She smiled and gave me a thumbs up. "They look amazing!" she said.
"I hope the judges like it."
16
Jack
Iwas trying to be a nicer judge. The pilot episode hadn't shown me in a sympathetic light, and people hadn't even seen the latest episode, in which I told Chloe her cookie tasted like garbage and implied she needed to lose weight. No wonder she had looked like a scared little rabbit this morning. Or maybe that had something to do with my licking the frosting off her finger. It had been an impulsive decision, but it was an experience I wanted to repeat. Minus the frosting, of course.
"The desserts in this round are so imaginative," Anu said. "I can tell everyone is stepping up their game."
The production assistants placed trays of beautiful colorful little custards on individual spoons in front of us as Chloe stood on her mark in front of the table.
Nick took a bite of the green custard while I tried the pink one. It was an explosion of flavor.
"The texture on this is so intriguing. It's not foam, and it doesn't taste whipped. It's like a cloud, it's like eating a cloud," Nick said.
"I used the Platinum Provisions air injector pump with the—"
Please don't call it a fluffer, I thought.
"With the snow-maker." That was a good name for it.
"It's very clever," Nick said. "It almost reminded me of the texture of Japanese shaved ice except this was room temperature. I wish the viewers could try this. We talk a lot about taste and smell, but texture is usually relegated to crunch. This is something new and different."
"Also," Anu said, "the flavor. It's almost a cliché at this point to talk about hating Christmas fruitcake that's been sitting around for months, but with this dessert, I can taste the fruit and the nuttiness."
I took a bite of the green custard. It was pistachio, but it wasn't too sweet. It was more nutty and salty.
"It's interesting how you deconstructed the dish, but it’s still a pudding," I said.
Nick and Anu nodded appreciatively at my comment.
It didn't take us long to figure out the winner and loser.
"Chloe's dish was amazing," Nick said. "She's the clear winner."
"You made the snow-maker?" Anu asked me.
"Yes," I said.
"Where can I buy, like, ten of them for my restaurant?" Nick asked.
"They're in production now," I told him, feeling pleased that my invention had worked so well.
"I'm serious. You have to make sure to deliver several of them to me."
"Of course," I told him.
"Also, can we make requests of Platinum Provisions?" Anu asked.
"I don't see why not," I said. "Let's set up a meeting. We're always looking to innovate."
I wished Hartleigh was being sent home, but the two pastry chef judges had thought her tiny tarts in chocolate, lemon, and almond were well executed.
A girl who had made a rice pudding was sent home. She cried when Anastasia told her to say goodbye.
"It was really terrible," Anu remarked after we did the interviews in the late afternoon.
