This season on Top Chef: Just Desserts...
You better watch out.
Pastry Chefs are crazy.
Feel the burn!
Frickin' chaos.
For the outsider looking in,
this competition looks like child's play.
So come on, all you Chefs, and bake, bake, bake!
But when you're inside it...
15 minutes!
It's the hardest thing ever. Oh, my God.
Tania, Tim, your dessert just didn't measure up.
- Come on. - This is Insane!
I'm sorry I wasn't able to complete it.
- You're what? - I'm leaving.
I would like to ask to be eliminated today.
You could almost taste the resentment in her cookie.
I thought the cake was dry.
I think it was Zac's idea.
Why do we have to do this? Someone's got to go home.
Why can't we do it honorably?
You should go home because you are a dick.
But I'm cooking better food than you,
so I'm not gonna go home.
It's okay.
I can't do this.
Seth's no longer gonna be with us.
Go, diva!
Team diva thinks they're too cool for school,
and I want them to go home.
- Go, diva. - You're my diva.
I'm a heterosexual male.
Whee!
I really don't want to be berated with show tunes
and flamboyance.
Heather, Erika, Heather, Eric...
Please pack your tools and go. Sure.
Last week, the final four faced off
for a spot in the finale.
It's like, ooh, it's so close.
I got three good ones. The other one broke.
I'm definitely getting mad at myself.
I think Yigit's just falling apart.
Come on, man. You can't finish your truffles?
Pull it together.
I don't want to win by default.
The most delicious cake was Danielle.
I won! Hurray!
Zac, your dessert just didn't measure up.
This was a cake-tastrophe.
Only one can win the grand prize--
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.
Tonight on the finale,
one Chef will win Top Chef: Just Desserts.
♪ Top Chef: Just Desserts 1x10 ♪ Finale Original Air Date on November 17, 2010
== sync by elderman == == for www.addic7ed.com ==
I get total goose bumps on my body,
thinking about the final challenge.
Throughout this competition, I've had a lot of good days.
I've had a couple of bad days.
Yigit, you look a little flustered.
I apologize.
But you know what?
This is the finale, and at this point,
there can't be any mistakes made.
Judgment time.
I'm extremely nervous.
This is supposed to be the hardest challenge coming up,
and trust me, there's been some really hard challenges.
Zac leaving is wonderful.
It's so quiet.
Zac is an annoying little fairy
who threw me under the bus the last challenge.
You know, Morgan won $20,000, couldn't care less.
I would rather remain composed
than freak out like a little girl.
He acted like a bitch, and he went home like one.
I can't believe this is happening.
This is crazy.
I'm going to the finale,
and I also won the last challenge.
So it's good to kind of have that nice little boost.
I want to win more than anything,
because I just started my business.
It's an online dessert company.
But I don't have a lot of money, so if I won 100 grand,
that's like a huge boost to a small business.
♪ ♪
When we get to the kitchen,
we just see Gail standing there in a fierce black dress
that matches her shoes.
- Hello, Chefs. - Hi, Gail.
You're the last three standing.
Congratulations on making it to the finale.
- Yes. - Oh, yeah.
But there can only be one winner
of Top Chef: Just Desserts.
For your final challenge, you will each create
a progressive four-course dessert tasting.
You'll be serving 12 diners,
including some of the biggest names in the pastry world
and some of Los Angeles' top pastry Chefs.
I get to make whatever I want?
It seems like something's awry.
Always a twist around the corner.
Now head back to the lofts and get changed,
'cause we have a special surprise for you tonight.
Do we get to put on our party clothes?
You can put on whatever you want.
I've seen every single episode of Top Chef.
I'm hoping maybe our mommies are there.
We arrive at the Edison, which is, hands down,
the best-looking bar in all of Los Angeles.
Shall I break your luck and go behind you?
No.
Uh-oh!
As we're walking down the glass stairway,
I see Chef Johnny kicking back and having a cocktail,
and I think everyone's expecting a twist at this point.
A drink is never a drink.
Giving that it's the finale, I'm ready for it,
so, yeah, bring it on.
You look surprised to see me.
So, yeah- yes.G it on.
Yes.
It is a pleasure having a cocktail with you all.
Coming up as a young cook,
I got my butt kicked a lot, and it's hard.
It's hard coming in every day
and having those knots in your stomach, and I'm sure
that was a lot like this competition.
So to celebrate the fact
that you guys made it to the finale,
I've decided to order us some desserts.
Wow.
Look at the consistency on those layers.
Your fork goes through like a dream.
I'm thinking, wow, these are pretty "schnazzy" desserts
for a little cocktail bar.
I think all three were great desserts.
