Original subtitles

GARY MEHIGAN: Callum, Adam...

..it all boils down to this.

Adam...

..did I like it?

I loved it!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Adam, you are Australia's MasterChef.

CALLUM: I was pretty devastated

falling short in the season two finale against Adam.

And then coming back a second time...

I'm feeling really emotional because either, um...

(CLEARS THROAT)

..uh, either Laura is sending me home or vice versa,

which really sucks.

..I fell short again.

I'm sorry, Callum.

You're going home.

Coming into this competition, I had that sense of unfinished business.

I really wanted to get right here to the pointy end.

And finally I'm here.

There's no doubt Laura is one of the best contestants

who has ever been in the MasterChef kitchen

that hasn't won it yet.

We've been mates for, like, 10 years,

and she doesn't really have a weakness,

so she's going to be mighty tough to beat.

So I'm going to leave no stone unturned.

I'm ready to go out there and win this thing.

Brent, you are

Australia's new MasterChef.

Congratulations!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

LAURA: In my first grand finale...

..it was utterly devastating to lose to Brent.

The MasterChef for 2014, Brent!

But then...

MELISSA LEONG: Emelia,

you are the winner of MasterChef: Back To Win!

I think coming second again...

..it was heartbreaking.

EMILIA: (TEARFULLY) Sorry.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

How the hell have I come so close twice?

How do you recover? How do you pull yourself out?

How do you tell yourself that it's, like, OK to not win?

(TEARFULLY) And, you know, as hard as it was to come back...

..like, I just couldn't say no.

They say third time is a charm. It is so close. This is it.

Today is the day that I turn this dream into my reality.

Callum is a great cook.

He's the Calculator,

the human calculator, like a strategy king,

and he is a force to be reckoned with,

but it's all come down to this moment.

One of us will take out the title.

It's the best and worst feeling...

..but the only option this time around...

..is to win.

ANDY: Here they are!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

This is the grand finale of MasterChef 2025: Back To Win!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Just think, you both set foot in this kitchen over a decade ago.

You were just kids,

full of hopes and dreams of winning this competition.

This is the moment you've been working towards all those years.

Two titans cooking for the ultimate prize...

..the trophy...

..the title of MasterChef Australia

and ¤250,000.

Laura, your third grand finale.

Honestly, just so proud to have made it this far.

Like, all the feels are coming back. Deja vu.

All the happy and sad times that I felt

throughout the previous finales as well.

But, um, like, it's just a true honour to be here.

Callum, how does it feel for you to be standing here again?

Oh, Sofe, it feels incredible.

Um, and to do it with someone I can call a mate as well,

and someone who I've been through this experience with before,

um, feels particularly special.

Laura's cooked in the grand finale twice.

How do you feel going up against that?

Uh, well, she's cooked in it twice, but she hasn't, like...

Say it. ..won it yet.

(LAUGHTER)

Um, yeah, so I'm hoping that all that experience

that she's got of coming second really comes to the fore today.

Guys, Auntie Poh's feeling all the feels. Um...

Just looking at you two,

I actually get quite emotional because this competition,

it has shaped your lives.

You came here super young.

And, Laura, I just always remember

your little chipmunk voice at the audition,

and it's just so crazy to see you both now

with families and your amazing businesses.

(TEARFULLY) But I just want to take a moment to say

I hope you feel incredibly proud of yourselves...

..because I know how hard you have fought to get here.

Thanks, Poh. Thanks, Poh. We love you.

Well, we are so proud of both of you.

And we aren't the only one.

We can't start this grand finale without them.

Please welcome your loved ones!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Oh!

KID: Cuddles! Family cuddles!

Hi, Flossie! Hi!

Hey, Papa. Come here.

Hey, darling. I've missed you, little possum.

You want to come say hi? ANDY: Here they are!

You want to come say hi?

Look at them waving. Look up there!

Look at me, everybody!

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Unbelievable.

This is cuteness overload right now. My heart is exploding!

Yeah, so this is little Florence. Say, "Hi, everybody."

Hey, Florence. Say, "Hi, Andy."

(LAUGHTER)

And my husband, Max, my mum, Anita, and my dad, Sandro.

Hello.

This is my mum, Deb, this is Elle and Henry,

my beautiful wife, Crystal, plus one more.

(LAUGHTER)

Uh, Max, you told Laura a while ago to never give up,

and that's been Laura's mantra

ever since she's walked back into that kitchen.

When I said that,

I didn't really realise the level that she had,

because she has just blown me away this year.

(TEARFULLY) Like, she is unbelievable,

like the most...the strongest person I know and have ever met.

Like, yeah, just incredibly proud.

Crystal, congratulations.

Not even having a nearly baked bun in the oven

has stopped you from coming.

Did you always believe that Callum could make it to the grand finale?

Of course!

He's such a creative cook.

This kitchen has been such a huge part of his life

and he just loves food.

What about you, Elle? Do you like Dad's cooking?

Yeah.

What's your favourite thing that Dad makes?

Pasta.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

What was that, Henry? can you say that again, my boy?

Cook. You want me to cook?

Oh, I will be shortly, mate. You're impatient.

(LAUGHTER) "Get back in the kitchen, Dad!"

Good luck. Thank you.

DEB: Love you. Love you too, Mum.

It is the most special feeling in the world,

having my beautiful wife and my mum

and my kids up there in the gantry today.

CRYSTAL: Can you see Daddy?

They've sacrificed a lot for me to be here in the first place,

and I feel like I owe it to them to do the best I possibly can.

POH: OK, today you'll be going head-to-head across two rounds.

Each of us will give your dishes a score out of 10.

Whoever has the highest score after the second round will win.

Ready to see what round one is all about?

(EXHALES) Let's do it. Yeah.

The first round is all about what's under there.

(ALL EXCLAIM) Looks like a magic trick.

Look, Florence! (GASPS)

Look at that! Wow!

You're looking at five classic flavour pairings.

Cheese and onion.

Oh.

Lemon and ginger.

Peanut and chilli.

Potato and rosemary.

And olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Ooh.

You'll need to use one of these classic flavour pairings

in your finished dish.

Which pair you end up with comes down to pure strategy.

You'll each take it in turns,

eliminating pairs, until only one remains.

Whoever pulls the golden knife will get first pick.

You go first, Lozzie. Sure. Yeah, go for it.

Ooh.

Ssshing! Sha-shing!

The golden knife. The golden knife!

I've won the golden knife,

and the tricky thing about Laura and I knowing each other so well is

that we know each other's strengths.

OK, Callum, you're picking first.

Thanks, Poh.

Callum, which of these five pairings do you want to take off the table?

Uh, I would like to take off the table, please,

the cheese and onion, Andy.

Ooh. Taking off cheese and onion?

Yes, please.

Any reason behind that?

I guess two.

One, I'm struggling to think of a good dish

that's not like just a packet of beautiful potato chips.

And secondly, I'm seeing old mate burnt onion broth

nailing a dish over here,

so I feel like I don't want her to have that flavour to play with.

