| Alt Name: | MasterChef: Dessert Masters |
| Judges: | |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 10 |
| Location: | Melbourne |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Company: | Endemol Shine Australia |
| Channel: | Network 10 |
| Last Aired: | present |
Dessert Masters, also known as MasterChef: Dessert Masters, is an Australian cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine Australia which premiered on 12 November 2023 on Network 10.[1] It is a spin-off of MasterChef Australia, itself an adaptation of the British MasterChef, and sees ten professional pastry chefs competing for a $100,000 prize. MasterChef Australia judge Melissa Leong and international pastry chef Amaury Guichon feature as judges.
Dessert Masters was announced at Network 10's upfronts in October 2022.[2] A second series has also been commissioned for 2024, with Leong and Guichon returning.[3]
The full cast for the first series was announced on 4 June 2023.[4] [5]
| Gareth Whitton | Winner 28 November | |
| Reynold Poernomo | Runner-up 28 November | |
| Jess Liemantara | Third place 28 November | |
| Kay-Lene Tan | Eliminated 27 November | |
| Kirsten Tibballs | ||
| Andy Bowdy | Eliminated 26 November | |
| Anna Polyviou | ||
| Adriano Zumbo | Eliminated 21 November | |
| Morgan Hipworth | Eliminated 19 November | |
| Rhiann Mead | Eliminated 14 November |
Part of the cast for the second series was announced in May 2024 then the rest of the cast were announced on 15 August 2024.[6]
| Emelia Jackson | Competing | |
| Reece Hignell | Competing | |
| Darren Purchese | Competing | |
| Katherine Sabbath | Competing | |
| Alisha Henderson | Competing | |
| Christy Tania | Competing | |
| Dan Pasquali | Competing | |
| Donato Toce | Competing | |
| Jana Lai | Competing | |
| John Demetrios | Competing |
| Ep#/Wk-Ep# | Original airdate | Episode title / event | Total viewers (five metro cities) | Nightly ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | ||||
| 1/01-1 | Sunday, 12 November 2023 | — Ten of the best dessert chefs in Australia gathered at the MasterChef kitchen for the inaugural season of Dessert Masters, where they will be competing for the title of Australia's Dessert Master and take home $100.000. Their first challenge is to create a dessert masterpiece that describes who they are in three hours. With the season's only immunity pin at stake, the contestants create exceptional desserts. Kirsten took a risk by producing an entremet during the challenge, despite Amaury saying that he would not do that in that particular challenge. Her risk paid off and she was placed the top three. Joining Kirsten in the top three were Andy's roasted fennel cake and Reynold's monochrome dessert. But, it was Reynold's dish that was deemed 'flawless' by Melissa and secured him the first and only immunity pin of the season. Like Masterchef Australia, the pin can save him from being eliminated in an elimination challenge. | 477,000 |
|
| 2/01-2 | Monday, 13 November 2023 | — Amaury showed the contestants some items that looked real but were actually made with chocolate. The challenge was to make a deceptive dessert in three hours. The winner of the challenge will receive immunity from the first elimination challenge. During the final seconds of plating, Gareth's cup for the coffee cup falls apart, forcing him to present the dish as it is. After tasting, the judges decided that Anna's hotdog-inspired dessert and Andy's 'Bound For The Bin' creation were the two best, giving them immunity from the first elimination challenge. | 477,000 |
|
| 3/01-3 | Tuesday, 14 November 2023 | — After Amaury showed a video of him making a pinata out of chocolate, the contestants (except Anna and Andy) had two hours to create a smashed dessert. One contestant will be sent home after this challenge. After tasting, Reynold's Snow White-inspired apple dessert, Adriano's interactive egg dessert and Gareth's chocolate and mugicha cake with sugar dome were deemed the top three and were safe. Kay Lene's meringue and Kirsten's piggy bank desserts also did well, and they were safe. Although Morgan's apple dessert had good flavours, his dish lacked refinement. Rhiann's piggy bank dessert did not smash that well and some of her elements were missing while Jess's smash was underwhelming. The judges agreed that Jess's flavour combinations were enough to save her and Rhiann was the first contestant to be eliminated. | 451,000 | 8[9] |
| 4/01-4 | Wednesday, 15 November 2023 | — The contestants were split into three teams of three for a team relay challenge. The Blue team (Kay-Lene, Gareth and Morgan), the Green team (Andy, Anna and Reynold) and the Orange team (Jess, Kirsten and Adriano) had to compose a dessert featuring maple syrup in two-and-a-quarter hours (forty-five minutes per team member), plus an additional thirty seconds to relay the information to the next teammate. Gareth, Anna and Adriano, as the captains and the first to cook for each team, had the power to conceptualize the creation. The Green team's only problem was Reynold's failure to take Andy's chocolate crumb from the oven. Kay-Lene from the Blue team struggled with Gareth's choice of entremet and Morgan was confused with the concept and needed more instructions. Meanwhile, Jess from the Orange team struggled with the concept that Adriano had made, and by the last changeover, the team still hadn't defined their concept. Kirsten, the last cook, salvaged it by making a maple syrup brownie. Upon tasting, the Orange team, while their dessert was beautifully crafted, had too many elements and was lacking in cohesiveness and while there were good elements in the Blue team's entremet creation, it was no match for the Green team and their intricate but unified and cohesive dessert that gave Andy, Anna and Reynold immunity from the next elimination challenge. | 372,000 |
