Original subtitles

WOMAN: Another day, another challenge.

WOMAN: White apron day, baby.

MAN: OK, OK, OK.

It's great to be back in a white apron in the MasterChef kitchen.

MAN: Oh. What's going on today?

Seeing Megs go home yesterday was very sad.

OK.

This competition now feels really real.

What is it?

I just need to keep on pushing

and keep on putting my best foot forward

every single time I'm in this kitchen.

WOMAN: Hey. (WOMAN GASPS)

Uh-oh. WOMAN: Wow.

What is that? MAN: I don't know.

Maybe it's brains or something.

Is it like lolly jars? Are they lollies?

MAN: Cereal? Is it cereal?

Cereal?

(ALL EXCLAIM)

WOMAN: What are they? WOMAN: Green and purple ones?

I'm going, "What's going on here?"

Hello, hello, hello. (APPLAUSE)

All this cereal in front of me.

I'm thinking are we just having a brekkie or...? (LAUGHS)

Good morning, Australia.

(ALL LAUGH)

Bonjour.

WOMAN: Good morning. WOMAN: Bonjour.

Well, look at this fantastic cereal display.

Amazing, isn't it?

ALL: Yeah.

Vinnie, Coco Pops man or Weet-Bix man?

Ah, I used to be a Weet-Bix man, but I prefer Coco Pops at night.

Oh, you're a night guy?!

Like, a little dessert, you know?

Aaron! What time of the day do you eat your cereal, mate?

I don't eat cereal. (LAUGHTER)

Not even a little...

I haven't eaten cereal for, like, 15 years.

So you have? Yeah.

Not anymore, not anymore.

Not anymore. The rig can't handle that.

(LAUGHTER)

Gotta look like you, you know. Oh, mate.

I'm hiding a lot under here, don't you worry.

(LAUGHTER)

So while you worked out that

you will be using cereal today...

..what you don't know

is how we want you to use it.

And nor do we!

(LAUGHS) (ALL MUTTER)

Because we're bringing back a MasterChef classic challenge.

The invention test.

(ALL CHEER, APPLAUD)

I love invention tests...

..because it's the perfect chance to get super-creative.

Think outside of the cereal box.

You've got 75 minutes...

Ooh!

..to take this beloved pantry staple

and turn it into something extraordinary.

You can make anything you like.

Just be inventive and make it bloody good.

Because the bottom five cooks will be battling it out...

..in tomorrow's elimination.

What? (ALL EXCLAIM)

WOMAN: It's a cereal killer. (LAUGHTER)

So grab your oats, your pops, your flakes, your loops.

Because your time starts now!

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Let's go.

If anyone wants a taste, I'm your guy.

MAN: Uh, what was I looking for?

MAN: Step right up. I'm your cereal guy.

JACKIE: I would never expect to see cereal

in the MasterChef kitchen,

But I'm excited. I'm nervous.

I do feel like this is a chance for us to be really creative,

really push the boundaries, think outside the box.

Is that normal bran? You're about to find out.

Yeah. All-Bran.

The word "invention test" is...is...is...

..freaking me out a little bit.

I can't remember the last time I've seen an invention test

on MasterChef.

Oh, Crunchy Nut. Please be Crunchy Nut.

How I'm going to be creative with cereal...

..I can't quite put my finger on it.

Canola...

It's a really tough challenge.

I've never had to think about cereal in this way.

I'm going to need Corn Flakes.

Firstly, my mind's going towards dessert,

but desserts aren't really my strength.

So I'm thinking how I'm going to incorporate cereal

within a savoury dish.

Where is the Latino section?

Do you want me to carry your basket?

(GASPS) Yes, yes. Where are you going to be?

I'm going to go next to Bella.

She's my good-luck charm. Bella. OK.

(LAUGHS)

The service in this place is great, isn't it?

Where do I go? We'll go here.

It's alright. It's not heavy enough.

Thank you. Here?

Happy cooking, yeah? Well done.

We're on, girl.

We are cooking cereal today.

I'm excited.

This is going to be an experimental, that's for sure.

I love an invention test.

The idea of letting your creativity run wild,

that excites me a lot.

So today I'm going to be head on, straight on...

What's that saying? Head on. Straight on.

No, that doesn't sound right.

You know what I need? I need cereal.

When people think cereal, it's naturally sweet.

So straightaway, let's flip that on its head.

Let's go savoury.

I'm a savoury girly, so that's my comfort zone.

I'm going to create kind of a polenta, gritsy vibe

with the Corn Flakes.

