MasterChef Season 10, Episode 15

Hello everybody!

I know that I made it seem like I wouldn’t be doing any more write-ups of older episodes of MasterChef in my latest blog post, but after much thinking, and considering the show is returning on Wednesday (I started writing this on Saturday, so even though it’s back now, it wasn’t at the time I began writing it), I feel that I should continue doing these write-ups, and I might even continue to do so even after the season returns!

So, with that out of the way, let’s talk about Season 10, Episode 15!

For this challenge, all the remaining home cooks had to make a box of Twelve Macarons with two different flavors. 

Before I get into the actual episode, I need to let you all know a very important distinction. Macarons are NOT the same as Macaroons. Macaroons are Coconut Cookies that have a coarse texture and look like this:

Macarons are Sandwich Cookies made with Almond Flour and Meringue and filled with Jam, Buttercream, or Ganache, and look like this:

I feel the need to make this distinction because not only is it a common mistake among many people, the judges even made this mistake in this episode, and all the other times the home cooks had to make Macarons. 

So, with that out of the way as well, let’s get into the actual episode!

There was a guest judge this week: Pastry Chef and Baking Show Judge Candace Nelson, who was also the founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, which closed all its locations at the literal end of last year on December 31. Which could be why she is not going to be a judge on the next season of Next Level Baker.

This write-up is going to be much shorter than other ones, as the judges tasted everyone’s boxes of Macarons, but I will explain how the judging worked for this challenge.

The judges would taste the Macarons from each home cook, and from there, decide whether or not they were good enough to get them up to safety on the balcony. 

The first Macarons they tasted belonged to Noah, who I feel can best be described as as a Southern guy who loves cooking Meat, but failed at cooking it correctly more than once. The Macarons that he chose to make were a Raspberry & Chocolate Macaron, and a Macaron with Coffee & French Buttercream, Coffee Liqueur, and Minted Chocolate. I’m just going to get this out of the way right now. I am almost positive that I would want to have all the Macarons that were made in this challenge. Even the ones that were not made correctly, I would be willing to try them if they were made correctly. Here are images of what Noah’s Macarons looked like.

Yeah, you can immediately see some issues there, including one that the judges surprisingly didn’t call out. The challenge specifically called for Twelve Macarons of two flavors, with six of each flavor. Noah managed to get eleven Macarons in his box, made eight Raspberry & Chocolate Macarons, and three Coffee & Mint Chocolate Macarons. What makes their lack of comments on this mistake even more surprising is the fact that they called out other contestants who made the same mistake.

Chef Ramsay immediately called out that the Macarons did not look good consistency-wise, to which Noah said that he knew they were “Aesthetically Unappeasing.” Yes, he actually said that. I got nothing.

Noah then said that despite the fact that his Macarons didn’t look good, the flavors were there. 

Candace Nelson then said that Noah was missing a body to his Macarons, as it crumbled in her hands and gave way, Aaron Sanchez said that he agreed mildly that the flavor rescued it a little bit, and Joe put it in terms that he understood, which was “Big hat, no ranch.” I only just took the time to search what that means, and apparently it means someone who is all talk and no action. I’m going to be honest, I’m impressed that Joe was able to use such an oddly specific and obscure phrase to insult Noah’s Macarons.

This meant that Noah was not able to go up to the safety of the balcony yet.

Up next was Bri, who made Chocolate & Orange Macarons with an Orange Infused Mint Chocolate Ganache, and Chocolate Mint Macarons with a Mint Infused Dark Chocolate Ganache. Here’s an image of what these Macarons looked like. 

Candace nelson said that she thought there was a nice balance between the Chocolate and the Mint, but the Shells were grainy and lumpy, and there were also clearly bubbles in them.

This meant that Bri was also not able to go up to the safety of the balcony yet. 

Up next was Fred, who had already established himself as a very strong baker. What he made was Cinnamon Infused Macarons with Whipped Mascarpone and Lemon-Berry Coulis, and Black Sesame Macarons with Black Sesame Seeds sprinkled on top and a Black Sesame Infused Italian Meringue Buttercream. Here are images of what they looked like.

Chef Aaron Sanchez immediately said that the ruffle on the Macaron was great, but he acknowledged that the flavor combinations Fred went with were very risky. Upon actually tasting them, the judges loved them even more, and they sent him upstairs to the balcony, and also made him bring up his box of Macarons to share with Dorian, who had won immunity following the challenge from the previous episode.

