Building Layered Desserts with Texture Contrast

Voice-over: Successful layered desserts balance multiple textures and flavors. Tom's winning cups demonstrated this perfectly with "coffee soaked biscotti at the bottom dark chocolate mousse and then a white chocolate masala mousse on top." The biscotti provided crucial crunch against silky mousses. Paul praised: "it's a balance of the sweet and the bitter. Even that chocolate brings something to it as well. So the whole thing together it is exceptional." Other successful combinations included hazelnut caramel providing texture Viennese biscuit adding crunch and sponges soaking up flavor. However Nadia's all-soft textures failed: "I think that the biscuit should be crisper. Just think it's all too soft." Each layer must be distinct - Lesley's thin mousse "almost like a ganache" meant she "missed the trick of celebrating that mousse."