Laura, it's your turn.

What pair DON'T you want to cook with today?

Peanuts and chillies.

Ah!

That was a quick answer. Oh, yeah, yeah.

I'm just not vibing it at all.

Callum, back to you, mate. It's your turn.

Let's knock off the olive oil, balsamic, please.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

Right, Laura, this is a big decision.

I've been given that chance

to choose the last ingredient.

I'm just looking at both combinations,

and I know I can do something incredible with both.

The pairings you have left are lemon and ginger,

potato and rosemary.

I've got a very good dish idea in mind,

and I am, like, really wanting that lemon and ginger

and I just hope that that's the one that she also wants.

What pair would you like to take off the table?

Lemon and ginger.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

That was predictable. Sorry, Cal.

That leaves you both with potato and rosemary.

You'll have 75 minutes.

The pantry and garden are open.

Jean-Christophe, would you like to do the honours?

Oh, yes.

Are you ready?

Yes. Yes. Good luck.

Your time start...

..now! Let's go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Ooh! Who's gonna win?

CALLUM: Keep some potatoes for the rest of us, mate.

Golly gosh!

Oh, you know how I feel about potatoes.

Laura had the opportunity to choose what we ARE cooking with today,

which has to mean that she has

a good potato and rosemary dish up her sleeve.

Here, have a bunch of rosemary. There you go.

I love potato and rosemary as much as the next person,

but I'm just racking my brains going,

"What am I going to do with these flavours

"that the judges haven't seen before?"

The smoked vinegar.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I know that I need to get a massive score in round one,

because I do not want to be behind Laura

going to that second round.

Let's go, Loz! Whoo! MAX: Yeah, Lozzie!

Laura has proven time and time again what a brilliant cook she is,

plus she is, like, finale match-fit,

so my strategy going into this cook is to try and think of a dish

that is not what the judges are thinking.

(BEEPING)

Nice one, Lozzie. Oh, no.

Should be just enough time is that for you, mate?

I think so.

I know that potato and rosemary really work best together

when there's a kind of a salty element

to bring that to the fore,

whether that's a cheese or an anchovy.

In my case today, oysters.

CRYSTAL: He's got oysters. Ooh!

On my very first date with Crystal, we had champagne and oysters,

and so seeing her walk into the kitchen,

it's hard not to want to sort of do something

that reminds me of her as well.

So my dish is going to be a one-bite little number.

An oyster. There's going to be little potato noodles.

It's going to be in an oyster shell

that's made out of potato flour and then brushed with bacon fat

that I've infused with rosemary as well.

It's going to be a really sort of fun

and visual way to start this finale.

This dish is a bit more conceptual, but I want to win this competition.

And so I feel like playing it safe is not an option.

ANITA: Go, Lozzie!

LAURA: Setting myself up in this first round

to be ahead of Callum is crucial,

because I honestly think that this is going to be

the biggest showdown in MasterChef history.

So I need to put up a dish that is absolutely perfection.

something new, something innovative, but also still so true to me.

ANDY: Laura! JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Laura, hello. Hello.

Third grand finale,

and you're cooking with potato and rosemary.

Yep. Love it. What are you gonna make?

I'm gonna make a potato, rosemary and samphire risotto,

and then a little rosemary oil

to kind of, like, season everything together.

Wow.

But I'm using the potato as the actual rice.

So there's no rice. OK.

Wow. So it's using diced potato

cooked essentially like you would rice,

in a really beautiful intense stock.

Potato rice - where did this come from?

Um, a few different places.

There's a restaurant in Paris called Septime,

and they have this, like,

incredible entree that they will cook the potatoes down

and serve it with just seaweed butter on top.

And I kind of got that inspiration from that technique.

And it's just kind of about bringing textures

and techniques that I haven't done before,

but familiar flavours that are so me,

because I just can't go too far from who I am.

I think you're a combination of smart and brave.

Smart because you're sticking to the flavours that you know.

Yeah.

Brave because you're trying a technique

you've never done before.

You've got to bring those two together and make this dish

the best dish you've ever created in this kitchen. I will.

Your dish sounds absolutely super exciting.

Good luck, yeah? Thank you so much. Thank you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Clearly, this has a little homage to being Italian,

but not like, you know, risotto.

Is she gonna put the potatoes through a ricer,

or how's she doing it?

She'll cut it into little cubes.

Wow. That's crazy!

The base to my dish is cubes of potatoes,

measured to one centimetre wide

and then cooked like you would a grain of rice,

slowly in my smoked pipi broth,

until the texture is perfect.

It's something the judges are going to be absolutely mind-blown by.

I've been in this position twice before.

I've lost twice,

um, and I just want to win.

So I'm literally going all out.

Like, I'm throwing everything I have at this dish.

I can't wait to see her put this together.

WOMAN: Go, Cal.

CALLUM: I want to make sure I absolutely smash this round one,

because Laura is going to be very difficult to beat

in probably a pressure test in round two.

So important I get off to a good start.

In order to wow the judges,

I'm going to make an edible oyster shell

and it's going to be made out of potato flour.

It's going to have the flavour of a potato chip,

but it's going to have the visual aspect of an oyster.

I think that's going to blow the judges socks off.

Nice, Cal.

I've got my two different potato starch batters.

One I'm going to keep white, and one coloured with some squid ink

so that when I marble them together,

they're going to have

a very realistic oyster-shell appearance.

Beautiful.

What do you think? Really good.

I reckon it's good.

Callum. Hey, gents. How are you? Good.

Um...

..potato and rosemary.

OK. What's the whole dish?

So it's going to be, uh, oysters, potato and rosemary.

So I'm going to make oyster shells out of potato flour.

So I've been rendering down bacon and rosemary fat,

and I'm going to baste that on the inside of the oyster shells.

Gonna have some little, uh, slightly crunchy potato noodles

for a bit of freshness in there.

The oyster itself,

going to make a little rosemary and oyster mayonnaise.

And then this is a lemon and mandarin gel,

just for some freshness.

This is a one-bite? It is indeed, yeah.

One bite.

This is your most important one-bite in your entire MasterChef career.

The grand finale, round one,

everything rides on one mouthful of food.

Think you can be the next MasterChef?

Only one way to find out. Applications are open now.

Head to the link below and apply. We'll see you in the kitchen.

ANDY: Everything hinges on one bite.

Yeah. One bite!

What I actually like about one-bite is that,

if the balance is wrong, it's on me. You know what I mean?

Like, I'm forcing you to eat the dish in a certain way. Yeah.

And so if I can balance everything beautifully,

and if I can get that right amount of potato and rosemary -

you can still taste it, it's not just about the oyster -

then, um, hopefully it'll be enough to put myself

in good stead against Lozzie over there.

I know you've got it in you. Absolutely smash it.

Thank you, guys. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: All the best, Callum.

Really appreciate it.

I'm taking a major risk today, but there's a lot of strategy here.

I'm trying to create the perfect bite for the judges,

and if I can get that balance absolutely spot-on,

then I think it's going to be pretty hard for them to fault it.