Up next was Micah, and before he could even say what he had made, the judges immediately noticed that he had eleven Macarons instead of twelve. He said that the reasoning for this was that several of his trays ended up spreading, and he had to salvage what he could. He then said that the flavors he made were Lavender Macarons and Lemonade Macarons. Here’s an image of what they looked like.

Candace Nelson then said that the shells were too over-caramelized, as a result of baking at too high of an oven temperature, so all the colors he was going for were now a shade of orange.

This meant that Micah was not able to go up to the safety of the balcony yet. 

Up next was Nick, who some of you might be familiar with because his name is Nick DiGiovanni. Yeah, one of the most famous social media chefs, who apparently has more YouTube followers than Chef Ramsay himself, got his start on MasterChef, which he didn’t even win, and he still managed to have the most post-show success out of any contestant ever.

The flavors he made were Rosewater & Candied Pistachio Macarons, and Passion Fruit Macarons. Here’s an image of what they looked like.

Chef Ramsay immediately pointed out a serious mistake that Nick made, which was that with four minutes to go, he put his Macarons back in the oven, and apparently something you never do is cook a Macaron twice, as it resulted in there being lids with no filling. The judges then said that the shell on the outside was beautifully done, but there was no body inside, but the Passion Fruit Curd was actually beautiful, even though everything else was wrong.

This meant that Nick was not able to go up to the safety of the balcony yet.

Up next was Wuta, who made Lemon Macarons with Blueberry Filling, and Orange Carrot Cake Macarons with Cream Cheese Filling. Here’s an image of what they looked like.

Yeah, you can immediately notice something wrong with this box. He only has seven Macarons in it. The reasoning for this is because when he tried to peel some of the Macarons off the tray, a lot of them didn’t seem done, so he went with what he thought were the best ones.

Unfortunately, things did not get much better when the judges started eating them, as the shell on one of them broke away in a brittle fashion, while another one was sickeningly sweet to the point that you couldn’t take a second bite.

This meant that Wuta was not able to go up to the safety of the balcony yet.

Up next was Sarah, who made Raspberry Rosewater Macarons, and Blackberry & Almond Macarons. Here’s an image of what they looked like. 

Chef Ramsay immediately pointed out that there was a slight overindulgence in size, as they barely fit in the box, but they still looked good, and they also tasted great.

This meant that Sarah could now head up to the balcony with her box of Macarons.

Up next was Shari, who made Saffron, Pistachio, and Cardamom Macarons, and Dark Chocolate Lavender Macarons with Fleur de Sel. Here’s an image of what they looked like.

Candace Nelson told her that the fillings popped from the white canvas, while Chef Ramsay told her that they were one of the best Macarons he had ever tasted.

Up next was Subha, who made Orange Macarons and Rosewater Macarons with Rose Flavoring. Here’s an image of what they looked like. 

Yeah, you can immediately tell something went wrong here. As the judges said, they look like Nuggets, which happened as a result of Subha over-mixing the Meringue. 

Joe Bastianich then said that even with how deformed they were, they had the right amount of crunchiness and chewiness, and in his case, he thought the flavor was good. But despite having good flavor, their presentation was not enough to save him, so he did not go up to the balcony.

Last up was Jamie, a fisherman from South Carolina who is also good at cooking Meat. There is a reason why I said all this. 

What he made was Vanilla Latte & Espresso Macarons and Raspberry Macarons. Here’s an image of what they looked like.

The reason why I pointed out the fact that he is a fisherman that was also good at cooking Meat is because those are some amazing looking Macarons, which the judges were not expecting, and Jamie himself even admitted that he had no idea how Macarons were supposed to taste. 

This meant that Jamie could now head up to the balcony with his box of Macarons.

From there, the judges had to decide who would be going home. 

First, they called out Noah, Bri, Micah, and Nick, and then sent them upstairs, because even though any one of them would be leaving on any other night, there were two boxes of Macarons that were even worse, which meant that Wuta and Subha were the Bottom Two, which tells me that Subha must have really messed up if he had Macarons that still tasted great but looked horrific, considering some of the other home cooks in the bottom weren’t even able to accomplish that.

Ultimately, the flavors were enough to keep him safe, which meant that Wuta was eliminated. 

Overall, this was another great episode that I enjoyed writing about! I hope you all enjoyed reading what I had to say, and I’ll see you all soon when the show returns!