Grits are an American dish

made with polenta.

So by putting the Corn Flakes into a spice blender,

I'm going to create a powder.

And this powder I'm going to treat as if it's a polenta.

Cook it down with lots of stock.

Parmesan cheese, cream.

That's going to be the basis of my dish.

I'm going to do a beautiful meatball

with Corn Flakes in that as well.

And then a Corn Flake pangrattato on top.

So Corn Flakes in all elements.

I'm not sure if I've pushed the invention too far,

if I've completely lost the plot.

So hopefully I'm on the right track.

Yesterday was so stressful with the black apron.

I do not want to go back there.

So hopefully this dish will mean

I can stay in the white apron a little bit longer.

Scissors, scissors. Have you got scissors, Hannah?

No.

Sorry! Oh, I'm so sorry. Ah!

80 grams.

CASPER: Handy.

I'm like, super-stoked for an invention test.

This sort of cooking is definitely up my alley.

Alright. Test what it is.

What's it like? Sugar.

(LAUGHS) About it.

I like to make some pretty, like,

weird flavour combinations in the kitchen.

Oh, lovely. Just experiment.

(CLANK!)

Oh! No!

Uh-oh. WOMAN: Clean-up in aisle three!

WOMAN: Casper.

I'm gonna leave the scene of the crime.

Sorry! Oh, man.

It's an invention test.

So if there's time for doing some weird experiments,

today's the day.

I'm going to be making a panna cotta.

I'm going to use the Froot Loops

to flavour the milk and cream for the panna cotta,

and then I'm also going to make coloured pasta

to kind of replicate Froot Loops

with some fruit folded through it.

So it should still have a bit of freshness and texture.

It's a bit of a play on what I think, you know,

the ideal bowl of Froot Loops should be.

Packs a bit of an experiment,

but I think that's, you know, the aim of today.

Panna cotta typically you're setting for hours and hours,

but just don't have that time today.

So as soon as the milk is infused,

I need to get the gelatine into the milk

and get that in the blast chiller straightaway.

And to really give them the visual of it

being a bowl of cereal,

I'm actually setting a silver spoon in my panna cotta bowl.

Behind.

I'm hoping one of the judges at least goes for the spoon

and can sort of, you know, understand the whole vision.

I never thought this was what

being a judge on MasterChef would come to.

(LAUGHS)

AARON: I've never cooked with cereal before.

(LAUGHS) This would be a first.

What's important today is just be inventive,

bringing something new,

using cereal in an unexpected way, I think.

The first idea I have is actually a tart shell,

and using the Corn Flakes to make a tart dough

and using that as a base for protein,

but Corn Flakes being the hero ingredient.

I really want to stand out,

so I'm going to go down the raw protein route.

Aaron. So, sweet or savoury?

Savoury. Savoury. What are you doing?

I'm trying to do a Japanese-inspired

steak tartare tartlette.

No way. Yeah.

So Corn Flake? Yeah.

Where are you going to put your Corn Flakes?

So in the tartlette.

And I'm also going to have it as a garnish on top

fried in garlic oil.

And I'm going to make a burnt-butter miso egg emulsion

to pipe on top. Uh-huh.

So hopefully that all comes together

and the flavours all match,

so...fingers crossed. Well, good luck, mate.

Thank you, chef. Good luck.

Not many people will actually have raw beef with Corn Flakes.

So I think it is pretty inventive. (LAUGHS)

It doesn't... It's not the first thing you think of

when you think of Corn Flakes.

So it is pretty out there.

Still a bit thinner.

It's now whether or not I can deliver.

I'm just trying to flatten out these tart shells

for the steak tartare.

The textures are, like, super important,

so I want it to be crispy.

I want it to have a nice bite to it. We'll see how we go.

Hopefully they don't break on me.

PAT: I stole some of your Weet-Bix.

Oh, no worries, mate, that's fine.

Hello, Pat. Hello. How are you going?

How are you? Good, thank you. How are you?

So tell me, what are you doing?

Today, I'm cooking a play on surf and turf.

So I'm doing a beef tartare

with a prawn head mayo incorporated into it.

You know your neighbour is doing the same?

Yes. Another tartare.

Yeah.

Wow.

And I'm making a olive oil wheat cracker

to serve with the tartare.

So it has Weet-Bix, All-Bran, and some Rice Bubbles

incorporated into it.

And then I'm making what I'm calling beer bubble prawns.