I think we should meet the Chefs that made them.
- Oh, no. - Oh, my gosh!
No!
I automatically think it must be
one of our past Chefs who have been eliminated,
and I'm thinking, "wow, they must have had
"quite a lot of time in the kitchen
to prepare these desserts."
Aah!
- Hi, guys. - Hey, Tre.
Out walked Sherry Yard,
Elizabeth Falkner, and Claudia Fleming--
three of the top pastry Chefs in the entire nation.
Every single one of you is on a shelf in my house--
no lie.
Chefs, so I'm privileged to introduce you
to your sous Chefs for tomorrow.
Oh, my God.
At your service.
Oh, my God.
That's like being a director
and having Steven Spielberg,
Ron Howard, and Martin Scorsese.
Like, "oh, they're gonna help you direct your next movie."
It's like, "huh?"
So there's only one fair way to pick who gets who.
We got to pull our cookie jar.
Oh, my God.
- Chef Sherry Yard. - All right.
Elizabeth.
Stuck with me, pal.
I have...Johnny.
I have Claudia Fleming.
Chefs, thank you so much for the delicious desserts.
See you tomorrow. Thank you very much.
Tomorrow. Bye, guys.
Bye.
- Oh, my God. - This is amazing.
Thank you, Chef.
That black pepper is, like--
it burned my whole mouth. Really?
God, it's gonna be a challenge for her to work with Morgan.
It's not burning your whole mouth?
Not even a little.
Our final challenge is to make a four-course dessert tasting,
and amazingly, we have three award-winning pastry Chefs
as our sous Chefs.
Love those little self-doubting moments in the morning.
Having Chef Fleming gives me
a whole new challenge to overcome.
Will she approve?
Or will she just think I'm some ass clown
who doesn't belong here?
When we wake up today,
I'm actually really irritated at Morgan,
because he chose to leave the A.C. on full blast
while there's an enormous panel of A.C. right above my bed,
and he knew I had a cold.
I am now sweating like a bitch.
Yeah.
I told him I didn't appreciate the fact that I spent
the entire night shivering in my own sweat,
yet he seems to have little regard about it.
Whatever.
I feel utter irritation, and I just really
want to strangle him, but I'm just gonna pray
to Buddha and let it go,
because there's gonna be no sourness in my food today.
I'm looking for some black licorice.
This is the last challenge, and, um,
I don't think anyone, like, ever thought,
like, "ooh, Danielle, she's gonna be at the top,"
except for me, but that's okay.
I want to make root beer, and I'm gonna do a float.
It's a journey, and, you know,
me and Morgan were in the bottom three
the first, you know, elimination challenge.
- Whatever. - And now we're in the finale.
And it's kind of crazy.
20 minutes!
Do you know if you guys would have any pumpkin seeds?
I am definitely nerve-racked.
I need a hug.
I know cranky pants won't hug.
I know.
Tomorrow is the most important moment of my life.
Not winning this competition
would definitely send me home very sad,
especially if somehow I lost to Morgan.
Man, I'm good at this.
But it's really gonna come down
to whoever makes the best dessert,
and the difference could be as minute
as who made the best last ice cream
or who tempered their chocolate better,
so I think it's anyone's game.
Thank you.
Tomorrow the best Chef will win.
- How are you today? - Good.
We have seven hours to cook with our celebrity Chefs.
You got it.
- Just tell me what to do. - You make my nerves shake.
The atmosphere is tense.
Go all the way or go home, right, today?
- That's it, my man. - This is it.
You win here, or you didn't win.
I think we're gonna need three ovens.
It is an "a," right?
Well, it's not moron, that's for sure.
I'm a little worried
that Morgan is working with Claudia Fleming.
I have been done first every challenge.
Okay.
I would very much like to continue that.
She is much more of a calm and stoic type,
and he can be a complete dick.
Hey, shaky! I see you shaking the Out of this table.
It's driving me crazy.
You can call me by my name, Morgan.
God, it's gonna be a challenge for her to work with Morgan.
Wait. So there's lavender ice cream
in this one, and then--
yeah, this one's gonna have cinnamon basil ice cream.
Cinnamon basil, okay.
I'm really excited to be working with Elizabeth.
It's just intimidating, you know?
It's just like, how do I speak to her?
Thank you so much, seriously.
No, I'm really excited about it too.
I'm having Elizabeth shell hundreds of pistachios.
It's definitely not the most glamorous job in the world,
but it'll pay off times a million in flavor.
I want you to know there's a lot of love
going into the pistachios. I feel it.
Elizabeth is one of the top pastry Chefs in the world,
and Danielle has her opening the pistachios.
Wow. Danielle's an idiot.
