When you’ve just spent four hours creating the dessert of your dreams at the request of Michelin star chef Clare Smyth, the last thing you want to do is crack in the final moments - but that’s exactly what happened to Jess Hall on Monday night’s MasterChef elimination episode.
WATCH the heartbreaking 'crack' that was heard all over Australia as MasterChef's Jess serves up her dessert.
Derek, Leah and Jess were given four hours to follow the 67-step recipe and create a pear and lemon verbena vacherin in an epic dessert marathon which saw Jess fall at the final post.
Recreating legendary chef Clare Smyth's dessert was never going to be a simple task, but after Leah's puree-gate and Jess breaking all but one of her much-needed meringue domes, all three contestants somehow succeeded in getting all elements made and ready for the final tasting by the judges.
They'd just need to do one more thing - plate up their creations while the judges watched.
PRESSURE!
Sweet treats are Derek's strength and he breezes through the plating up, saying of the cook: “I loved every minute of that, I just had the time of my life.”
His dish sets the bar for the others.
Leah's a little more nervous, but thrilled to have finished, saying she put in "110%" into this dessert.
It pays off, and the judges are happy.
Finally, Jess begins to tentatively put together the delicate dessert, filling the meringue dome and then... CRACK!
Matt Preston is almost in tears and hides his head in his hands.
It's clear that the competition is over for Jess, but she powers through and serves up what she can of her dessert for the judges to taste.
"It's heartbreaking to watch someone put that much effort in, only for it to collapse at the last moment,” says Clare.
And unfortunately, that's Jess's downfall and she's eliminated from the competition.