So it's beer-battered prawns dipped in rice bubbles,

so they puff up like tempura,

with a nice salt and pepper seasoning.

This is unbelievable.

Have you done this before?

Not all of it. And not in this time frame.

There's a lot to achieve in 75 minutes.

Well, good luck, mate. Tartare ta-ta.

How's that? Tartare to ta-ta. Bye-bye.

Ta-ta.

I'm feeling a lot more tense.

Invention test to me

is a creative opportunity to cook...

..but also an intimidating one.

I've never made this dish completely all together.

I've made parts of the elements.

When you're cooking something

that either hasn't been seen before

or you haven't done before,

it can, you know, go one of two ways.

Staying out of the bottom five is extremely important.

And, like, I'm trying not to look around at other cooks,

but it is added pressure having two tartares next to each other.

Oh, that's a good butcher job, isn't it?

Far out.

We've got 75 minutes to use good old-fashioned cereal

and invent a brand-new dish

that tastes delicious but is inventive.

Today I'm going to do my Corn-rean fried chicken,

which is fried chicken but with the Corn Flakes.

I'm going to use that to kind of crumb and batter the chicken.

The plan is to blend the Corn Flakes down,

mix them in with my dredge,

and then on the other side,

have some kind of rough crushed Corn Flakes

for the outside batter.

I'm hoping it really coats it,

and you get that real bite at the end.

I'm hoping that we'll really show the Corn Flake flavour,

but will also enhance the texture of them.

I have made it kind of a while ago,

but I've definitely never made it with a different crumb.

I'm very excited to see how it turns out,

but five people are going to elimination tomorrow

and I'm pretty nervous.

I need to get this chicken on asap.

So this oil's gonna stink up the whole place.

LUCY: I think you just stink up the whole place yourself, Luke.

Less of the flirting, more cooking, hey?

(LAUGHS)

I'm loving the aromas in this kitchen.

40 minutes to go!

I'm doing a spiced pumpkin

on a bed of yoghurt and tahini,

and then I'm gonna finish it off

with this spiced Corn Flake clusters.

I'm gonna make a Coco Pops tart shell,

Coco Pops financier, and a ganache on top.

Nice.

Yeah, a little bit different.

LYDIA: # Strategy, Lydia... #

I'm gonna make a bran dashi broth.

and I'm gonna poach some fish in it

and see if I can pull off a Crunchy Nut chilli oil.

Oh, we both have Coco Pops. LOL.

Oh, yeah. Coco Pops-off.

I don't normally do sweets,

but for some reason, my mind goes straight to a cannoli.

I'm making a Nutri-Grain cannoli.

I'm using Coco Pops in the shell.

And then I'm also using Nutri-Grain in the filling.

I've made cannolis a couple of times.

I'm no expert.

Cannolis for me are one of my favourite desserts.

I pipe them all the time with my dad,

but normally my nonna makes the ricotta filling.

I've never actually made the filling

from start to finish very often,

so hopefully it all works out.

This is still pretty new to me.

Although I've seen it a lot,

I actually haven't done it myself very often.

I'm just trying to channel my nonna, so...

It's definitely not a cannoli for the traditionalists.

Um, definitely not something my nonna would make.

The main flavour in the cannoli will be Nutri-Grain.

I want it to be really forward Nutri-Grain,

so I'm hoping it's good enough.

I don't want to be in elimination, so...

SOFIA: They need milk.

It's like... Don't try and whistle.

(LAUGHS)

How you going? Dessert mouth?

(LAUGHS)

How's you... I said they need milk.

(LAUGHS) Delicious.

That's got to be good for ya.

What are you thinking?

I'm really happy with the marshmallow.

I think it's perfect.

Hey, Miin, cereal lover or...?

In uni, I used to have Froot Loops a lot, like, way too much.

Really? Yeah.

I can't see any Froot Loops, though.

No Froot Loops. I'm using Rice Bubbles today.

OK.

So I'm doing a play on mango sticky rice.

So I'll do mango crispy rice. OK.

Thank you.

Annabel, I dreamt about you last night.

Or more specifically, your banoffee.

Did you make those sounds in your sleep?

Yeah, I probably did. I'll have to ask my partner.

Like, "What are you doing?" Might be a bit concerned!

Sweet or savoury today? Savoury.

And what are you making? I'm gonna make a tuna tostada.

Using the Corn Flakes to try and make, like a tostada dough.

That doesn't look like Corn Flakes.

We'll see how we go.