Working with Sherry is awesome.
Get "yiggy" with it--you know, that's my dance for you.
For this final challenge, I want my tasting menu
to be like I'm taking the judges out on a date.
Some pretty expensive labor you guys have in here today.
Such that they don't even have to look
at who served that dish, and they'll say,
"that's Yigit, right there."
I definitely have to win this.
My first course is gonna be a take on a gimlet
and a turkish appetizer,
so it's very sweet and savory.
- Away we go. - All right.
But I think it's a kind of fun and flirty way
to start my tasting with them.
This is like home for you now.
- Oh, you mean this kitchen? - Yeah.
I can't remember my life before this.
I'm not joking.
I'm gonna be at the oven for a while,
just trying to get this cake done.
The theme for my meal's progression
is light, broken down into primary colors.
This is an insane cake to make today.
Baumkuchen is known as the king of cakes.
It translates to "tree cake" in German,
because it refers to the concentric circles
that build up inside of a tree.
Each layer bakes individually.
I don't want to go down with another,
"we feel like you played it safe."
I'm busting out all the stops.
I didn't want to pigeonhole myself into a theme,
like Morgan's trying to do.
That is stupid.
So I'm just doing a menu of how I would like to eat.
I'm the only one that's used the sheeter, so...
I know Johnny told me, "you only cook for yourself,"
but it's stuff maybe the judges haven't seen.
I hope it kind of surprises them.
- Hey, Chefs. - Chef!
Hey, Danielle, how's it going?
Good.
I want to start it off
with a kind of sweet cheese thing,
then more of a palate cleanser,
and then I'm gonna do kind of an ice cream sampler,
'cause ice cream's my favorite.
And then my last dish is gonna be chocolate.
So an ice cream sampler?
But fancy.
You're gonna-- you're gonna like it.
I have to do the stuff that comes from within me.
Of course. We don't want you to be someone else.
But at the same time, you know,
you got to come out of your comfort zone.
- Thank you. - All right, Chef.
See you tomorrow. See you tomorrow.
The last few challenges, we really see Danielle
committing to the dishes that she proposes,
I'm concerned she's doing an ice cream sampler.
Hopefully she's gonna elevate it using technique
and really give us something
that's flavor-forward and powerful.
You want some more zest? Yeah. Maybe, huh?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
What's up, Yigit? Are you excited?
It's the last one. I'm actually thrilled.
I created a very, very clever menu.
It's very much in my style,
but everything packs a punch.
Criticism I took very much to heart.
You know, nothing over the top.
I think I've shown you guys what I can do,
so now I want to do it tastefully.
- All right, Chef. - Thank you very much, Chef.
- Take care. - Cheers.
Yigit seemed very excited about this challenge.
He talked to me about how he's adjusting
and refocusing and making sure
that he pays attention to all the criticisms
he got from day one.
- Chef, you want to try this? - Yes, please.
- How you doing? - What's up, Morgan?
You in the zone?
This has got to be one of the best days of cooking
in my life, ever.
Is there a theme to your tasting?
Uh, primary colors, light.
Morgan is doing his tasting around a color palette,
which I think is kind of silly,
because it can make your life really difficult,
and I don't think you need to take on
any extra difficulties in this point in the game.
There's gonna be some heavy critics there tomorrow.
You know that, right? I know.
I don't need you to choke me up right now, okay?
I just want the best of you, Morgan.
I want you to-- I don't want you to say,
"I wish I would have done that."
I think I'm putting forth
the four best dishes I've ever cooked in my life.
So if it's not good enough, I'm not good enough.
Morgan decided to do a theme of colors,
and he didn't need to do that,
but maybe he's doing it in a way
that's gonna really set himself apart
a little bit from the other Chefs.
All right, Chefs, best of luck to all of you.
Good night.
That black pepper is, like, burning my whole mouth.
- Really? - Really.
It's not burning your whole mou?
Not even a little.
With Claudia, there's been plenty of difficulty
just communicating clearly.
So your normal spherification--
you have sodium alginate in your base solution,
and you bathe it in calcium chloride.
Morgan is doing stuff I'm not familiar with.
You know, I'm old school.
I'm not using all the chemicals.
And what we're gonna do is put calcium lactate
in our base and bathe it in sodium alginate.
That's the difference.
Frankly, as a sous Chef, I don't need to know.
- You're like, "whatever." - Yeah.
I got a lot left to do,
and I'm starting to get worried.
You're not really talking my language.
Don't worry about it.
Hopefully, Chef Fleming and I
will communicate better tomorrow.
One hour, everybody. One hour.
I smell $100,000 and a dinner for you and I very soon.
