better,
and cross my fingers that, you know, when I take them out
and pipe the filling in when it's hot,
it doesn't completely melt.
Candace: What happens if he doesn't finish?
What happens if he does not present us with the two?
Gordon: He's going home.
I'm starting to freak out. This isn't good.
- I could go home today. - Uh-oh.
Aarón: Everyone, just over four minutes.
Let's start to assemble them beautifully.
Nick: I hope tt I can take these out very,
very quickly fill all of them,
and put them in the box.
They've gotta come out of the oven now.
- Right this minute. - These ones look done.
- Yeah, they do. - Remember, you gotta get 12 of them in the box.
This is unbelieve...
this is what disaster looks like.
Let's go!
- Subha, come on, Subha! - Joe: Three minutes, guys.
Three minutes left! Let's go!
I don't think Subha's gonna make it.
Come on, guys. Come on, this is crunch time.
Look at the comeback kid right here, Bri.
Yes, thank you.
I don't wanna speak too soon, but I'm happy so far.
Joe: I see a lot of shaky hands out there.
A lot of nerves for sure, assembling the macaron.
( gasps ) no!
Joe: Get 'em in the box.
Oh, jeez. They're too big.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
- Aarón: Come on, Wuta! - Oh, my god. Why?
Just put them in the box, flavor or no flavor. 45 seconds!
Come on, guys. Come on, Wuta!
I don't know how the time got away from me, but I'm crumbling fast,
and I'm worried I don't have enough time to finish this.
Get 'em in the box! Oh, for the love...
I'm gonna need a bigger box.
We're coming down to the last ten seconds.
- Ten, nine, eight... - What if they don't all fit?
- Put it on top, Bri. Put it on top. - ...Seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.
- And stop. Hands in the air. - Aarón: Hands in the air.
Gordon: Well done. Oh, boy.
I did the best I could, so I got that going for me.
But, otherwise, I'm pretty upset.
Getting close to top ten, and you need to have everything.
They do pretty much look the way I wanted them to look.
I mean, they're all in there and I'm happy.
Wuta: I look to my left, and I look to my right,
and it seems that everybody's boxes are filled.
I couldn't get 12 in because a lot of them didn't set.
And I'm terrified right now.
I may be the only one in this competition
that didn't complete the task.
( bleep )
I missed one. I have 11 in the box.
It'll be okay, okay? It'll be okay.
Now, unfortunately, for one of you tonight,
you've cooked for the very last time inside this kitchen.
The first macarons we'd like to see
belong to Noah.
Let's go, please. Thank you.
I tried to do some interesting flavors,
and I think that the flavor is there,
but the texture is definitely gonna be off.
So what we have today,
we have a raspberry and chocolate macaron,
and then we have a coffee and french buttercream,
with a little coffee liqueur and minted chocolate.
Right, Noah, consistency-wise what happened?
It looks aesthetically unappeasing,
but I believe the flavors are gonna be there, hopefully.
- Shall we then? - Let's do it.
All right.
So, when you think of the aesthetics,
in paris, of a macaron,
they're like a beautiful diamond.
That's a raw diamond.
There's a beautiful diamond inside flavor-wise.
You just have to chip away with your teeth.
What I'm missing here is a body to this macaron.
It sort of crumbled in my hands and just gave way.
- I was looking for a little bit more bite. - More bite, yes, ma'am.
I do agree with you, mildly,
that the flavor there does help rescue it a little bit.
Let me put it in terms you might understand.
Big hat, no ranch.
Perfect. Nailed it. Got it. Thank you, Joe.
Yeah?
Noah, the macarons aren't good enough
to get up to the balcony just yet.
- Step down, please. - Thank you, chef.
Next up, Bri, please.
The last two challenges have been really, really tough,
and that took a toll on my confidence.
But looking at my macarons, I'm feeling super confent.
They all came out perfect.
Bri, describe the macarons, please.
I have a chocolate orange macaron,
which is an orange-infused mint chocolate ganache.