I'm using Coco Pops as my main cereal

and I'm going to do a Coco Pop muesli

with Coco Pops-infused creme patissiere

and a matcha Chantilly.

Hey, Bella. Hey!

Hit me with it. I'm gonna do a financier

with some chocolate coconut Weet-Bix in it.

OK.

And then a toasted coconut ganache

using one of the cereal milks that I decide I like.

Are these all yours?! Yeah.

(BOTH LAUGH) Yeah.

SOFIA: There are 12 people doing savoury and only 11 doing sweet.

BOTH: Wow!

I'm happy with that. ANDY: So what are you loving?

We got two tartares with Aaron and with Pat.

OK.

Pat, it's like surf and turf type of tartare.

And Aaron, very cleverly,

is using Corn Flakes into his tart.

Great idea, but probably a lot going on in that tartare.

Be interesting to see if he gets the balance right.

What's next? My love is for Dot.

She's gonna make Corn Flake grits.

(ALL EXCLAIM) So, like a polenta style.

So do I! That's clever.

Serving it with meatballs,

which will have the Corn Flakes in it as well.

And then a pangrattato, also with Corn Flakes in it.

So love it, love it. That's so clever.

That smells good.

Going well?

LUKE: Uh...definitely could be a lot better, I'll be honest.

Oh, split my skin.

As I'm starting to batter these chickens,

these Corn Flakes don't really feel that fine

and it's kind of messing with the consistency of the batter.

I'm hoping, though,

once it hits the oil and kind of starts frying,

the Corn Flakes will stick to the chicken

and hopefully, I'll get an extra crispy batter.

Too hot.

Oh, crap. Better?

No, that's not frying well at all.

That's disgraceful. What's wrong?

My chicken is frying absolutely terrible.

I think the Corn Flakes are too thick.

They're not sticking well. Feels like it's all going wrong.

I don't really have time to butcher another chicken.

I'm thinking to myself,

this is not a dish I can serve up to the judges at all.

Oh, my gosh.

Coming through.

Every second counts.

Did you burn? Did you burn? No!

Today, I'm making a steak tartare tartlette

with Corn Flakes.

Tartlettes have just come out of the oven.

I'm actually quite happy with the colour

and a hit of corn through the flavour.

I think it'll actually have a good interplay with the beef.

All I've gotta do is cut my steak now,

mix it all together and just get it into the tart.

I think the complexity with the steak tartare

is just all of the knife work you actually have to do.

And that takes time.

So it is simple on paper,

but quite a technical dish

to actually cut everything to the right size.

So, a good mixture of all the ingredients together

in one bite.

The key to a good tartare is the balance of all the flavours,

textures and pops.

So you want that to be a bit fresh.

You know, have some umami, some zing.

So hopefully, mine has all of that.

Pat's doing a tartan next to me as well.

And I think it's good. You know have a bit of competition

and hopefully the best tartare wins.

Aaron's a bit of a weapon so...you know.

Takes one to know one. (LAUGHS)

LYDIA: I'm making a dashi with some bran.

And just put the bran into the broth

and it tastes alright.

It's OK. It's good.

Yay me!

I need to poach the fish.

I do like to be inventive in the kitchen,

I make up stuff all the time.

So this is, uh,

this is somewhere I feel a bit comfortable.

I'm going well. I've actually got my tart shell in the oven.

I'm just currently on the white chocolate ganache

and the Coco Pops financier.

I just have to nail all the elements otherwise,

obviously, you know, you don't want to be in the bottom.

Uh, things are tracking along nicely.

Pumpkin's all done.

I'm just making my Corn Flake crunch.

I'm gonna really put the cumin forward.

I've just gotta make sure

that everything is really balanced here

'cause there's some great cook, so I've got a lot of work.

It's crunch time. 15 minutes to go!

(JUDGES APPLAUD)

I look up at the clock, and I have concerns

that a large proportion of my elements are not done.

Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.

I still need to devein and shell the prawns.

And for my tartare,

I still need to dice all of the ingredients.

Dijon. Come on, Pat.

But I just can't get my stuff together with organisation.

I've been dashing back and forth, back and forth.

I have to run to this bench one more time!

Every time I start to cook something,

I'm finding, "Oh, God, I need to go get this ingredient.

"I need to go get this piece of equipment."

Just stop, start, stop, start.

And it's just completely frazzled my cook.

Paddy, you gotta push. Yes, yes, I do.

Let's go.

So in the next 15, I gotta finish rolling out my pasta,

cut the shapes, fill them, deep-fry 'em.