Nothing would make me happier.
I have a bunch of trays in there,
and usually I'll, like, wrap the top with plastic.
The atmosphere in the kitchen is intense.
The closer you get, the more you want it.
It's dangling in front of your eyes.
I'll be nervous when I'm standing
in front of all those pastry Chefs.
Yes, I will be nervous.
- 30 seconds! - Whoo!
What you call milking the clock.
3, 2, 1.
You're amazing. Thank you so much.
- Oh! - Thank you so much.
Sherry has been tremendous today,
so I think she will definitely
help me out tremendously tomorrow as well.
- Thank you so much. - Oh.
- Bye! - Thank you for everything.
I had a Blast. Whatever.
'Cause that's--that's-- that'll change the world--
when we get back to the loft,
I just want to decompress.
I'm gonna have some alcohol and some food.
Nerves can kill in this kind of environment.
I just don't want to obsess over anything tonight,
'cause I know what needs to be done,
and I'll just get it done tomorrow.
Here's one that's been sitting here for four days.
Uh, I do believe that's the one
Zac has been drinking out of.
Hey, hey, buddy. How you doing, man?
Right on.
I think the biggest goal that I had in mind
for this competition was to get myself
out of where I am and in an environment
that I could share more of my time with my boy.
Just been, uh, cooking and missing you.
If that happens, then, uh--
then it's-- then it's all worthwhile.
I love you, buddy. Love you more.
You love me more? You are such an angel.
I miss you, man.
Oh, my God. They totally just died.
I feel like telling her to sit in the corner
and not sabotage my food.
And suddenly, it feels very heavy.
If I didn't win this competition,
it would crush me.
When I decided I wanted to go into cooking,
I was very afraid to do it.
I was supposed to go to business school,
and I was down on myself, and I recall,
one day, my dad came up to me, and he said,
"why are you so miserable?"
And I told him what I wanted to do,
and he said, "listen." He's like, "snap out of it.
Just do it."
And I remember when I had my first job
at the meeting house in San Francisco,
he told me how proud he was of me, and it was amazing.
And he actually passed away
from lung cancer a year after that.
So today that coat feels really heavy on my shoulders.
I'm really looking forward
But then I see all our old Chefs,
so I'm definitely expecting a twist.
Yesterday you all got to work with a celebrity sous Chef.
Today those same sous Chefs will be dining with us.
That means you may need a little help
for your final prep and service.
Each of you will get one sous Chef
from this group to work with.
I would absolutely throw my hands up and storm out
if I got Zac.
If I could punch somebody on this show
without getting thrown off,
I'd knock his skull right off.
To see who you're working with,
please grab a cookie from the cookie jar.
Team San Fran.
Y!
- Tania. - Whoo-hoo.
Heather H.
Heather and I are not the closest of people.
I don't trust her, and I'm gonna have to keep my eye on her.
This sucks.
So that leaves five of you, and you're the lucky ones,
'cause you'll be joining us as diners.
Yeah!
So, Chefs, that means you'll be now serving 17 diners today.
Good luck. We'll see you later.
Let's go. Bye. Good luck.
Bye, guys.
Let's go.
You want to grab some bowls and pots?
- Just regular ones? - Yeah.
- Just stainless? - Yeah, exactly.
The absolute first thing we've got to do
is get these brulees baked off.
I don't care for Morgan at all.
All of this mise en place is mostly done and in there.
I vowed after the first time I was on his team
that I would not do it again.
He did one dessert.
I did a Centerpiece and a dessert.
Him.
Never again.
I have absolutely no respect for him.
I'm confused. Is this third or second?
'Cause they have--
it says third, but it's actually first.
First.
I would really hope Morgan doesn't win.
What?
Oh, your ice cream is so good.
Oh, thank you.
Tim, do you mind taking out
that bowl of coconut milk from down there?
- You got it. - Thank you.
I have learned my lessons in this competition.
I've had problems not finishing my plates twice,
and that was due to over-ambition.
You don't have to measure it, but roughly
about, like, three or four cups of this.
My plan for the second course,
we need to layer the lemongrass ice cream
on top of the sorbet, blast-freeze it,
so we can cut perfect little discs out of it
that look clean.
I'm gonna put this in the fridge so it kind of tempers evenly.
I've got souffle mise en place all set to go,
so we got to mix that up and get it in the ring molds.
The souffle element of my third dish
is difficult to pull off,
given the time frame.
Did you brush the molds with that?
Yeah.
Heather buttered the rings for me,
and she took an extra step and sugared them too,
like she would a normal souffle mold,
and it's not something that you really want to do
with this cake.
I kind of feel like telling her
to sit in the corner and not sabotage my food.