I'm putting all my eggs in one basket, and by one basket,

I mean one edible oyster shell.

He's a nutter! I know.

Thank you.

One bite.

Cal, you're nuts.

You're absolutely nuts.

It is risky, but I think if he balances this right,

it will be a testament to his geniusness,

and it could be a real winner.

Oh, my God, Cal, that is insane!

True to form,

Callum and Laura have just both come out swinging in round one. Oh, yeah.

And they're both taking risks, I feel.

Callum is risking everything in round one on one bite.

Oh, he's going back there? He's going back there.

SOFIA: In some ways, Callum is giving himself full control...

That's what he said. ..of how we eat.

He's going all in.

It's not a bad play if you can pull it off.

Definitely.

Laura, cleverly, is sticking to flavours that she knows,

but then she's using the technique that she saw in Paris.

Kind of like a risotto, but it was made of potato cubes.

So these potato cubes have to be cooked so perfectly.

It's going to have the texture like a risotto.

That for me is just a huge pressure point.

So, basically speaking, this is very difficult.

A lot of technique. A lot of technique.

LAURA: Need to just finish seasoning up the sauce.

ANITA: Smells amazing, Loz.

SANDRO: Yeah, beautiful. It's coming up here.

Tasting my broth...

Yum!

..for my potato and samphire risotto,

I am so happy. The depth of flavour

is insane.

It's creamy, it's smoky,

it's got all of that beautiful, herbaceous rosemary flavour.

Good.

I've made my really green, deep rosemary oil,

and now it's time to start cooking out

these potatoes in that broth.

MAN: Oh, the potato cubes are on.

These potatoes are like the rice, the risotto.

It's so hard to get it perfect.

I'm going for, like,

an al dente texture in that potato today.

So I'm just adding, like you would with risotto,

you know, a few tablespoons of that liquid at a time,

until it kind of absorbs.

Literally standing here, trying not to do too much else.

MAX: She's in the zone.

The only thing that is, like, in this kitchen right now is me,

my stove top and my potatoes.

This dish is literally like a homage to every single moment

in my life that led me to this point.

And if I nail it, this is the dish

that's actually going to score me the most points.

You know, for a finale-worthy dish,

if I could have chosen any dish in the world, this is honestly it.

Everyone is here to cheer you on! 15 minutes to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Let's go, Cal! Go, Callum!

CALLUM: OK, it's time to check on my potato chip oysters.

These oyster shells are kind of the secret weapon for me

in this one-bite,

and if they don't crisp up, I don't have a dish.

Oh, beautiful.

Oh, they are absolutely perfect!

AUDRA: Oh, Callum! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Way to go, Cal!

I could not be happier.

Yeah!

Now I need to try and make them look as realistic as possible.

I'm going to brush it with edible silver on the outside,

and then paint like a kind of rosemary bacon fat

on the inside for the white part of the oyster.

SNEZ: Oh, wow. Look at that.

CATH: How good do they look?

AUDRA: Oh, way to go, Callum! Thanks, mate.

WOMAN: Whoo! Come on, Laura!

LAURA: I'm tasting these potatoes

like they're almost going out of fashion.

Um, they've absorbed all the liquid, but have they cooked evenly?

Ooh, potatoes.

I'm actually not too sure.

If these potatoes aren't perfect,

I've literally set myself up for failure.

Here we go.

So now it's time to put this all together.

I've blanched my samphire.

Add that into a frying pan with those potatoes,

and I'm just adding a little bit more stock

to really give it that beautiful risotto-like texture.

Go, Laura! Go, Laura.

I've also got some more of those pipis

cooked over the hibachi to get some more smoke in.

And finally, I'm taking my broth to a really intense,

buttery and creme fraiche smoked pipi sauce

that I'm actually emulsifying

to create all these beautiful air bubbles.

I want it to be a really luxurious sauce

that just almost, like, melts away,

like sea foam when a wave hits the shore.

We're so close. Like, I'm so close.

Make potato and rosemary a winning combo!

You have five minutes to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

How are you going, Lozzie? Are you good, mate?

Yeah, good. You?

Yeah, good, mate.

I've got to assemble these things.

Look, I'm feeling OK.

I just now need to make sure that the balance

of this whole shebang is absolutely perfect.

I start out with that potato chip oyster shells

had that bacon and rosemary fat painted all over the inside,

so it's super kind of perfumed and smoky and savoury.

Apple.

Just a little bit of apple for freshness

and a little bit of caviar for bougie-ness, because why not?

It's finale day.

We've got the lemon and mandarin gel,

the nice fresh oyster.

I'm going to hit it next with those potato noodles.

I've stitched myself up a little bit

by giving the judges something that is one bite,

so I just have to make sure

that I get the balance absolutely perfect.

SOFIA: That trophy is on the line!

Two minutes to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

LAURA: I am definitely starting to feel the stress.

I think the potatoes are hopefully cooked through,

but I just need to crack on to actually plate this dish.

I'm spooning on a lot

of that beautiful potato and samphire risotto.

I've got the chargrilled pipis

as well as the pickled pipis in there.

I've got a little bit of blood lime.

I'm dressing that with my incredible rosemary oil.

I definitely think it showcases rosemary and potato.

I can't leave any stone unturned.

I need to give every single little bit of me

and put it into this dish.

I just hope it's enough to get me ahead of Callum.

Round one of the finale is over in 10...

ALL: Nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

How good! Oh, well done, mate.

Wowie!

For this round, there's a total of 40 points up for grabs.

The first dish we'd like to taste belongs to...

..Laura.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Oh, wow.

That looks delicious.

What's the dish?

So, it's a samphire and potato risotto

with a smoked pipi broth,

rosemary oil, some in the broth,

and then just some fresh rosemary flowers.

Your whole dish rests on the texture of those potatoes.

Yeah.

You just stressed me out, Sofe.

Laura...

..it's not easy to get those potatoes right.

In fact, it's very easy to get them wrong and inconsistent.

They can turn to mush or they can be too crunchy,

but the texture is insane.

(APPLAUSE)

Using a waxy potato, when you bite down on them,

you get this beautiful cross-section of the potato

without it crumbling at all.

And every single one of mine was cooked exactly the same.

It's pure skill, it's pure touch.

And that's what you have in absolute spades, Laura.

Laura, this is another sensational iteration

of the flavours and ingredients

that we know you so well for.

Yes!

I wasn't convinced that you could show us something new,

but you really did.

And today I think it was a lot through texture.

I love that you said

that you were going to make a risotto,

and you really did treat your potatoes like a risotto.

The outside and the inside are all cooked so evenly.

And I love what that rosemary gives to the dish.

It actually links with the samphire really well.

And above all,

the potato and rosemary really are the heroes of the dish.

You have done such an amazing job.

Yeah, I love it.

I'm so proud of you.

What you've delivered is exceptional.

This is generous, well presented, very well combined to perfection.

You kept everything controlled like a chef,

and you deserve to wear this white jacket

because this is absolutely fantastic.