And then I have a chocolate mint macaron,
which is a mint-infused dark chocolate ganache.
So, visually, I mean...
...How do we end up like that?
I was honestly so nervous that my hands
were really shaky when I was putting them in there.
Candace, would you display them in one of your shops?
Unfortunately, I wouldn't.
These macarons are lacking the refinement
that I really look for in a macaron.
Gordon: Shall we?
Candace, how was that?
Well, I thought that there was a nice balance
between the chocolate and the mint,
but I did find your shells
to be a bit grainy and lumpy.
You can just see visually that there are bubbles in there.
Joe: I'm just really disappointed.
It's just not what we were looking for.
What a shame. Bri, unfortunately at this stage,
you're not heading up to the safety of the balcony.
Please, stand next to Noah. Thank you.
Bri: This is embarrassing.
Here I am trying to get out of the bottom,
but I'm in the bottom again.
Yours look better than mine.
I'm so disappointed with myself.
I really am.
The next box of macarons that we would like to taste
will be from Fred.
My only fear is being sent home by Candace Nelson.
I just want her to love my macarons.
I have a cinnamon-infused shell
with a whipped mascarpone
and a tangy lemon-berry coulis.
And then I have black sesame sprinkled on top,
and then I did a black sesame-infused italian meringue buttercream.
See that beautiful little crust? You have a beautiful word for it.
- The foot or the ruffle. - The ruffle.
- Joe: Ruffle. - Yeah, the ruffle right there is beautiful.
- Thank you. - It is enticing.
So that right there is a good start, young man.
Thank you so much, chef.
But these flavor combinations sound very risky.
All right, here we go.
My goodness me.
Aarón: All right, here we go.
Here's the thing, you pushed the boundaries out big-time.
I mean, the flavoring, uh...
...They taste exceptional.
Thank you, chef.
Fred, welcome to the competition, my friend.
- Thank you, chef. - The sesame is nutty, well-balanced.
You just were very considerate
about all the elements of these macarons, and it shows up.
I would love to sell a box of these macarons in one of my stores.
I mean, this is a professional box if I've ever seen one.
Thank you, Candace.
I think it goes without saying, head upstairs.
But first, I think you should take
that box up to Dorian and munch out there. Congratulations.
- Thank you so much. Thank you. - Proud of you, Fred.
- Great job, buddy. - Fred: Candace Nelson just told me
that she would display my macarons.
This is probably the best moment in the whole competition for me.
I can die happy.
Thank you.Hank you.
Micah, please come on down.
Go, Micah!
I am embarrassed. I am disappointed.
It's just unfortunate that this is what I'm serving.
Eight, nine, ten, eleven.
- You're one short. - Yes, chef.
Several of my trays ended up spreading.
- So I just had to salvage what I could. - What flavors did you make?
I made lavender and lemonade.
What's most concerning to me about your box,
besides the missing macaron, of course,
is the caramelization on your shells.
I think you were baking at too high of an oven temperature.
And so your beautiful purples, your beautiful pinks,
are now sort of an odd shade of orange.
- I understand. - Lavender could've been a little bit stronger.
- Not your best challenge. - Yeah.
Please stand next to Bri.
Good job, Micah. Keep your chin up.
Next up, Nick, thank you.
I don't wanna bring this up to the judges.
I'm nervous. You know, I got a taste of what it was like to be
in that bottom three group last time,
and it's not a fun feeling.
- Oh, dear. - ( sighs )
Gordon: Visually, I think I am as upset as you.
- Yeah. - Four minutes to go, you put them back in the oven.
One thing you never do is cook a macaron twice.
So what's happened here is you've actually got
the lids with no filling, as you can see.
Describe the flavors, please.
So the one on your right is rosewater
with candied pistachio, sticking with my persian roots.
And then the one you're holding is a passion fruit.
It's such a shame, because the shell on the outside, beautifully done.
Yeah.