You want to taste this before I add more cream or coconut?
A little bit more.
59 minutes!
Can you get this cheese sliced for me?
My first dish, I really wanted to include cheese,
because one of my very first pastry Chef jobs,
I had to order the cheese.
They were like, "here you go,"
and I was like, "uhh!"
I didn't know anything about cheese.
The cheese isn't that salty. Mm-hmm.
So I think it needs another element of more salt.
I didn't want to do four dishes
that were sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet,
you know?
Then you feel like your mouth's gonna fall off.
- 42 minutes. - Hello, my little children.
At this leg in the competition,
everything needs to be perfect.
Fruit caviar is tricky.
That's an alginate bath.
You drop it in, and then you...In there.
You can't let the yogurt caviar
sit in the algin base too long,
because if you do, it'll all congeal together.
I see that Morgan is having quite a bit of trouble with his.
!
His algin base is way off-ratio
because it's thick like jelly,
and I don't know why he's not asking Heather
to help in this, because she
could have given him a little tip.
Two minutes!
- Is that ice cream? - Uh, ice cream and sorbet.
I see some beautiful food put out by my peers,
but I don't think anybody took the same risks.
Oh, we need to get our drink.
What happened to our drinks? Yes.
Thank you.
One minute!
Everyone, I would love to welcome you to sit down.
I know that the Chefs have worked so hard
to get to this point,
and I'm sure they're very nervous
to cook for a room of you.
It is impressive.
I'm nervous, actually, just to meet all of you.
Sorbet, 9:00. Sorbet, 9:00.
I really poured everything that I am
into this last challenge,
and if I don't win this,
I would obviously, at this point, be really heartbroken.
Morgan, typical male pastry Chef.
Can I ask you something blunt?
Do you have Morgan rage? I do.
You hate Morgan.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
- Cheers, guys. - Congratulations.
- To them. - And to them.
- Hi, Chefs. - Hi, Gail.
We walk into the Just Desserts dining room,
and our sous Chefs are there,
along with the top Chefs in the entire nation,
so it's like, "oh, hey, oh.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God."
This is it.
These people could very well follow
your culinary career down the line
and make you a star or just not care.
I wanted to start with a dance that we're gonna have
through my palette today.
I made a cucumber and lime sorbet
with some Strauss yogurt caviar pearls
and English cucumbers. Morgan.
This dish is a passion fruit cannoli
over a bit of mango carpaccio
and tarragon jelly.
I wanted to do a cheese course.
It's goat's milk from Spain.
A layer of puff, a little hazelnut cake,
and that's sandwiched with a fig jam.
Thank you so much.
Aesthetically, I think Morgan's dish
is really appealing.
It delivers strong flavors in different points.
Mango carpaccio-- how do you make it?
It's just sliced. Just sliced mango.
Yeah. I think that tarragon gel makes Morgan's dish for me.
Oh, that went out so beautiful.
The flavor is so bright that Yigit has given us.
Those were yogurt pearls, right?
- Yes. - I like that.
Adds that savory touch, almost.
I love that sort of sweet-savory thing,
and cucumber works really well with it.
Have these been wiped?
Awesome. I'm gonna start the "cannelling."
I actually really enjoyed working with Danielle,
because she was very focused,
and I think that Danielle's dish is successful,
because it still is a dessert.
It's not just a cheese course.
The flavors are quite nice together.
As simple as this may look,
Danielle really put a lot of work
and a lot of thought into this dish.
She roasted these grapes. She made the fig jam.
She made the sponge. She made the puff.
I would order this on a menu.
The little seeds from the figs
gives that texture-- it's such a turn-on.
It's, like, totally turning me on.
What is that ?
Oh, my God. They totally just died.
I've got a couple separated here.
Morgan's second dish is supposed to be blue,
and I'm utterly confused,
because the meringue is not blue.
It's violet, and there's white chocolate on it.
So I don't know how the judges are gonna react.
Mmm!
I wanted to progress this dance
a little more vigorously as it goes.
So this is organic strawberry sorbet
with a little lemongrass ginger and lime ice cream on top.
In front of you, you have blueberry pavlova,
light lemon cream on top,
and a citrus chamomile broth with chamomile pearls.
Mine is a palate cleanser,
so there's meyer lemon frozen parfait on top,
with a little baked meringue, a tangerine sorbet,
and a moscato granita.
Thank you.
Time starts again.
The restraint is really a beautiful thing
in Yigit's dish.
He's taken a traditional dessert like a vacherin
and deconstructed it, but in a way
that still tastes as delicious as the original,
and I love it. I do too. I love it.
It just works right.
It tastes like a field of wild strawberries.