Thank you.

SOFIA: You've put up a plate

that is so deeply and distinctively you.

Thanks so much, Laura.

Thank you very much. Well done, Laura.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Well done! We were never going to make this easy.

Callum.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CALLUM: Yeah, this has been a hard challenge.

I've got all this pressure on me

to make this bite the most perfect bite

of my MasterChef competition.

I'm questioning.

I'm going, like, "Did I get the balance right?

"Did I get the proportions right?"

Hello, gang.

"Can they taste the rosemary potato?"

(JUDGES EXCLAIM)

All those little kind of decisions I made along the cook,

I just hope I got them right.

POH: Oh, wow.

Callum, round one. What's the dish?

Potato, rosemary and oyster.

It's got shimmer under it.

Wow.

Incredible.

Thanks, Poh.

It looks like it's straight off a rock.

Mate, you've got a lot of courage, because there's a chance

that you haven't got the balance right,

and you have bet everything in round one on one bite of food.

Callum...

..um...

..I love it.

(LAUGHS)

You know what, Callum?

You've reproduced something

which is an explosion of textures, flavours.

The mandarin and the lemon

are giving that little acidity and sharpness

into this fantastic well emulsion mayonnaise.

The way you've cushioned the whole lot in the bottom

of this superbly represented oyster shell,

using the starch of the potatoes is impeccable.

Callum, the appearance was exceptional.

I've never seen anything like that before.

But not only that,

you just got that slight smokiness

from that bacon fat and rosemary on the bottom,

which I think could probably be the best move you made.

Callum, as an artist, I was in such disbelief

when I saw how realistic those shells were.

And then all those layers, the salinity of the oyster,

the minerality of it.

Just the way

all those flavours layered in your mouth.

You've created a really captivating dish.

That is a feat.

You've absolutely done yourself proud.

Thank you, Poh. Thank you, Callum.

Cheers, mate. Well done. Thank you, guys, thank you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I definitely took a risk today

and that's the best feedback I could have hoped for.

Well done, Cal!

But I know Laura's done an amazing job as well,

and I cannot let her have a lead going into round two.

Well done. Bravo.

DARRSH: (WHISPERS) It's tense.

SARAH: I mean, this is actually going to be impossible to judge.

Callum...

..you had one bite to nail it, mate.

And...

..you did. I gave you 9 out of 10.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Callum, that shell was an absolute triumph.

I scored you...

..9 out of 10.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Callum, that was an explosion of flavours.

A true amuse-bouche.

So I gave you...

..a 10 out of 10.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Thank you, Chef.

Callum, what an imaginative bite of food.

It was...

..the perfect mouthful!

10 out of 10!

(APPLAUSE)

After Round 1, that's a total score of 38 out of 40.

LAURA: My biggest fear going into Round 2 is being

quite a few points behind Callum.

That does then start to mess with your state of mind.

Now, Laura...

..the cook on those potatoes, it required incredible technique.

And yours...

..were on the money.

9 out of 10.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Laura, not only did you reinvent risotto,

you showed us a completely new take

on the classic pairing - potato and rosemary.

9 out of 10 for me.

Laura, you were so in control during that cook.

And it showed on the plate.

That's why I gave you...

..10 out of 10. Yes!

Throwing them out, left, right and centre.

Laura, your bowl of food was generous,

clever and beautiful.

I am giving you...

..10 out of 10!

She's all tied up.

Whoo! We've got a fight on our hands, don't we?

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Oh, yeah!

POH: This is unprecedented.

You're going into Round 2 entirely even.

You're really going to have to fight tooth and nail

to make headway now.

Round 2 is a pressure test.

And, trust me, you will be feeling the heat.

When thinking up a grand finale dish

complex and brilliant enough to challenge

two of the greatest cooks this kitchen has ever seen,

we knew we had to go big.

And this dish is going to be one of the greatest feats of your careers.

Whoa! Oh!

The chef who created it is one of Asia's top pastry chefs.

Oh.

He discovered the love of baking at six years old.

Wow. Wow.

He's altered the landscape of pastry in the Philippines forever.

DEPINDER: Oh, Manila.

Lucky for us, he now calls Australia home.

He's won more awards in his career

than most chefs in a lifetime.

Named Philippines' best pastry chef,

please welcome Miko Aspiras.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CATH: He's so young!

AUDRA: It's a lovely Asian gene. He will look 17 till he's 80.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: How are you?

He looks sweet. Yeah.

SOFIA: Miko, welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.

Thank you so much.

I'm just so excited to be here today.

The pastry scene in the Philippines is so diverse.

What else makes it really special?

In the Philippines, we have many different influences

and that reflects in our food.

And, also, I think the most special part of pastry scene

in the Philippines is me.

(LAUGHTER)

LAURA: Yes, Miko!

I love it. Oh, you seem so nice! Oh, no...

You think he's nice now. I know.

Miko, just how difficult is this dish going to be?

Well, this is the most technical

and complex dessert that I've ever created.

(GROANING)

Laura, Callum, are you ready to find out what you'll be making?

Can't wait. Definitely.

GANTRY: Oh... Oh, jeez!

Alright, Miko, let 'em have it.

Today, you will be making my...

(SCREAMS) What the...?! What?!

MAN: Jesus!

..botanical garden.

(HEAVENLY MUSIC PLAYS)

Like an edible bouquet of flowers.

Oh.

Mm.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Come on, guys. Have a good look.

LAURA: Oh, my God! Oh, my goodness. Come closer.

This is a stroke of genius. Oh, my God! Holy crud!

So, this dish is composed of my petit fours.

WOMAN: Oh, my God.

The lollipop flowers are raspberry and strawberry gum truffles.

SNEZ: Oh, my goodness!

LAURA: Beautiful. CALLUM: Incredible.

So the lollipop flowers are filled with strawberry, raspberry ganache

dipped into a raspberry chocolate.

Wow.

The most technical part there is the texture of the ganache.

It's very fudgy. Yeah. SNEZ: Wow.

And then we have the pebbles.

Those are profiteroles.

Wow.

Oh, my gosh.

The pebble, there's a lot of things going on in there.

So, the very middle is Earl Grey tea mousse.

And then the profiterole.

Then it's dipped into a dark chocolate coating.

And then there's a mandarin dark chocolate ganache.

Then finally, the dark grey chocolate layer.

And sprinkled with lemon myrtle crumble.

Wow. AUDRA: Oh, my God.

It's like, how many elements are in that one small thing?

Fitting all that,

all six layers inside something that big - not easy.

Yeah. So, definitely, the amount of each component

that you put in there, you have to be really critical about that.

'Cause that's going to affect the eating experience as well.

Yeah.

SARAH: Oh, my God. It looks like an actual pot plant.

There's so much detail in it. Miko's a magician.

It is insane.

These are chocolate twigs with wattle seed tuiles.

Ooh.

ANDY: That looks so good.

BEN: Good lord.

We have aloe vera spikes.

LAURA AND CALLUM: Wow!

Whoa!