|
| Week 2 | ||||
| 5/02-1 | Sunday, 19 November 2023 | — The contestants were welcomed with a frozen Mystery Box (the only one this season), which included rosella, chili, beetroot and berry liquor. The contestants (except Anna, Andy and Reynold) were given two-and-a-half hours to create a frozen masterpiece using at least one of the ingredients. Somebody will be sent home today. After tasting, Kay-Lene's dessert, which was inspired by her mentor, Andres Lara, was deemed the best dessert that Amaury tasted so far in the competition and she was declared safe. Kirsten, Gareth and Jess were also impressed with their creations, despite Jess burning her first batch of beetroot tuile. The lack of frozen elements in Adriano's dish left the judges unsure whether his dessert met the brief, but it was Morgan's overuse of the liquor that affected the freezing of the sorbet in his Peach Melba dish. The sorbet, which was the frozen element, melted in front of the judges, sealing his elimination. | 342,000 |
|
| 6/02-2 | Monday, 20 November 2023 | — Continuing from the previous episode, Amaury said that he will work all night to make one of his creations, that will be unveiled in this episode. The result is a sculpture of a koala made entirely with chocolate. The challenge is to make a sensational creation out of chocolate. With immunity from the next elimination at stake, the contestants produced exemplary desserts, despite minor criticism of some dishes. After tasting, the top two are Gareth and Kirsten. Gareth's elevated version of the Black Forest tart with Kirsch and vanilla ice cream impressed the judges, but Kirsten and her incredible creation of chocolate and coffee caviar had the edge. She won immunity from the next elimination. | 449,000 |
|
| 7/02-3 | Tuesday, 21 November 2023 | — The contestants (except Kirsten) had two-and-a-half hours to create a dessert based on the movie they selected. Adriano and Gareth selected Grease, Andy selected The Godfather, Reynold chose Star Trek, Jess opted for Transformers, Anna selected Breakfast at Tiffany's and Kay-Lene selected Pretty In Pink. Jess's Humblebee dessert was declared the best and she was safe. Gareth and Andy impressed the judges with their creations and, while Reynold struggled during the cook and his dessert lacked his usual finesse, his textures and flavours were deemed flawless and he was also declared safe. The bottom three were Kay-Lene, Anna, and Adriano. When the judges analyzing the bottom 3 dishes, this challenge was about creating a dessert inspired by their chosen movies, make whatever dessert that look and taste delicious and execution. Kay-Lene's Pretty In Pink-inspired pavlova had good concept and although her flavours were good, the texture of her champagne jelly was grainy. Anna's high tea was delicious and looked elegant, but the judges argued whether or not she hit the brief. While Adriano's chocolate cup was delicious, his dish had the problem with the main event the structure of the cup itself. Although Adriano's dish was inspired, the time constraint prevented his vision from coming together and he was eliminated. | 412,000 |
|
| Week 3 (Finale Week) | ||||
| 8/03-1 | Sunday, 26 November 2023 | — Curtis Stone entered the MasterChef kitchen as Santa Claus with a bag of goodies. He distributed different fruit to each contestant. The challenge was to create a Christmas-inspired dessert using the assigned fruit in two hours. This was a double elimination. During the cook, Reynold, who was given passionfruit, struggled with the sugar glass sphere element for his Christmas bauble dessert, and despite finally getting one on his third attempt, his attempt to fill the sphere with cream resulted in his sphere shattering, forcing him to play his immunity pin and advance to the semi-final. Kay-Lene, who was given bananas, took a risk by making a cake. Despite the cake nearly collapsing, it received praise from all the judges. Given raspberries, lemon, and apples respectively, Jess, Kirsten, and Gareth also impressed the judges. Andy and Anna's attempts at a trifle with strawberries and blackberries, respectively, as the main ingredients had minor errors, with Andy's being criticized for lack of complexity, particularly in the presentation, and Anna's being criticized for the frozen gel element, and her decision to serve it in a champagne glass for the three judges was perceived as lacking in generosity. Those errors saw both of them eliminated. | 441,000 |
|
| 9/03-2 | Monday, 27 November 2023 | — The contestants had three hours to create a dessert inspired by nature. Two chefs will be eliminated. Everybody performed well in the cook, except Kirsten. In the last seconds, her birdcage element, which was the most integral element, collapsed during plating, forcing her to serve the chocolate and passionfruit entremet as it was. After the tasting, the judges decided that Kirsten's incomplete dessert and Kay-Lene's lack of balance of dry and moist elements on her dessert saw them eliminated, leaving Jess, Reynold, and Gareth to compete in the grand finale. | 471,000 |
|
| 10/03-3 | Tuesday, 28 November 2023 | Grand Finale — | 484,000 |
|
| Winner Announced – | 556,000 |
| ||
A Brazilian version of the series was commissioned in August 2024, named Masterchef Confeitaria, the series will be produced by Endemol Shine Brasil and will premiere on Band.[17] [18]