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Horchata Brulee Churro Bowl

As seen on TV
Which Show?
Who made this dish?
Horchata Creme Brulee in a Churro Bowl
TOP DISH, team Americas. Jake piped and fried churro dough into a bowl shape and filled it with a horchata flavoured creme brulee custard, torched to a sugar crust. He infused the custard by boiling cream and milk with long grain rice, then blending and straining it, and finished with Ceylon and cassia cinnamon. He had planned a white chocolate ganache lining to waterproof the churro bowl but dropped it under time pressure, gambling that the custard would set firm enough not to soak through. Jake, who is adopted and came to Mexican cooking later, framed horchata as the flavour that connected him to his culture. The dish took a top 10 place.
Dialogue:
{Jake}: "How's it going today, guys? I'm gonna be making you guys a horchata creme brulee inside of a churro bowl. Have you ever heard of that?"
{Jake}: "Well, I've been wanting to fill a churro bowl with something."
{Jake}: "I'm also making a quick white chocolate ganache so I can sort of waterproof the bottom of that churro so the custard doesn't leach out into it."
{Jake}: "I think this is absolutely the dish that I could get my win on."
{Jake}: "I came to MasterChef to push my limits as a cook, so I'm feeling like this is just an opportunity for me to impress them not only with my flavors, but with a concept that they've never seen before."
{Jake}: "The big risk with making this dish is that I need to get that custard to set up firm. If my custard doesn't fully set, that breaks down the entire concept of my dish. This close to the top 10, I don't want to give up my apron because I served the judges a bowl of churro custard soup."
{Jake}: "I wish I had more oil."
{Jake}: "A little bit. I decided not to include the white chocolate ganache."
{Jake}: "This dessert was a huge gamble. I'm just feeling so good because not only did I execute it well, but I had a lot of fun while making it. And isn't that what being viral is all about?"
{Jake}: "I think at the very heart of virality is seeing things put together in ways you've never seen before. As for the flavors, horchata is one of those first things I fell in love with when I was learning about my culture. You know, being adopted, not growing up in a Mexican household."
{Jake}: "I boiled the cream and milk with long grain rice, blended and strained it to get that rice flavor in, and then finished it off with Ceylon and traditional cinnamon."
JUDGES IN THE KITCHEN
{Tiffany Derry}: "A churro, by nature, is usually hot when you have them. Then a custard, which is usually cold. And, like, how does that sit?"
{Joe Bastianich}: "You're gonna waterproof with white chocolate?"
{Tiffany Derry}: "Jake, you have not had a win yet, but you've been really close."
{Joe Bastianich}: "Remember, what goes on in your head, you have to put it on the plate."
{Tiffany Derry}: "Hello, Jake. You got your churro done? It definitely looks like a bowl. Was there any issues along the way?"
{Tiffany Derry}: "But it was your barrier. Now, is it going to be soggy in the center?"
{Tiffany Derry}: "Horchata is basically a cinnamon rice milk. We will see how much of that rice flavor gets picked up in the custard. And, I mean, that's the challenge here."
{Nick DiGiovanni}: "Horchata is one of the best things of all time. I love making this at home, but you have to soak that rice overnight in the fridge."
{Nick DiGiovanni}: "This has viral potential."
JUDGES AT THE TASTING
{Joe Bastianich}: "It looks like something you would go to a bakery and buy. It looks professional."
{Nick DiGiovanni}: "Jake is delicious. I'm getting that nice balance of cinnamon and sugar. The flavor gets me just excited as the visual."
{Gordon Ramsay}: "Jake, it's exceptional. Maybe a little hint of spice rolled round in that sugar just to cut the sweetness, but it's delicious."
{Tiffany Derry}: "Love, love that classic churro texture on top. But I also love that you were able to get that custard set in time. I can really taste horchata coming through in there. This is really delicious."
{Gordon Ramsay}: "Well done. Jake. Excellent."
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