I've never made pasta with cornmeal

and, you know, blue spirulina.

So that's a bit of an experiment.

I've got no idea really, how long they need to fry for,

but it should, fingers crossed,

look like little Froot Loops.

Brother, I think they're working. (CHUCKLES)

They're working? Yeah.

Yeah, they're working. Oh, man, unbelievable.

I'm definitely going a bit off the rails with this one.

Like, I've never made dishes with these flavours before,

so there's always the chance

that they just don't go together.

But I think today's the day

to take a risk and push the envelope.

And I think I might even want to push the envelope a bit further

in this invention test.

Might be a bit crunched for time, but I'm also making

a clarified milk punch

as a little drink to go on the side.

Have, you know, dessert with a drink.

Jean-Christophe, did you have cereal when you were a kid?

No, we didn't. No.

No, it did not exist. I don't think so.

(LAUGHS) You're not that old!

DOT: My inner octopus is released.

(LAUGHS) I am whisking.

I'm blending. I'm just working on my pangrattato.

And I've got my balls on, my meatballs.

And my sauce is bubbling away.

But I feel strangely calm.

This is a dish that I would love to eat.

Obviously, I'm using different ingredients,

but it's something I'm familiar with and I'm holding on to that,

that this is gonna work.

I've made like polenta and grits before,

but not with Corn Flakes. So let's see if it'll work.

I want my grits to be smooth

but I still want a little bit of texture on the tongue,

like sand, but not sand.

Like, you know when you're smiling at the beach

and the wind blows

and you get a little bit of sand in your mouth?

I want that, but for all the good reasons.

So I'm gonna add in a bit more Corn Flake powder

and that's going to add in the textural component

of a traditional grits or polenta.

Yum.

Hurry up. Five minutes to go!

So at this point, I'm rolling out my cannoli dough

while my filling is still getting whipped.

Cannoli dough's a bit finicky

and it's hard to get really right.

And obviously, I've never made cannoli dough

with Coco Pops either...

It's a moment of truth.

..so I'm just really hoping that this works.

I haven't had a proper chance to actually test them

to see whether they're nice and crunchy,

but I'm really hoping they are.

I've got the Nutri-Grain filling, but...

..as I'm tasting my filling...

..the texture is a little bit grainy.

Jesus Christ.

My nonna probably wouldn't be very happy

with a filling like that

but I don't have any time to make a new filling right now.

I need to pipe my cannolis and get everything on the plate.

My piping game is pretty good.

I usually pipe like 300-400 with my dad, so I pipe a fair bit.

This is way too close for comfort!

I hate this.

Finish with confidence. Three minutes to go!

Come on, everybody! Nearly there!

What the heck?!

First batch of chicken, it didn't work.

I've only got three pieces of chicken left...

..and I've dipped them in the potato starch

and rebattered them.

And it's actually looking alright.

But I'm worried that as I'm spending so much time

on this chicken,

the other elements on my dish, the sauce and the brine,

I've just kind of neglected.

I'm hoping that the flavours are there

and they can really hero the dish and just bring me home.

Final push! One minute to go!

(JUDGES APPLAUD) POH: C'mon!

PAT: Alright, Think, Pat, think.

Think, Pat, think. Think, Pat. Think Pat.

(LAUGHS) Use that noggin.

The chaos has been about the most consistent part

about this cook.

Come on.

It feels like it's snowballing

and it's getting worse, not better.

Prawns are all done.

I'm just hoping that they're cooked perfectly.

My tartare is not in a place

that would anywhere near resemble tartare.

The texture's wrong and the taste is wrong.

And I'm just, like, throwing things in,

trying to make it taste half decent.

I'm concerned about the cracker.

It's not...great.

Everything's just mediocre.

I know at this point in time

that it's likely that I'm in a bit of strife.

30 seconds to go! Come on!

Where are you, Lydia?!

There she goes!

That was definitely not my top speed.

All done in ten!

JUDGES: Nine! Eight! Seven!

Six! Five! Four!

Three! Two! One!

That's it.

Well done.

Good one.

Oh, dude, that looks insane.

Definitely the toughest cook for me in the kitchen today.

I think some of the elements are not quite as good

as I'd like them to be.

I'm really hoping that this is enough

to stay out of the bottom five,

but I'm not sitting here with a huge amount of confidence.

I've just gotta wait and see.

We asked you to use cereal in a creative but tasty way.

The catch is, we're looking for the bottom five dishes

to go into tomorrow's elimination.

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

..Dot.