It's certainly a shiny shell,
but there's absolutely no body inside.
Aarón: I have to share the sentiment.
I think this just not a good representation of you.
But here's the thing that's frustrating,
is that the actual passion fruit curd is beautiful.
But everything else is wrong.
Yeah.
I think we're all in agreeance.
Nick, please remain down here. Thank you.
- Thank you. - Yeah, not good.
Not good at all.
- Wuta, please come forward. - Come on, Wu!
( applause )
Wuta, what's wrong with this box?
A lot of the macarons, when I tried to peel them off, they didn't seem done,
so I put what could see were the best ones,
the ones that had the most filling.
I didn't want to box garbage.
Aarón: Well, let's see if the flavor can compensate.
What have you attempted to make us?
Lemon macaron with blueberry filling,
and an orange carrot cake macaron
with cream cheese filling.
Oh, Wuta.
So, obviously, there were some technical issues here.
The shell was shiny, but just broke away
in a very sort of brittle fashion.
The taste of sugar was right on the tip of my tongue.
I was hoping that your filling was going to really sing.
But this American style cream cheese frosting
reminiscent of a carrot cake was pretty shockingly sweet.
Sweet? It's almost sickly sweet, in a way that I cannot
take a second bite, which is the last thing
you need to feel eating a macaron,
I'm gonna to be honest with you.
- Yeah. - Please, step back.
Next up, please, sarah.
Make your way down, please. Thank you.
Describe the flavors, please, sarah.
I have raspberry rosewater
and blackberry and almond.
A slight sort of overindulgence in size.
They look really messy in the box. They barely fit.
But you got the color, the balance, the rainbow. They're glistening.
And, look, you know, we've got that little magical moat
of frosting around the outside with this beautiful liquid.
What is that, blackberry?
Blackberry and almond.
One word, delicious.
- Thank you. - Wow, these are good.
The sparkling sugar just adds a very fancy touch that I appreciate.
Gordon: Last night there was a near disaster.
Tonight, you've absolutely redeemed yourself.
Please, take yourself and those beautiful macarons
upstairs to the safety of the balcony.
Well done. Man!
- That was great. - They were good.
Yeah, very good. Very good indeed.
Sarah: I'm on cloud nine.
Not only am I safe... top ten.
- Mmm. - Thank you.
- Those are really good. - I love this.
Okay, the next macarons
we'd like to taste are from Shari.
Come up.
Ba-boom. Wow.
- ( whistles ) - Shari, what did you make for us?
I have saffron, pistachio, and cardamom.
And then I also have a dark chocolate lavender
- with fleur de sel. - Candace: It's perfection.
- The fillings just pop from that white canvas. - Thank you.
You know, you started this competition off like a bit of a dark horse.
Tonight, I think you're looking way beyond the top ten, young lady,
because that for me is one of the best macarons I've ever tasted
- in ten years of this competition. - Thank you so much.
- Noah: Great job, Shari. - Thank you.
Awesome job.
Shari, take those, and yourself,
- upstairs to the safety of the balcony. - Thank you so much.
Great job.
This is the best I've felt since I got my apron.
And next up, please, Subha.
Let's go, thank you.
Subha: I'm not proud of my work.
My macarons are out of shape.
They wouldn't even fit in the box,
but I'm hoping that the taste will prevail.
Oh, dear.
Oh, dear. So, they look like nuggets
as opposed to macarons. What happened?
I over-mixed the meringue, and it is a disaster.
Your box is supposed to be presentation.
It's like it's just been picked out of the trash.
- Can you describe the flavors, please? - Yes.
One is the orange flavor,
and the other one is a rosewater with a rose flavoring.
I have to say, even in its own way, as deformed as they are,
they have the crunchiness, they have the chewiness,
and at least in my case, the flavor, I think, is good.
Subha, you have a decent amount of chew to this macaron,
but I have to say, visually, this is just maca-wrong.
Yeah.
And you know someone is leaving tonight.