For me, probably the most technical one in terms of tempering chocolate.

So, on the inside, it's a gel foam filling

made out of calamansi,

it's a Filipino ingredient.

POH: Which is a citrus.

And it's mixed with aloe vera juice.

Oh, yeah.

So fresh. So zingy.

I think across all the petits fours,

that nothing's, like, super decadent, chocolatey.

Everything's got this, like, really refreshing kind of flavour to it.

Mm-hm. Incredible.

WOMAN: Wow. Looks like a lot of elements.

DECLAN: It is a hell of a lot.

Pressure tests are designed to, you know, put the heat on,

put the pressure on and Miko's come in and pulled out the big guns.

Very glad I'm up on the gantry right now.

I'm a big fan of, you know, flowers and nature

and this is right up my alley,

but I certainly don't think I could be cooking that!

Well, it's time.

You will have...

..4.5 hours.

(AUDRA LAUGHS)

That's ridiculous.

Everything you need to recreate Miko's masterpiece

is at your benches.

The recipe, equipment and ingredients.

You are aiming for an identical dish in both looks and taste.

Each of us will score your dish out of 10.

So, for this round, there's 50 points up for grabs.

That total will be added to your scores in Round 1

and that will determine our winner.

Miko, do you want to do the honours? Yes. My pleasure.

Your time starts...

..now!

(CHEERING)

WOMAN: Go, Cal! ANITA: Go, Lozzie!

Go, Lozzle!

Butter. Water. Milk. Salt. Sugar.

Oh, my God, so much to do.

There's like 7,000 pages to this recipe.

There is so much to get right in this dish today.

I mean, there's four complete different petits fours

within this whole beautiful garden.

And the first thing I'm doing is the pebbles.

The first element I need to make is the actual profiterole itself.

The profiterole is almost the crunch inside the actual stone

that holds that Earl Grey mousse.

She glistening.

It's got a really thin, crispy shell,

a really aerated centre

that allows for enough mousse to sit inside of it.

Tea, tea, tea, tea, tea.

Earl Grey tea. Earl Grey tea.

I'm just kind of reading a few steps ahead,

um, to kind of know, you know,

get a thermometer out for, like, step seven.

The last time I cooked in a pressure test

in the grand finale was actually in season six,

and so much went wrong.

I don't know what's happening, I really don't.

I was so derailed by the end of that cook

because of those small mistakes I just didn't have time to fix.

Far out.

And, ultimately, that's what cost me.

So, this time, I need to remain calm and composed.

ALANA: Great pace, Lozzie!

Thank you.

My strategy to beating Callum today is to multi-task.

I need to make sure that I've got multiple things on the go at once,

but also making sure that everything is done correctly

because there is no time to redo things.

I'm just like powering through

and I've got one more shot to take out the trophy.

WOMAN: She's already done the batter.

When she took it out of the bowl, it looked...it looked wet.

STEPH: Yeah. Yeah.

Laura has started this cook super fast,

but she's starting to pipe her choux

and her batter looks a little bit wet.

That could be an issue,

because if her batter is not the right consistency,

the profiteroles, they won't rise.

And she won't have enough structure to pipe something into it.

SNEZ: That is not good.

Um, Miko's dish is absolutely gorgeous.

Like, I wish I was just eating it and not having to cook it right now.

Um, but here I am, and I'm excited to do it.

And I know Laura's going to be tough to beat,

but I can't wait to try.

LAURA: Let's go, let's go, Let's go.

Last time I was here in the finale, it was many, many years ago now.

Yeah. It's quite, quite hard.

I slipped up on some execution details.

Oh, no!

So, today, I think it's really important

that whilst I get out of the blocks quickly here,

I need to make sure that I'm getting every single little detail correct.

So my strategy is to take my time, not multi-task,

and give each of the elements my undivided attention.

Beautiful, Cal. They look great. Thank you.

Yeah, amazing.

AUDRA: She's powered through, hasn't she?

This is the biggest cook of your lives!

Half an hour down, four hours to go.

(THEY SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

LAURA: That's so cute.

Happy with that - tick.

Um, now I'm just working on the Earl Grey mousse,

as well as the mandarin ganache for the pebble,

because it's going to be layer on, layer on layer.

THEO: It's so small.

WOMAN: Happy, Loz? Yep.

Two, four, six. Oh, my God. Two, four...eight.

ANDY: I'm worried about these profiteroles from Laura.

They look great on the outside, but when you break into it,

there's not much air in them.

They haven't, like, puffed up to be quite hollow.

POH: Mm.

And they look a little bit small to the eye.

That's going to throw off the entire balance of that pebble.

Yeah, that's true.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Callum and Laura, you've got three hours to go!

LAURA: Come on.

This Round 2 is going to come down to the most minor details.

And we're seeing a couple of cracks early just with the choux.

They're very different. Laura's were very small.

How would that affect the final dish?

Well, the size of the profiterole for me is very important

because it carries the mousse.

It comes down to when we eat it later.

The flavour of the Earl Grey needs to be pronounced,

but more on a subtle flavour.

But it has to have enough in there.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: So, basically, there's an issue. Yeah.

A small mistake could cost a lot. Yeah.

Whoo!

DEPINDER: You just keep going.

"Push glazed profiteroles flat side

"into the mandarin ganache-lined pebble moulds

"and fill any gaps inside the moulds with ganache." Yes.

It's time to start filling my moulds

with this chocolate and mandarin ganache.

I'm piping a really generous amount in, almost about two-thirds full.

I'm feeling pretty good. I feel like, honestly,

just don't even have time to stop and think about things.

It's just like all systems go.

It's time to now place my coated profiteroles into the mould.

And as I'm doing it...

..I'm noticing that the profiteroles are sinking too far into the mould.

Like, it's just not right.

When I was tasting Miko's pebbles,

the balance of all the different flavours were just so perfect.

But I think that the profiterole

was actually bigger inside than mine.

I don't have time to go back and make these profiteroles again.

I would lose almost an hour of this cook doing that.

(EXHALES)

I have no idea if this is even fixable.

(EXHALES)

WOMAN: Come on, Laura.

(SNIFFS)

JIMMY: Take deep breaths.

Ah, yes!

Today is all about getting those little details right.

So I'm trying to take my time to read the recipe,

make sure it's absolutely perfect.

SNEZ: Looks great, Cal.

"Transfer to the blast fridge to set until required."

Alright. So far, so good.

I'm feeling confident with what I've done.

But there's a long way to go.

LAURA: I'm trying to tame those emotions bubbling away.

Every single crucial moment in my life

has literally led me to this point.

BABY FLORENCE: Ah, mum-mum!

And I think, what example do I want to set for my daughter?

(COOS)

MAX: You know how to do it. Just use your instincts, babe.

I need to think on my feet to create a solution...

..to make sure I can get this pebble as close to Miko's as possible.

I need to make sure that my Earl Grey tea mousse

and my mandarin ganache are in perfect balance

with my smaller profiterole.

Let's go.