I think once you've cooked, you step away

and you do start questioning yourself of

what on earth have I done?

But I'm feeling like this is a plate of food

that I would love to sit down and eat.

If this was served to me in a little cafe on a rainy day,

I'd be very happy.

So hopefully, the judges love it.

Hey, Dot. Hi.

What have we got?

Today, I have made a trio of Corn Flakes.

So we have a Corn Flake grits

with a pork, beef, fennel and Corn Flake meatball

with a Corn Flake pangrattato on top.

Wow. OK.

Shall we have a go? Oh, yes.

Dot.

I can't...emphasise this enough.

You've nailed it.

Absolutely nailed it.

The creativity of this dish, the invention aspect of this dish,

is epic.

I think it is beautiful and silky smooth,

but it's just got that slight little textural detail

with the Corn Flakes

that you've folded through it at the last second.

The meatballs are epic. The sauce goes so well with it.

A celebration of Corn Flakes in a meatball dish

said no-one ever but I love it.

SOFIA: You get these little tendrils of Corn Flake flavour

just throughout the entire dish.

I'd order this. I'd order this again and again and again.

I agree. An extraordinary job. Well done.

Thank you.

Well, off you trot 'cause that was awesome.

Good job, girl.

High fiving. Thanks, guys.

The next dish belongs to Petro.

I have made a Middle Eastern-inspired pumpkin,

and I've made Corn Flake cumin clusters.

What I'm most impressed about is the seasoning,

both on the pumpkin and those clusters heighten the spices

and heighten the pumpkin's earthiness.

Far out, mate. You are a star.

Thank you. Petro, we love you.

Lydia.

I've made a bran dashi with a piece of poached fish.

I've also used Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes in a crispy chilli oil.

(DROPS FORK)

Un...believ...a...ble.

I am still struggling to understand how to make a dashi,

and there you are, you popped in

and you're putting cereals in your dashi.

And it worked very well.

Next up, Bella.

So I landed on a chocolate and Weet-Bix financier

with a Coco Pops and toasted coconut whipped ganache.

POH: Bella, I think by far the most successful infusion.

Like that Coco Pops is ringing right through

every single element on that cake.

How many boxes did you use in that little square?

Um, not that many, actually.

Insane. Insane.

I really enjoyed that.

Annabel.

I have made a Corn Flake tostada

with some raw tuna, a jalapeno cream,

and a Crunchy Nut chilli crisp.

The thing about a tostada is they have to be really crispy.

Yes. These feel pretty good.

I feel like doing that ASMR thing.

(LAUGHS)

Tostada was so shattery,

it made my brain kind of like shake a little bit.

I think that is the hero of your dish.

Miin! I've made mango crispy rice.

Miin, simple. Bloody delicious. Bloody delicious.

Very more-ish.

It looks like a modern day restaurant dessert.

Grace.

I've made a Froot Loop marshmallow

with creme anglaise and raspberry coulis.

Creativity off the charts.

It's very, very, very conceptual and I love that.

Jack.

That's a Coco Pop choux.

Oh, the choux, upside down?

Yeah. I just thought it'd be an interesting way to plate it.

Um...

Ah, beautiful choux buns and, yeah, a bit of a peculiar thing

to flip them over 'cause it's got a perfect flat surface.

OK, next. Vinnie, please.

I'm looking at my dish, and the thing that I'm worried about

is that filling it might be a bit too grainy.

And I'm worried that there's lots of great dishes

that I'm up against today,

but I'm hoping that the inventiveness

will get me through.

Being in the bottom five for me, at this point in the competition

is a big, big risk. I don't want to go home yet.

Wow!

Vinnie, tell us, what have you made?

So today I've made a Nutri-Grain cannoli.

Um...yeah.

So it's a shell, normal cannoli shell,

but I've put a bit of Coco Pops in there too.

And then the filling is ricotta with Nutri-Grain.

And then in there is a Nutri-Grain praline

kind of rippled throughout.

Do you think this is the first Nutri-Grain cannoli

made in the world?

I mean, that'd be pretty cool. I've never seen it before so...

I would say yes. Yeah.

What do you think they would say in Sicily? Back in Sicily.

Probably get kicked onto the street.

All the nonnas would yell the from the roof saying, "Get out!"

Let's try it.

Vinnie, that's as good as any cannoli shell I've ever had.

It's really, really well done.

I love how far you've taken them,

so they've got that really lovely deep caramelised flavour

in them.

I love the flavour of the filling as well,

but I think where...

