Pressure Tests are the crème de la crème of MasterChef Australia challenges; they’re set by esteemed chefs, involve extremely long recipes, take hours, and usually end in an elimination.
Another thing Pressure Tests have in common is that most of them seem to involve desserts, and eliminated contestant Jimmy Wong tells us why this is.
Jimmy was sent through to the Pressure Test in the episode that aired May 20 alongside Ben Macdonald, Rue Mupedzi and Tim Bone. The four contestants were tasked with recreating Steven He‘s Balloon Puppy cake, an entremet topped with a white chocolate balloon puppy.
When Jimmy received the news that he’d be competing in a Pressure Test, he knew there was a good chance that he’d be making a dessert.
“Desserts are probably not my strongest point, you know, being the first time that I’ve ever tempered white chocolate, that was a bit scary,” he told Chattr.
Jimmy added that the cook involved 92 steps, and said they were given three hours to recreate the cake.
“There were a few moments in the cook where I said, you know, in hindsight, I could have done it a little bit differently. You know, when you’re in that melting pot of of a Pressure Test, you know, you’ve gotta move like the clackers, but, but you’ve also gotta sort of trust your gut.”
Why are MasterChef Pressure Tests often desserts?
In MasterChef Australia 2023 and 2024, five of the eight Pressure Tests involved desserts, and both this season have featured sweet dishes.
Jimmy told Chattr that he believes it’s because there is a lot of intricacy involved with whipping up a dessert.
“I think it’s a lot more technique when it comes to desserts. There’s a lot more exactness when it comes to dessert. So I think that’s always something that I think the show uses to sort of really test you out.
Take note, future contestants, it might be time to sharpen those baking skills.
MasterChef Australia airs on Sunday at 7pm and Monday – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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