So I'm going to use a little bit less than what the recipe says

to counterbalance that actual profiterole size.

OK. Phew!

I may actually be able to save this whole element.

I just feel like this is my moment. (CHEERING)

It's all I can do -

that and hope.

Nice work, Laura. Nice, Loz!

POH: This dish will come down to all the details.

You have 2.5 hours to go.

Come on. Let's push!

(CHEERING)

CALLUM: "Prepare a large baking sheet with a pebble mould."

The mousse is inside the profiteroles.

I can coat it with that beautiful chocolate on the outside,

which, in turn, goes into the pebble mould

with that mandarin ganache as well.

And then it's going to start looking very pebble-esque.

The fridge.

I've just dipped my profiteroles.

I filled them, dipped them into chocolate.

They're in the blast chiller now.

And then, I don't know what I'm going on to next.

I haven't read that far ahead yet.

Cal's definitely chasing Loz's tail

in this pressure test race in Round 2.

Time is so precious in a pressure test

and I'm worried for him.

WOMAN: Nice, Lozzie!

SNEZ: Beautiful, Laura.

LAURA: My wattle seed tuiles are in the oven.

I feel like I'm up to a very tricky part.

"Temper, want it smooth."

I'm now working on my dreaded aloe vera spike.

Cones. Oh...

Miko's aloe vera spikes were filled with calamansi

and aloe vera gel.

Once you bite into that aloe vera spike,

it almost explodes in your mouth.

I feel like this is the hardest part of this entire dish.

The first thing I crack on to is tempering the chocolate.

"Melt it to 50.

"Add chopped chocolate to the melted chocolate

"and bring down to 30 degrees."

Callum. Hello, gents.

How are you going? I'm feeling good.

I actually am enjoying this cook just ticking away.

You can never in this 4.5 hours have one misstep.

I only want to do things once and do them perfect.

I think what you need to do now is find another gear.

Because right now, you're just starting to fall behind.

LAURA: She's done it. Well done, Loz.

You need to try and catch up some time here.

Am I going slow?

I think you're about 10 steps behind.

WOMAN: Oh, my God.

(SIGHS)

Right now, you're about 10 steps behind.

Yeah, it's going to be tight.

I think what you need to do now is find another gear.

Yeah.

Now's the time where it can really make a difference.

Look who you're doing it for.

I know.

If you can find any bit of inspiration,

they're standing right up there. I know, mate.

I'm holding back the tears, to be honest, so...

Mate, hold them in and let them out at the end.

I know. Come on, mate, you can do this. Good luck.

Yeah. Let's go, Cal. Let's go! Let's go!

I'm under such immense pressure right now.

Go, Daddy! Go, Daddy!

This competition means a lot to me,

and I just want to do my family proud.

I'm going to go into overdrive right now.

Come on, let's go.

It is not an option to not get finished.

I am going as quickly as I possibly can right now,

and I've still got a lot to do.

And I need that time for the assembly, for everything.

For my pebble construction,

I'm just going to smash them out

to try and catch up a few things here to get back on track.

But right now, I feel like I'm up against the clock.

DARRSH: Callum's starting to construct his pebble,

but he's rushing through it

and it's lacking a little bit of finesse.

Against someone like Laura, who is an absolute titan,

the finesse on these pebbles

could be what stops Callum from picking up that trophy.

This is the most intense grand finale we've ever seen.

Two hours to go.

Whoo!

I feel like I may have fixed my pebble,

but I've got no idea whether it's going to work out.

And I know how precise Callum is,

so I need to focus on every single little detail

of all these other elements.

My chocolate is looking fabulous and perfectly tempered.

It's now time to start making my chocolate cones

for my aloe vera spike.

I need to get it into those acetate cones.

"Fill the cone to the top,

"then tip cone upside down over the tempered chocolate bowl,

"allowing excess to spill out."

So my chocolate cones are full, currently.

I'm going to pour the rest back into the tempered chocolate bowl,

so hopefully they turn out good.

Look, I'm just like,

I'm trying to make sure that every single element is perfect.

So, yeah, we'll see.

I think I've poured out enough chocolate

to make sure I get that quintessential choc top bottom.

Come on.

SNEZ: See how on the bottom she's got a lot of spillage?

Oh, I see.

I don't know.

I'm now piping in that calamansi and aloe vera gel,

and I'm piping over some extra tempered chocolate

just to seal that cone off.

Well done, babe. Oh, fantastic, Loz.

While my aloe vera cones are setting,

I'm now moving on to my chocolate twigs.

CALLUM: I think they look like pebbles, so I'm happy with that.

You got this.

Just trying to find that next gear that Andy was talking about,

so I am getting there.

But golly, there's a lot of steps to this recipe.

SARAH: Oh, he's behind Laura. Wow.

I do think that at this point in the pressure test,

that something like this, being a little bit behind Laura,

can play a bit of a role in his mindset.

So I'm hoping he can get out of that and bring it back home.

(GROANS) Argh!

Are you alright?

Oh, what's he got? Has he got a cramp?

SNEZ: Go, Cal.

I can see Loz ahead.

She's just finished those aloe vera spikes,

which means that I'm behind the eight ball.

So, yeah, I'm starting on the aloe vera spikes.

An hour and 45.

OK. Thank you.

It's not a lot of time.

So I've got no other choice here.

I have to work harder and faster to try and make up this time.

Alright. OK.

SNEZ: Oh, my God! Laura! (APPLAUSE)

LAURA: It's so hot but I really don't care.

The tuiles are looking great.

Raspberry puree, Tasmanian pepperberry powder...

I need to start making my raspberry lollipop flowers.

Miko's lollipop is, like, so sour with that raspberry flavour.

But then you get, like, smacked in the face with that strawberry gum.

There needs to be that beautiful, sturdy ganache on the inside.

And that crunch as soon as you bite into it from that chocolate coating.

"Remove from heat. Place over ice bath.

"Allow to cool to 70."

70.

I am reading this recipe like there is no tomorrow.

I'm reading it once. I'm reading it again.

"Pour raspberry puree mixture over half-melted chocolate."

I'm not leaving a single thing to chance in this cook.

One hour to go, please. Come on!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Come on! Come on!

Come on!

One hour!

Go, Cal! Go, Cal!

Right.

I've tried to pick up the pace because I realise I'm in the weeds.

I'm not potentially going to get the dish assembled in time.

CRYSTAL: You got this, Cal.

So I look at the recipe.

There's a couple of processes that I'm very comfortable with.

So I'm thinking, yes, the recipe is important,

but actually follow your instinct as well.

So I might just kind of catch up the time here.

ANDY: I'm a bit worried about the texture of Callum's ganache.

I think he missed that step, where he was meant to cool it down in an ice bath.

He went straight from blitzing it and then pumped it into the mould.

That's why it's thinner, because it hasn't cooled down.

I don't know if that's going to play an effect on the texture.

Yeah. We'll see.

One mistake like that

could be the thing that costs him the trophy again.

(CHEERING)

Bring it home, baby.

LAURA: I've got two steps left before I can start plating.