I think what Danielle did visually
was issue with the sorbet and the staying there,
because also, when you plate a dessert,
you have to think about the plating,
actually how it survives.
I love all the beautiful citrus.
I think it's really great.
For me right now,
Danielle's making the most sense.
Morgan, you know, I love his point of view,
but maybe he didn't take it further enough.
I expected a blue dessert, and I got white and yellow.
I like the fact that he built a little dessert
inside the cup.
The distinguishing factor of pavlova
is that softness.
He nailed it.
It tastes great.
With that lemon cream, it's delicious.
Oh, I'm in trouble.
The souffle needs to be cooked to order,
and the timing on that's extremely crucial.
When they come out, they didn't bake evenly.
Like, I can't get them apart.
They're totally !
I'm about to lose it.
!
But Heather just keeps reassuring me.
These are coming out great--look.
Make sure the judges get these.
She put her head down like a professional
and came up with the best solution possible.
Make sure the judges get these.
And I am so grateful.
Thank you so much for being the cookie in my jar.
And so there was nothing over there, really.
Oh, pooh. Mine fell over.
Mine's a mess. Yours really fell apart.
Well, now that we've had a gimlet,
had a few kisses in the park,
I wanted us to really start the romance and the passion,
so this is a very bold dessert.
It's a five-hour, slow-braised muscovado sugar pineapple
served with a light coconut sponge,
coconut lime soup with some tapioca pearls at the bottom.
Great.
We have a manjari souffle cake,
some raspberry sorbet,
and some cocoa nib paper.
My favorite thing is ice cream,
so I wanted to show that in three different desserts.
My version of a baked Alaska, a strawberry sundae,
and then I made a root beer float.
- Thank you, Chef. - Thanks.
I love how Yigit uses a combination of flavors
with either herbs or lime.
It's gonna be a great dessert for us,
and we're looking for some new dessert ideas.
Morgan's souffle cake collapsed.
It probably was undercooked.
Mine didn't. What are you talking about?
Claudia's did.
He felt your true feelings about him,
and the cake felt it, and the cake resisted you.
- Wow. - Well, we wouldn't be able
to sell it in our restaurant if we had a souffle like that.
He ran out of time.
You're so bad.
Thank God for Danielle's baked Alaska.
In eating down my line, that's the best thing.
Conceptually, I love her dish.
I love the fact that she used strawberry chips
as well as fresh strawberries underneath,
again, reinforcing the primary flavor of the dish.
And it's something I've been on her about every challenge--
figure out a way to incorporate texture
in a smart way that adds to the dish.
Thank God I was the sous Chef who made that ice cream base.
You know, I'm gonna put one
or two tiny, little flakes of salt in the mousse as well.
Just like--just so in two bites, they get a little bit.
Pretty cool creme brulee, huh?
Very gentle, please. They're very sensitive.
Yigit's sorbet that he put out on the first dish
was gorgeously beautiful,
but then his second dish was sorbet.
His third dish, sorbet.
It's a progression, right?
Let's rock.
This is the last thing we're going to taste
in this entire competition.
You know, love ends with chocolate, I think,
and I wanted to bring something that's very cuddly
and brings feelings of, uh, spooning back home,
so it's a very light, toasted hazelnut dacquoise
with a little milk chocolate at the base,
chocolate plaqued two ways, and also the milk jam on the side
is served with a caramel creme glace.
It's a white pepper creme brulee,
a butter toffee shell,
a black pepper baumkuchen,
and a blackberry and anise macaroon.
Please enjoy.
I definitely wanted to end it with something
that was pretty much,
like, my favorite thing to bake as a kid--
that chocolate pudding cake, where you make the cake,
and then you pour the top, and it goes to the bottom.
Thank you so much.
Yigit's cake is pretty brilliant.
I'm loving Yigit's dessert--
the milk jam mousse and the milk jam candy.
The milk jam candy is--
I want to bathe myself in the milk jam candy.
- Yigit's caramel ice cream. - Yeah?
I taste a lot of salt, which I normally like with caramel,
but it's very airy.
I don't taste enough caramel in it.
- Here we go. - Thank you, sir.
Let's talk about Danielle's chocolate course.
For some reason, it's lacking a little something for me.
I don't know if it's a little bit of salt.
Salt's what I was thinking as well.
Danielle's dish is not a thing of great visual elegance,
but it really tastes damn good.
Let's crack open Morgan's dessert.
Oh, wow, mine shattered so beautifully.
- Great combination. - Mm-hmm, it really is.
That was an inspired combination.
Not everybody knows what a baumkuchen is, you know?
I love baumkuchen.
Look how many layers are there.
