One of the things that I’ve recent gotten into is watching Bon Appetit’s YouTube channel, in particular “Gourmet Makes” and I love the struggle that Claire has in tempering chocolate and think it is hilarious when the editors play that struggle up for laughs. But I know tempering chocolate is no laughing matter as I’ve never done it before and probably one of the reasons I would fail at Chocolate Week, especially the Showstopper. But there were definitely some bakes this week that I think I would have done well in.

Signature Bake

The Bake: 24 chocolate sandwhich cookies

The Time: 2 hours

What I would bake: I would make a take on the chocolate bourbon cookie but the filling would be a mocha filling. I’ve made a few sandwich cookies in the past including my take on an Oreo cookie. I think I would have done well in this challenge.

 

What the contestants baked and judges thoughts:

Every single one of these bakes, I would want to have. They all combine flavours that are my favourites.

Chris: Chocolate meringue dacquoise cookies filled with chocolate French buttercream and dipped in crunchy chocolate. Kyla said the flavours come together and melts in your mouth. Bruno gave Chris’ cookie high praise by saying that he had a similar cookie back in Paris.

Colin: Heart-shaped chocolate shortbread sandwich cookies with pomegranate filling. Bruno noted the lack of filling and that he doesn’t taste the pomegranate at all.

Jasmine: Wine and Roses chocolate buttercream filled cookies with blackberry port wine jam. Bruno and Kyla noted that chocolate taste got lost in the port wine.

Jodi: Churro cookies with spicy chocolate ganache. Bruno says the cookie is baked perfectly and all he tastes is chocolate, chocolate and chocolate, which is a good thing. At first, Kyla was worried about the potential spicy of the cookie but ended up liking it.

Liam: Double chocolate cookies with honey peanut butter. There was an issue with inconsistent sizing of the cookies plus Kyla noted that she tasted more of the peanut butter than chocolate.

Nataliia: Walnut shaped chocolate cookies with a dulce de leche filling. Bruno noted the nice crunchy texture but wanted more walnut and chocolate flavor.

Technical Challenge

The Bake: Marquis au Chocolat

The time: 2 hours

How I would have fared: I think I would have done well with 3 out of the 4 layers. The mousse would be the one layer that I most likely would have struggle with. Every other layer doesn’t seem to out of my wheelhouse.

How our bakers fared:

6. Liam

5. Jodi

4. Nataliia

3. Jasmine

2. Colin

1. Chris

 

The Showstopper Challenge

The Bake: A box of chocolate  – 18 in total – 3 different kinds of chocolate

The Time:  3 and a half hours

What I would bake: If I can get away with it, I would do a light side and a dark side chocolate. I have Star Wars chocolate molds that I would love to use. The dark side chocolate would be dark chocolate Darth Vader with a raspberry coulis middle then a light side chocolate would be a white chocolate R2D2 with a mango jelly middle. The third one would be a mint chocolate Han Solo in carbonite as he is a light side that got trapped by the dark side. The middle would be a cookies and cream mixture. The centerpiece chocolate would be the Rebel Alliance and Empire logos.

What the contestants bakes and judges thoughts:

I think Jasmine’s popping candy chocolate sounds intriguing and definitely want to give it a go. And I am in for Jodi’s box of chocolate as I dig the flavor profile.

Chris: Taste of Singapore box of chocolates that includes a cendol cream (with coconut pandan, red kidney bean paste), mango lassi truffle and lychee caramel chocolate. Bruno said the mango lassi had great flavors. Both judges admired Chris in introducing them to new flavours in the cendol chocolate.

Colin: A Halloween theme box of chocolates with red wine filling roses, black sesame caramel coffins and white chocolate skulls filled with spicy hazelnuts. Kyla was not a fan of the red wine chocolate. Bruno liked the presentation but noted the black sesame caramel was hard to chew. Both judges thought the skull chocolate was a tad spicy.

Jasmine: A bee theme with hibiscus cream chocolate, honeycomb caramel chocolates and one that was filled with popping candy to mimic a bee sting. Kyla liked the latter chocolate calling it the best bee sting she ever got. Kyla loved the bee details of Jasmine’s box. Bruno wanted a stronger honey flavor for her honeycomb chocolate.

Jodi: A tropical theme with coconut chocolate, macadamia nut chocolate and milk chocolate pineapple chocolate. The judges admired that the theme was present in her box but unfortunately not enough filling was in her chocolates.

Liam: A leaf theme box of chocolates with crunchy pistachio, lime peel caramel and salted black licorice. All are filled with marzipan. Bruno didn’t understand why Liam used marzipan as a filling for his lime chocolate and Kyla wanted more of a licorice flavor for this other chocolate.

Nataliia: Weekend getaway box of chocolates with lime thyme cream, hand dipped caramels and mango passionfruit truffles. Kyla was waiting for the lime flavor to hit her but it didn’t. Her mango passionfruit truffle was the winner of the box and the judges didn’t like unpolished look of her hand-dipped caramel.

In the running for Star Baker: Chris and Jodi

In danger of going home:  Liam and Nataliia

Star Baker: Chris

Going Home: Liam

So there goes my last BC baker. Well, here is hoping that Jodi makes it to the final and she does have a good shot. Predictions as to who will make it to the final: Colin, Nataliia and Jodi. Next week is International Week and when I saw that was on the roster, I took a look at an international cookbook my dad gave me one Christmas to see if any of bakes would be ones that the bakers would tackle. Alas, I don’t see anything that I saw in the preview that was in my cookbook.