The first one is to assemble my lollipop flowers.

WOMAN: Well done, Lozzie.

The level of detail and intricacy

on all four of these beautifully-perfect petit fours is insane.

Yes, girl. Wow, Lozzie.

And as each petal is going on, it is looking more and more beautiful.

MAX: That looks beautiful, babe. Oh, my God, Laura.

(APPLAUSE)

My final job is to spray these aloe vera cones.

I'm making sure every single part of

all those intricate details are nailed,

because they're the finer details that could win me this competition.

Oh.

There's less than 30 minutes to go,

and I was hoping to spend 30 minutes on actually assembling this thing.

CRYSTAL: Don't forget the powder.

Oh, yes, I did forget the powder. Thank you.

But I still have so much to do, so I need to get racing.

Cal, those little details.

Things are getting very intense. ANDY: Yeah.

Callum's trailing behind.

I'm getting a little bit worried watching him.

It's all about making good decisions from here on out.

He needs to use every bit of experience that he's had

in this kitchen, out of this kitchen.

Everything that he's learned matters.

He has to find another gear because if not,

he's not going to get enough time to finish.

LAURA: It's now time to assemble this beautiful,

magical, edible garden.

There are two full pages of instructions

of how this dish needs to be assembled and plated.

"Position one inch behind and two inches to the right of T2."

I don't like this.

Callum is going to be so precise with

where every single little twig and leaf and stick and stem goes

on this dish.

I'm not losing this.

So I need to make sure mine is just as perfect,

if not better than his, to beat him.

(CHEERING)

Your whole MasterChef career comes down to this moment.

15 minutes to go!

Bring it home!

CALLUM: Next 10 minutes is assembly time.

So this is where this whole competition

is going to be won or lost.

So I'm going to use every minute I can to make it bloody perfect.

WOMAN: Looking good, Cal.

Whoa.

Oh, my gosh.

Callum is absolutely battling this clock right now

to finish this edible garden.

The pressure on him is so intense.

MAX: Nice, babe. You've done it.

(CHEERING) Yeah, Lozzie!

Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!

CRYSTAL: Yeah, let's go, Cal! Let's go! Let's go.

CALLUM: It is pressure time right now.

THEO: Take a breath, Cal. SNEZ: It's OK.

I'm still not sure at this point in time

if I'm going to get everything done.

But I owe it to my family to give everything I have.

Yeah, go, Callum!

There can only be one winner!

One minute to go!

(SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)

Keep going, Cal!

I'm so proud of you.

CALLUM: I'm pushing right to that last second.

For the last time, 10...

ALL: Nine, eight,

seven, six, five...

..four...

..three...

..two...

..one!

That's it! Well done!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(EXHALES)

WOMAN: Ah, Cal.

(SOBS)

I feel like there's a lot of people that sacrificed a lot

for me to be here. LAURA: Well done.

Well done, mate.

And I feel like, um...

CRYSTAL: It's OK. It's OK. It's OK. It's good. It looks amazing.

I feel like I've been trying to win this competition...

..for 15 years.

I love being here.

I love this kitchen that's changed my life in such a wonderful way.

But I've felt selfish at times.

Um...

Yeah. I just hope I've showed them that it's worth it.

LAURA: Well, that was my last-ever cook...

..ever, in this kitchen. Um...

..which is pretty sad.

It's like closing a chapter and ending a book.

Um, and it's been an incredible book,

and I've loved every single chapter, heartbreak and all.

Um, but I would just love that sweet fairytale ending.

(SIGHS) What a special place.

Yeah, it is a special place.

Good luck, Lozzie. Thanks.

Smash it. Thank you.

Oh, my God. Look at this. That's so precarious.

ANDY: You're nearly there. POH: You're good. You're good.

You're doing great. Oh, my God.

Laura, that...

That is immaculate looking.

You made that!

How does that make you feel?

(SIGHS) How do I put this right?

I used to say to myself, like, a month after having Floss,

just like getting out of your pyjamas was like the biggest thing for me.

Doing my hair, doing my make-up the next day.

So to come and do this, it's like... It's a huge achievement.

And I just think, doesn't matter what you want to do in life,

you can still do it as a mum.

Laura, you've proved time and time again

that you are absolutely unstoppable.

I know you're going to hand on all that kickass energy to Floss.

Yeah. (LAUGHS)

Laura, we're going to taste your dish now.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Laura. Thank you.

Honestly, I feel giddy because... (LAUGHTER)

I'm really impressed by the execution,

the positioning of every little detail.

Very close, just a millimetre,

maybe a little bit on the left, on the right,

but it's just a stunning interpretation.

OK, here we go.

The lollipop flowers are extremely identical.

You can tell that she paid attention to the amount of the petals.

Ooh. That is a really nice, fudgy texture.

Oh!

First, the colour is impeccable.

The coating is perfect. It's nice and thin.

And what I love the most is that lovely flavour of the ganache.

The raspberry is coming out.

And you can get the strawberry gum easily.

I think it's actually very, very close to yours.

The ganache is textbook.

It has that lovely acidic quality.

And that little sherbet-y number on top is just full of zing.

Like, it's perfect.

Next one, the pebbles are gorgeously glazed.

They are.

Oh, wow. That texture!

It's just... Wow!

The thickness of the ganache and the coating are all identical.

ANDY: Yeah.

Mm.

The coating on the outside is so thin, so sharp, so delicious.

It's so well done.

Love the mandarin ganache.

As soon as I cut mine open, I could actually smell the fragrance.

Yeah.

Now, the Earl Grey mousse is not as much as I was hoping to have,

but enough for me to really enjoy.

Alright, let's see what this aloe vera spike's like.

MIKO: Yep.

It's very thick, but that filling looks wonderful.

Yeah. Even better than mine.

I appreciate the flavour of the filling,

which is the aloe vera, calamansi gel.

I love how sharp and how precise she's fashioned the spike.

I really enjoyed that very particular,

almost slightly medicinal flavour that you get from aloe,

but it is quite thick and heavy with that chocolate,

so I really found myself crunching on it.

Unfortunately, yeah,

like, there wasn't enough tipping and it wasn't aggressive enough

in removing the excess chocolate from the cone.

And that's why the result is a little bit thicker.

And then moving on to the wattle seed tuiles.

It's one of the most perfect tuiles I've seen.

Oh, my God. I think she's done a very good piping job there.

The way she sticks them together is just enough almond chocolate,

so it's not overdone.

Overall, I think she is a little star.

Yeah. I think what Laura has done here is comparable

to what I would consider, like my sous-chef would do.

Wow. ANDY: Wow

Proud is an absolute understatement.

I'm so impressed.

I think overall,

Laura has absolutely smashed this out of the park, but...

..there are minor flaws.

So that being said, it's time to score.

Good luck, Cal.

Thanks, mate. Good luck.

That was by far the toughest cook I've ever had in this kitchen.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Oh, wow.

Look at that. Oof!

POH: Hey, Callum. Hello, everyone.

But I only need one more point than Laura to win the title.