- Fantastic. - It's really well done.
- 20 layers. - Oh!
That is just unbelievable.
It's quite impressive.
This is a masterpiece.
Morgan, this is my favorite.
Thank you all so much for this entire meal.
It's not every day that we all get to eat like this.
I feel so proud of myself.
I want to be the first winner of Top Chef: Just Desserts.
Like, it's so awesome to think about, like,
I can't even think about it.
Like, it's that awesome. Thank you.
Judges, we have a very big decision to make,
so let's go to judges' table.
Mm!
You guys--you guys made it happen today.
- Thank you. - That was fun.
I feel like the fat lady's about to sing,
and if I win this competition, I will lose it,
and I will definitely cry.
I'm glad I was here today.
Hey, guys, come here.
I definitely feel nervous.
I decapitated a couple souffles.
Uhh! It's embarrassing.
- It's over. - I know.
But then I tried Yigit's food,
Danielle's food,
and I thought it was boring,
which is why I am gonna be Top Chef.
- I think it was brilliant. - I'm speechless.
I don't even know where to start on this one.
This competition has been such a roller coaster.
You have your high moments.
We are here on Top Chef!
And you have your low moments.
You just didn't show enough pastry techniques.
I feel like this has been falling in love,
getting married, and giving birth to a child
all at the same time.
Thank you.
This has been such an incredible journey.
Morganza, Morganza, Morganza!
We all worked really hard to get here, and this is it.
Tonight is a very special night,
because we will be naming the first ever
Top Chef: Just Desserts winner.
That person will receive $100,000
furnished by Godiva Chocolatier.
Let's talk about how you think you did tonight.
Morgan, how did it go?
I cooked some of the best food
I think I've ever made in my life,
and it was inspired and fun.
Yigit?
I felt really good about my food.
You guys have gotten to know me so well by now
that it's like we went on a date,
which I felt appropriate for me.
Danielle?
I really liked the way everything tastes.
I was trying to do things in the realm
of what I've done before,
but to kind of show you guys maybe things
that you didn't know that I did.
Danielle, tell us about your ice cream sampler.
I made honey lavender ice cream
and piped the meringue on top, and then I did
my great-grandmother's lemon poppy-seed cake.
I don't even know where to start on this one.
I mean, no, not in a bad way.
I mean, you really harnessed
the beautiful qualities of lavender.
It was delicious, and it worked well with the honey,
and it was very nostalgic, Danielle.
I think your homemade root beer was a big success,
and I loved the bitters and the herbs.
I love your honey candy.
I mean, I just want to follow you around
and make you make me honey candy.
So how did you feel about your chocolate pudding cake?
It's really kind of that thing
that you eat, and you go, "okay,
"I don't want to eat anything else. I'm done."
I dislike garnishes that don't really add any flavor,
and the pulled sugar--
everyone at the table just, like,
snapped off a little piece and then,
like the mandatory sprig of mint in the '80s,
just put it on the side.
Are you saying it's '80s?
Saying it's '80s. Ah, jeez.
Flavor-wise, I loved it.
The pistachio ice cream really was good.
I mean, I personally loved it. Thank you.
Yigit, your sorbet and ice cream dish.
I wanted the ice cream to just be a little contrast
to the sorbet.
It was really lovely, this date metaphor
you conjured up.
And it looked so "foofy" and girlie,
and then you got a little bit of lemongrass,
and it tasted sophisticated and surprising.
Yigit, why did you choose to have the waiters
pour the consomme at the table?
Well, I love table-side service.
I think it's very elegant.
And I had the meringue kisses.
I wanted to add texture.
Did you instruct them how to serve it?
Yes.
'Cause they came over and poured it
directly on my meringue kisses,
so immediately, it's mush.
Tell us about your braised pineapple and coconut cake.
I wanted now to have a little play on your tongue.
I really wanted the hot and cold contrast.
Yigit, your third course
was just what I was in the mood for
after your first two courses.
It was something to sink our teeth into.
That moist coconut cake,
the flavors were really, really nice.
I thought the pineapple was awesome.
When you told me it was braised for five hours,
I was like, "there goes the acidity," you know?
But I was wrong. I was dead wrong.
It really still had a bright pineapple flavor to it.
Morgan, what happened with your souffle?
They all went into the oven at the same time,
two sheet trays with lots of space between them.
And the top tray, it baked a little less
than the bottom tray.
At our table, Dannielle had her souffle
perfectly standing upright.
It was perfect.
But the three of us, definitely,
the souffle basically had crashed.
But the contrast was beautiful--
the hot and the cold,
and the tart raspberries and the sweet chocolate.
I really enjoyed it.
