After many weeks of towering cakes and fine French patisserie, the talented chefs of the Dessert Masters kitchen have officially hung up their aprons.
Tackling the judge’s challenges for the final time were former MasterChef winner Emelia Jackson, pastry chef Christy Tania, and Michelin-star chef John Demetrios. With $100,000 within reach, the contestants were determined to deliver one award-winning showstopper.
While each chef impressed the panel with their Australiana-inspired cuisine, only one contestant could be crowned the winner, with John Demetrios taking home the sweet victory of Dessert Masters 2024.
Kick-starting their finale challenge, the top three contestants were tasked with creating a two-course menu inspired by the classic Australian green and gold colour scheme.
Drawing inspiration from his hometown of Melbourne, John opted to pay homage to a fig tree at his childhood home for the green component of the challenge, plating a fig leaf ice cream with white chocolate cremeaux, lemon myrtle and fig leaf oil.
Tapping into Australian history, John’s gold dish was reminiscent of the Victorian gold rush era, with the pastry chef constructing a ‘gold mine’ incorporating flavours of brown butter, whiskey, caramel, malted barley, and chocolate.
Reflecting on his plating, John told Ten, “I didn’t realise this about myself until I watched the season back, but I quite enjoy telling stories through my dishes… When it came to the green and gold challenge, I saw it as a chance to show where I’m from and I really wanted to play on that in different ways for both dishes.”
In keeping with his stellar run of flavours, the judges were highly impressed by John’s attention to detail and palette-pleasing pastry, earning him a near-perfect score of 38 out of 40.
Celebrating his win, John told the judges, “I can’t believe it. I’m shaking like when I walked in. I’m super proud. It’s going to take a couple of days for this to feel real.”
With the Dessert Masters title added to his long list of accolades, John shared that he hopes to use his prize money to pursue another dessert dream.
“I’ve always wanted to open a bakery with my wife, and I think this is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for,” he shared.
Congratulations John!