I gave it my all, and I just hope it's enough.

Good to see you're still smiling. Yeah.

Gosh, this dish is the most complex thing

that certainly I've ever made and probably have ever seen as well.

So to put up something that actually I'm really proud of in the end.

um, yeah, I couldn't be happier.

At the end of that cook there was just such a massive release.

Can you talk us through what was going through your heart?

Um, yeah, I guess I feel like

I've got a pretty high threshold for stress and emotion,

and I try, I guess, be that rock,

whether it's for my team or whether it's for my kids and my wife.

But I think just the, um,

the combination of all that effort to get here,

all the sacrifice that, you know,

my family and everyone back home has had to make for me to be here

and then having them up here on the gantry today,

um, and there was a little bit of sadness in it as well.

Yeah.

For a place that's been such a,

like, a guiding light and it's changed me, yes, as a cook

but more importantly, as a person,

I feel incredibly grateful to have this opportunity again.

Well, Callum, for the final time, thank you.

And we're going to taste your dish. Thank you, everyone.

Thanks so much. Thank you, mate.

Thank you. Thank you.

Wow.

MIKO: OK, here we go.

The flowers, I think visually, it's quite strong.

Ooh.

SOFIA: Quite thick.

Dense, isn't it? Mm-hm.

That ganache in the middle was just probably twice as dense as yours.

You really want your teeth to just sink in

and get that really lovely cushiony effect.

But it was definitely a bit of a chew there.

Ooh.

There's a lot to love.

He's gotten his profiteroles quite airy and puffy.

So when you bite into those pebbles,

it's just got a lovely texture that goes the whole way through the bite.

Yep.

The one that I've got, the layers weren't perfect.

I got a great amount of that Earl Grey mousse on the inside,

but here there's no layer of the mandarin ganache.

It just goes basically from the profiterole

all the way to that glaze.

I thought that his profiteroles were the right size

'cause it contained enough of the Earl Grey mousse,

but what I thought was a little bit flawed was the construction.

So the layers still looked a little uneven.

Alright. Let's see what Callum's aloe vera spikes are like.

MIKO: Yeah.

(SHARP CRACK)

Oh, did you hear that crack? Yes.

He's nailed the thickness of these spikes.

And that's a very generous amount of gel.

I thought the chocolate was tempered super well.

I'm attracted by this calamansi gel.

You can smell it, actually, you can smell something very well.

And I've really enjoyed the flavours.

So visually, gorgeously formed leaves, like, perfect.

I loved the way he connected the branches to the leaves.

Great attention to detail.

So the twigs are very well tempered.

The tuile biscuit is brilliant,

but there is some missing precisions

in some of the elements.

Let's score Callum's dish.

(EXHALES SHARPLY) (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

(EXHALES SHARPLY)

Laura, Callum, this is a moment years in the making.

After 149 steps and 4.5 hours...

..it's come down to this.

POH: Laura, Callum...

..after 149 steps...

..it's come down to this.

Callum, we'll start with you.

Your lollipop flower was as pretty as a picture.

But the ganache was too dense.

I scored you...

..7 out of 10.

Callum, the flavours of each element are pretty spot-on in your pebble.

But it was the construction that let you down.

I gave you...

..a 7 out of 10, mate.

Callum, I scored you...

..7 out of 10.

(WHOOPING) (MOUTHS) Thanks, Miko.

I gave you 7 out of 10.

Callum, I'm giving you...

..7 out of 10.

Thank you.

So, Callum, that's a score of 35,

bringing your total score to 73. Well done.

(WHOOPING) WOMAN: Well done, Cal.

Thanks, guys.

Which means, Laura...

..you need at least 36 points from us to win.

The flavours in that garden were spectacular.

I scored you...

..8 out of 10.

Laura...

..I gave you

..8 out of 10.

Laura, I gave you...

..8 out of 10.

SOFIA: Laura...

..compared to Miko's...

..your dish...

..was near identical -

9 out of 10.

Oh!

Laura, I also gave you 9 out of 10!

(CHEERING)

You are the winner of

MasterChef Back To Win 2025!

(WHOOPING)

You've won the title, you've won the trophy

and ¤250,000!

(WHOOPING)

Oh, my God!

Well done, mate. Ah! Congratulations.

I'm so proud of you. Well done.

Well done, mate. Oh, my God!

Are you sure? (SOBS)

(SNIFFLES) Well done.

Oh, my God. You did it.

You did it. Yep.

Laura, how you feeling?

This is, like, the most surreal feeling in the whole entire world.

I'm just...

I'm truly, like, so proud of myself

for coming back for a third time

and completely setting myself up for heartbreak.

Um...

..and pulling off what I never thought I really could do,

but I've wanted to for so long.

Like, it's... I've dreamt of this moment since I was 13.

To have my family here, to have had Florence up here today,

watching me cook has been the most truly special experience of my life.

Um, I just want to thank Callum more than anyone.

Just the support that you've shown me throughout this competition

both times has been so truly special.

So thank you so much for everything.

Aw, thanks, Lozzie. I really, really mean it.

Thanks, mate.

Well deserved.

Thank you. Well done. You too.

Laura, in this moment with you finally winning the title,

it feels right to mention how proud Jock would be of you.

(SOFTLY) Thank you.

And it's so amazing to know that he lives on through your food.

So thank you. Thank you, Andy.

Laura.

Chef.

Well done to you. Thank you, Chef.

Honestly, you are just amazing. Thank you.

Callum.

I wish it was two winners, you know that.

(CHUCKLING)

You are spectacular when you cook.

One day when Michelin comes to Australia,

I will do the washing-up in your place for one week

if you don't get a Michelin star in the first year.

I'll hold you to that. We have a deal.

We have a deal!

(LAUGHTER)

I did come back to win,

but I also know how much value there is in this kitchen

regardless of what place you come.

And I think that every single person here is a winner

and we all gain something, whether it is our cooking skill

or who we are as people and growing in other ways.

I think experiences like this will help me become,

um, yeah, a better...

..a better husband, a better dad,

and better for my team back home as well.

And, Callum, you ain't leaving here empty-handed.

For coming in second place,

we're giving you ¤40,000

to help you kick-start the next chapter!

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

And can't forget about third place.

Here he is, Jamie, for making it to the semifinal,

you're getting 10 grand, mate!

(CHEERING)

Thank you.

Sav, I hear you've got something to share.

I do. Ooh.

So MasterChef is coming to Sri Lanka,

and I've been asked to judge.

(CHEERING)

That is wild.

Sav, you're going to be amazing.

Declan, Sarah, have you got something to tell us?

(LAUGHTER)

(WHOOPING)

Bloody hell!

Laura, it is FINALLY time.

You have waited 11 years for this moment.

Go over and lift that trophy, Laura!

(CHEERING)

Oh, my God.

(WHOOPING AND CHEERING)

(SCREAMS EXCITEDLY)

(SCREAMS EXCITEDLY)

(SHRIEKS EXCITEDLY)

Captions by Red Bee Media