..I maybe feel like there's a bit of an issue is the texture.

I just wanted you to have maybe infused

rather than blended the cereal through.

The ricotta is already a bit grainy as well,

so you've got kind of double graininess.

When I saw it, that's what I'd say, you nailed it.

But when I taste it, I changed my mind a little bit.

I lost the excitement with the texture.

You know, we want you to do well.

But...

..I can't say that I like it.

Cheers, Vinnie. Thank you.

Next up, Casper.

The dish is looking great.

It's definitely inventive for me...

..but there's always the chance

that I might have gone a bit too far.

I'm hoping as soon as I put it down in front of them,

they can see that is supposed to be

a bowl of milk with cereal on top.

What?

POH: What? (LAUGHS) OK.

What have you made, Casper?

I've made a cereal milk panna cotta

with some fried pasta

and a little, like, fruity pebble milk crumb thing.

And then I had some leftover cereal milk

so I did a clarified milk punch with the cereal milk.

SOFIA: I think, you know, you're being creative

when you don't actually have the words

to describe your own dish. (CHUCKLES)

Well, it looks incredible and we know it's big on creativity,

but is it big on flavour? Let's find out.

Casper, your special human, mate. Absolutely special human.

I feel like the creativity shown

in this plate of food is off the charts.

The composition is unreal.

I loved that you set the spoon in there.

You know, you don't get that satisfaction of the wobble

on the plate and the thing looking like it might fall over,

but you've got the satisfaction of lifting the spoon out

and then seeing the texture of the wobble on the spoon.

It was brilliant. It was genius.

I like that you used the blue spirulina to replicate,

you know, that candy fake colour

of so many cereals.

And I love the way your brain works.

Like, the second you put that in front of us,

I was like, I think this is probably

the most inventive dish in the kitchen today.

And it is an invention test. So well done there.

I love that you cook with such intention.

Every time you come up here, you describe the elements

and you always have a reason for them being on the plate.

And that's a very good characteristic to have.

Nice work, Casper. Thank you.

That looked so good.

We'd love to taste your dish next, Jeff.

I made a Coco Pops mille-feuille

with Coco Pop-infused creme pat.

And then I added a matcha Chantilly

and a sprinkle of Coco Pops.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Jeff, you are for sure an adventurous baker,

we can see that.

The only thing is the layers, they go a bit soggy on the end.

Next dish we'd like to taste is Jackie's.

So I've made a Coco Pops and kumquat tart.

I've added some of that citrus and that kumquat

to kind of give it almost like a Jaffa effect.

I think you've added cocoa powder, have you?

Yep. So because you've done that,

it overpowers the dish for me. Yeah.

Which makes it redundant. Yep.

Lucy, you're next.

I've made Rice Bubble tempura prawns

with pickled pear

and a ginger soy sauce.

In terms of invention test,

I think it's a good one to sort of cut your teeth on,

but won't be the most creative in the pack.

ANDY: Kanika.

So today, I've made a gochujang Corn Flakes chilli chicken.

It was absolutely peaking with flavour.

Is it inventive?

I don't think it's that inventive,

especially with what's going on behind you?

Emily, I think you're next.

This is a Corn Flake crusted fish collar.

And then to basically make it nice and fresh,

I decided to balance it

with a wakame, cucumber and mango salad.

As much as I adore everything about your dish

in terms of how it tastes and looks,

I'm just wondering if a batter on a fish

is inventive enough to keep you out of the bottom five.

Next dish we'd like to taste belongs to...Aaron.

OK.

Aaron, what you got?

I've got a steak tartare tartlette.

I imagine there's some cereal in there somewhere.

There is. So in the tart shell, I've added Corn Flakes,

a wasabi cream on the bottom,

and I've also got a miso-burnt butter emulsion

piped on the top.

Some pretty strong flavours in there.

You know raw beef, wasabi, miso. Yeah.

They're powerful. Yep.

But I think the addition of the Corn Flakes on the top as well

will help bring that back to the Corn Flake flavour.

OK, let's find out. Let's do it.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Guess again.

Aaron...

..you nailed that tartlette.

Absolutely smashed it out of the park.

Your use of the actual Corn Flakes is really clever

because they're thin, they're cooked, they're caramelised

and the last thing that's left on my palate, it's Corn Flakes.

I think it's brilliant. Thank you.

POH: With beef tartare, it's all about the seasoning.

And it is done to perfection.

Beautiful knife work. A really immaculate bite of food.