And your final course with that beautiful baumkuchen.
I wanted something that really just came out
and grabbed you by your legs and shook you around a bit.
The baumkuchen was very lovely.
It was perfectly symmetrical and straight,
and the layers were just so.
You promised me you wouldn't make a macaroon again.
I know. I know I did, but I--
yeah, well, your only saving grace
is that you make a hell of a macaroon, you know?
And every time you give it to me,
it's more delicious than the last.
Thank you very much.
We have the most important decision to make tonight.
So please return to the stew room,
and we'll call you back.
- Thank you, judges. - Thanks a lot.
I'm thinking of all the people
who were in the top three who have sat here like we did,
what they must have felt.
Oh, my God.
Overall, the progression tonight
between Danielle and Yigit and Morgan,
they really did a good job.
They really followed the challenge.
Yigit's progression this evening was masterful.
He started fresh and clean,
and then he added sweetness and creaminess,
and then he gave us that moist, delicious coconut cake,
and then the elegant chocolate course.
I think Yigit showed us a repertoire.
He just kept pushing himself and said,
"all right, I've shown them this. I showed them this.
"I'm gonna show them something else.
Make sure it's delicious and keep going."
Towards the end, I literally, like--
it was my nerves and my ambitions
and my hopes and everything just tied into one.
I literally, like, I just felt like
my stomach just was, like, tying into a knot.
You know, I have to say, though,
Danielle has shown us so much
over these last couple of challenges.
And when she hit me with that first course tonight,
I was like, "holy cow.
She's gonna win this. The underdog is gonna win."
When you think about how they planned their tastings,
first course to second course,
I think Danielle did a better job.
There was something about the flavors
in Danielle's baked Alaska
that I will remember for years to come.
I loved, in her fourth course,
the pistachio ice cream with fresh pistachios.
That was great.
Danielle was more sophisticated
and thoughtful tonight than she's ever been.
Can you believe we did all that, and we did it so well,
and we didn't have recipes?
I definitely think Morgan went all out.
There were elements of brilliance
in so much of what Morgan did.
I think Morgan's first course,
visually, it was probably the most attractive one.
The passion fruit was really good.
I thought his pavlova was beautifully made.
There was a lot of technician work
in the white chocolate.
My souffle came out looking perfect,
and then when it all oozed together,
it was a really decadent dessert.
Morgan's final course, the baumkuchen,
there, he really hit it right.
Morgan is a technician.
You know, he won the most challenges,
the most eliminations, more than anybody else.
- The silence is deafening. - Mm-hmm.
I think that all of our Chefs executed their progressions.
They all took us on a journey, as different as they were.
I think what it came down to was detailed execution
and the mistakes they made along the way.
Claudia got a Souffle.
I was like, Damn it, man.
My nerves are so racked up,
I can't think about anything else right now.
Yeah.
Well, it looks like we have our winner.
- I agree. - Yeah, I agree.
Let's get them out here.
It's been an incredibly long road
and you've all worked so hard to get here.
One of you will win $100,000,
furnished by "Godiva Chocolatier."
Chefs, on behalf of myself and all of the judges
throughout the competition,
I'd like to say how proud we are of you,
we're proud to be part of this competition with you,
and especially me-- you make me proud
to be a pastry Chef.
Danielle, you picked the right time
to hit your stride.
You were true to yourself until the very end
and tonight, you showed us a whole new level
of sophistication and execution.
Thank you.
Yigit, your precision and range of techniques
are your obvious strengths.
Your major weakness has been your lack of restraint.
Tonight, you found your balance.
Morgan, no one is ever gonna push you as hard
as you push yourself.
It's what got you to the finale
and what makes you a great pastry Chef.
Thank you, Chef.
One of you is the first winner
of "Top Chef: Just Desserts."
And that Chef is...
Yigit.
Congratulations!
Oh, my God!
I am the winner and it Feels awesome.
Thank you, Chef.
This is the most spectacular feeling in the world.
There is no words to describe it!
I am extremely proud of Yigit winning.
There is nobody in this competition
I would feel better about losing to.
Yigit has done things I have never seen
or have never done
and words that I'm like,
"huh-- what did you say?"
Thinking about it before, I thought, if I don't win,
I'll be so disappointed, but somewhere,
nine months down the road
when I'm sitting in traffic on the Los Angeles freeway,
I'll be like, "oh, my God!
"I can't believe that happened-- that was so insane!
Cheers!
I won a $100,000
and the title of "Top Chef."
I cannot even begin to fathom
how this is gonna change my career.
I want to take a bath tonight,
is what I want to do.
And I think my father could be very proud of me
at this moment.
For more about the recipes you've seen tonight,
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