Masterchef UK Professionals
Baker:
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Week:
Challenge Type:
Japanese Soufflé Pancakes and Sake Poached Plums
Alix had never made or heard of a soufflé pancake before. Despite this, she correctly identified the component steps, making a meringue with egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar, then folding it into a pancake batter. Her meringue reached stiff peaks successfully. However, execution went wrong at the cooking stage. Her pan was too hot at the beginning, causing too much colour on the bottom of the pancakes. She then added too much water to the pan, which deflated the pancakes and made them flat and soggy rather than tall and fluffy. She chose to plate only one pancake, discarding the others due to excessive colourisation. The sake poached plums lacked sufficient sake flavour.
{Alix}: "I've never made soufflé before."
{Monica}: "This is possibly not the best place to start. Have you made pancakes?"
{Alix}: "I've made pancakes before."
{Philli}: "She needs to make sure that she doesn't over-beat the meringue and knock out all the air."
{Philli}: "Don't lose it now, Alix."
{Philli}: "That pan looks a bit hot. Oh, gosh, Alix. Oh ... there's too much water."
{Alix}: "They're not great. They're a bit too much colour on the bottom."
{Alix}: "I decided not to sear the other one. There is too much colourisation on it. I'd rather not put it on the plate."
{Philli}: "I'm sorry, she's only getting one pancake."
{Alix}: "Feeling bad. Yeah, it all went wrong. A Japanese soufflé pancake - I've literally never heard of it. Yeah, terrible."
Variation from demo: Pan was too hot causing excessive browning. Too much water added at once deflated the pancakes - Philli had warned drops only. Only one pancake plated. Sake flavour insufficient in the plums. The meringue and batter preparation were correct but the cooking went wrong.
{Philli}: "Alix, I feel like you definitely had a plan at the beginning. You might have lost your way halfway through, but you've got a plate of food, so well done."
{Matt}: "Your pancake mix, your meringue - that was good. But then it was the control of the cookery. Your pan was too hot at the beginning. It got too dark, and there was then so much water in the pan, it sort of ruined the pancake and they became flat."
{Philli}: "They didn't, and the soggy poached plums. I really wanted to taste the flavour of the sake. There wasn't much of that there."
{Marcus}: "Alix, you know, this wasn't great, but what we need you to do now is put it behind you and come back fighting. Got that?"
{Matt}: "Tough watch. Really difficult."
{Philli}: "Maybe the nerves got the better of her. Happens in the MasterChef kitchen."
Note: Judges acknowledged strong preparation (meringue, batter) but cooking execution failed. Pan too hot, too much water, insufficient sake in poaching liquid. Marcus encouraged her to move on and fight back in the next round.
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