ANDY: I loved that.

We can really see your potential,

um, in terms of what you want to be.

And that is a flat out chef.

That's a proper dish from you, mate.

That's a very proper dish.

Inventive, creative and also, executed really well.

But above all, it's tasty.

And that's what I want to see more of from you.

Well done. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Righto, Pat. Let's have it.

I am very concerned about taking this up to the judges.

I've accepted that it's not a great dish.

There's always, like, that tiny little bit that, like,

"Maybe it's just all worked out perfectly,

"and I'm gonna be fine." But in the back of my mind,

I just know I'm in a bit of trouble with this one.

Double dish.

Hey, Pat. Hello.

First invention test. What did we do?

I've got a beef tartare

and what I'm calling beer bubble prawn.

So beer batter and Rice Bubble prawns.

So you've got the Rice Bubbles in the beer battered prawns.

Yes. Where else is the cereal?

So I've ground down Weet-Bix All-Bran and Rice Bubbles

and made of wheat and olive oil cracker for the tartare.

Um, but it didn't quite turn out how I'd hoped.

Are you a bit worried? Yes.

It's written all over your face.

Pat, I feel like you want the constructive feedback...

Definitely, yes. ..to move forward on as a cook.

Yep.

The batter is OK. It's again crispy,

but a little bit oily.

I feel like it's because of the sugar and the Rice Bubbles,

it's made it really wet.

Your cracker is a little bit dry.

Once it continues on in your palate,

that's when you really start to notice it.

Yep. I'm a little bit worried for ya.

Yeah.

Pat, I think you've overcompensated

by putting a lot in front of us.

But you haven't actually nailed any of the elements.

Yeah, agreed. Yep.

It does put you at a pretty high risk

of being in that bottom five.

Next time, choose less and open yourself more about details.

Yep. We know you can do it

better next time. So good luck.

Thanks, Pat. Thank you.

Next dish we'd like to taste is Luke's.

Walking my dish up to the judges..

..I can honestly say this is not exactly what I wanted to be.

I'm really hoping that the flavour in that dish

is enough to keep me out of the bottom five today.

Luke, tell us what you've made.

So I made a Korean fried chicken

and then I've done a daikon and nectarine pickle.

I've used the Corn Flakes in the dredge and the batter.

And how'd you go? I'm kind of, like, happy

I got something on the plate in the end,

but, yeah, I don't think it's my best work.

I'll just be honest with you.

Definitely looking at what some other people have done,

I wish I did something else.

Alright, let's taste.

Uh, Luke...

..chicken, cooked really well.

Um, nice and juicy. Super succulent. Nailed that cook.

So don't worry about that.

The glaze, would love a little bit more punch.

I would love a little bit more acidity.

I would love a little bit more spice.

I felt like it was a little bit sweet with nothing else kind of,

you know, bringing it to life.

The batter or the dredges,

little craggly in some places, little thick in other places,

perfect in other places.

Obviously means inconsistency.

Is it inventive?

Probably not, in my opinion.

It's missing character.

Is missing the Luke we had

since the beginning of the competition.

It's not the best dish, so good luck.

Thanks, mate.

That feedback hurts but I know they're right.

That dish just wasn't me at all.

I'm thinking I'm definitely in discussions

for today's bottom five.

We asked you to get creative

push the envelope

and show us something unexpected with cereal.

Some of you took the humble household pantry staple

and really went for it.

For home cooks at such an early stage of the competition,

we were really impressed.

Three of you deserve

a special mention.

Dot.

Aaron.

And...Petro.

You thought outside the box

and used what was in the box to make something very special.

Well done.

Unfortunately, there were five dishes that didn't hit the mark.

If I call your name, step forward.

Pat.

Your dish, it lacked clarity

and there were problems with all your elements.

Jackie.

Jeff.

Luke.

Vinnie.

I'm sorry,

but you lot will be facing off...

..in tomorrow's elimination...

..where one of you will be going home.

SOFIA: Everyone else, well done.

You can rest easy on the gantry tomorrow.

You five, recharge and come back

ready to fight for your spot in this competition.

Goodnight, everyone.

Everybody, well done.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night...

Please welcome Maggie Beer!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Maggie Beer's an icon.

Today you'll be making...

..pies.

She might be sweet as pie...

Maggie's a absolute queen

in and out of the kitchen.

..but her pressure test...

This is not resembling anything

like what Maggie's looked like.

..will be someone's bittersweet ending.

One little mistake could mean going home.

Captions by Red Bee Media