- I understand, chef. - Right now,
you may have one foot out the door.
It's obvious you're not going upstairs.
- Yes, chef. Thank you. - Thank you.
My macaron shape was a disaster.
I'm just hoping that somebody else had a worse day than me.
Please, Jamie, describe your macarons.
So, on the left side we have a vanilla latte
with an extra shot of espresso.
On the right side, I went with raspberry.
Visually, this is just beautiful.
- It's so satisfying to look at. - Thank you.
That's the kind of box I expect Bri to bring up, not you,
and it's just nice that you're hitting those marks.
- I'm happy for you. - Thank you, chef.
- And they're good. - Thank you.
I'm not exactly sure
how they're supposed to taste, to be honest.
I was... I was worried.
You gave us a crisp shell,
you gave us the chew, and you gave us the flavors
that you really delivered on.
Thank you so much.
It's executed beautifully.
- Thank you, guys. - Guys? Yeah?
Head upstairs with that delicious box.
- Catch of the day. - Catch of the day.
Reeling in the competition right here, baby.
I'm like, "what? Are you kidding me?"
I'm about to set up a macaron stand when I get home.
It means the world.
It's validation on a whole 'nother level.
Who would've thought such a humble macaron
would've brought you guys to your knees?
Joe: We need a moment to discuss.
Candace, tonight we're heading into
the top ten, as you know.
Crucial decision here. A lot is riding on this.
Gordon: If there's one person I singled out this evening
to absolutely nail something successfully, it was Bri.
Candace: I know you had high hopes for her,
and they definitely didn't fit in the box very well.
- Wuta. - How many macarons did he even serve us?
- Yeah, seven. - Seven.
- Subha's weren't exactly attractive, were they? - Nope.
- We're all in agreeance? - Yeah.
- Yeah, let's go. - Okay.
We're reaching the top ten.
But not one of you six were capable of executing
a full, beautiful box of macarons.
Bri.
Micah.
Nick.
Noah.
You did not present us with your best work tonight.
And any other night, any one of you would be leaving.
But fortunately for you,
there are two more boxes of macarons
that turned out even worse.
Please head up to the balcony.
Thank you, Joe. Thank you, chef. Chef, thank you for coming.
- Thank you. Thank you. - It won't happen again.
Bri: The judges have seen the worst in me
for too many weeks in a row now.
Going forward, I need to prove to the judges
that I belong on the balcony.
Wuta, the flavors were way off piece,
and you presented yours with seven macarons.
Tonight, you've fallen short.
Subha, you're as chaotic as a hricane.
And tonight, your plating and finesse again
were nowhere near the MasterChef standards.
Unfortunately, for one of you,
you've cooked for the very last time
inside this incredible kitchen.
Oh, my god.
Subha, you know, you're a very peculiar home cook.
But somehow you manage
to create food with intense, quality flavors.
And tonight...
Subha, you've earned another chance
to keep surprising us inside this kitchen.
Please, say good-bye to Wuta, head upstairs.
- I love you. - I am feeling relieved.
But I really have to step up my game
because it is just, you know,
by the skin of my teeth that I survived.
Oh, Wuta, I'm sorry.
Your journey's come to an end.
You are a great student, a man of integrity,
and I don't feel bad sending you out of this kitchen tonight,
because I think the world needs
- what you have to offer more than we do. - Yep.
I can only, only be thankful for this wild ride.
- Class act. - Yes.
Gordon: Come and say good-bye.
As much as I'm bummed out, I'm not disappointed,
'cause I get to go back to the kids that I love.
I get to take the things that I've learned here
and teach it all to my students.
- Season 10! - Season 10, baby!
Season 10, baby!
All of you, congratulations. The top ten of season 10!
- Season 10, baby! Season 10. - Gordon: Incredible.
I suggest you all get ready for what comes next.
We are shifting up a gear, and all of you
are gonna have to move super fast to keep up.
Good night.
( music playing )