‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Chloe's refusal to take expert's advice finally comes back to bite her

Four contestants faced crunch time at the end of the toughest week in “MasterChef Australia” Season 8, but one failed to survive. In episode 50 that aired on July 7, another batch of budding chefs cooked for their place in the competition, which was getting more cutthroat than ever. Dessert queen Chloe Bowles’ efforts fell short during the most recent pressure test, which promptly sent her home.

The 24-year-old nanny’s dish was simply not good enough especially at this stage of the competition, according to judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston. It’s too bad that Chloe would miss the upcoming episodes, as the remaining “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls travel halfway across the world for a week they will never forget.

Spoiler Alert! This article contains "MasterChef Australia" Season 8 spoilers. Read only if you want to know more about it.

Network Ten posted a sneak peek of Sunday’s episode, which focuses on an exciting culinary journey all the way to San Francisco, California in the US. The top seven are tasked to use the most amazing local ingredients to produce simply sensational food. One contestant will be rewarded with a massive opportunity, which could very well be a game-changing advantage.

For winning the last team challenge, Trent Harvey and Elise Franciskovic will be flying business class with Qantas as their prize. It’s interesting to see whether the two would be able to maintain their momentum and go all the way to the finale, which is a few episodes away. Trent is definitely one of, if not the most, underrated contestants this season. So far, he seemed to have played it safe and had been on the chopping block a couple of times. However, recently, he’s managing to put the spotlight on himself, proving that he’s a worthy contender this year.

“MasterChef Australia” Season 8 recap

As the four contestants in black apron walked in the “MasterChef Australia” kitchen, they saw a bench and a gavel, as well as a beautiful display of ingredients. Chloe, along with Matt Sinclair, Mimi Baines and Elena Duggan, knew that the upcoming challenge was going to involve an auction.

The judges confirmed their suspicions, and they were presented with three categories of food, with each lot comprising of four choices. In the first lot, the contestants saw proteins with the choice of duck, beef fillet and bones, eggs and fish. Next was the fruit and vegetables section, followed by the condiments category. The contestants began with 120 minutes of time and they had to use that to bid for the ingredients they wanted to cook with. The more they spend, the less time they had to prepare their dishes.

At the end of the auction, Mimi won beef, root vegetables and spices and had 75 minutes to cook. Matt bid on duck, alliums, sauces and also earned 75 minutes for his dish. Elena ended up with fish, nightshades and herbs, as well as 80 minutes on the clock. Lastly, Chloe won eggs, citrus and spreads, plus a hundred minutes to cook.

Since Chloe had the longest time on the clock, she was the first one to cook and she decided to make a mousse and meringue. When the judges came over her bench, they questioned whether her mousse will work, even without a setting agent. Despite the gentlemen’s concern, Chloe stuck to her guns and went for her plan. Followers of “MasterChef Australia” would know that this is not the first time that Chloe snubbed the judges’ concern or the mentor chefs’ advice.

[READ: “‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 update: Listen to chefs’ advice to avoid being in the bottom, fans tell Chloe Bowles”]

Chloe then proceeded to make her orange curd, and knowing that time would not be enough, she decided to cook it using the microwave. She was completely flustered, especially when she found out that the curd wasn’t thickening up. She put it in the fridge, hoping it would solve the consistency issue. When she pulled it out, she knew she’s in trouble: the consistency wasn’t right at all. Her mousse, as the judges predicted, was still really soft. With 15 minutes remaining, she tried to salvage the mousse by putting it in the blast chiller. However, when Chloe got it out, her mousse was completely frozen.

Another contestant who was having trouble in the “MasterChef Australia” kitchen that night was Matt. Judge Matt checked in on him, and was not impressed at all with the sauce. “You might want to have a backup plan,” the judge said, rattling Matt. With only a few minutes in the clock, he was still clueless on how to remedy his sauce. After racking his brain, he thought of adding some burnt butter, sugar and vinegar to give his sauce a little bit of volume.

Elena, meanwhile, found that filleting the mullet was taking a lot longer than she had hoped. After that, however, everything went smoothly for her. Among all the contestants up for elimination, Mimi was the only one who’s cool and collected. She managed to get all the elements of her dish ready ahead of the others, and all she had to do was to plate it up, with five minutes still remaining on the clock.

Mimi’s composure throughout the challenge paid off. When the judges tasted their respective dishes, they loved her eye fillet with roast beetroot and mustard pickled radish. The crispy beetroot leaves and the beef’s caramelisation definitely stood out, according to the judges. However, the dish that completely blew the judges’ mind was Elena’s red mullet fillets with nightshade sauce and salad. The dish looked spectacular, and when the judges had a bite, Elena’s plate elicited a “wow” from Matt and George. Gary, on the other hand, admitted that he cannot fault the dish at all.

Meanwhile, Matt’s duck two ways with onions and a char siu jus earned mixed reviews. While the judges were impressed with how it looked, judge Matt reiterated that he’s worried about the sauce’s taste. They commented that the duck was cooked beautifully and it was packed with flavour. Both preparations of the duck were successful, the judges observed. However, they were unsure about the sauce, saying that it could send Matt home.

Chloe had the most difficult time that evening, and she definitely had a lot of reasons to be worried. When she served her honey mousse with an orange curd, butter wafer and blackberry sauce, Matt was confused. He asked whether it was a mousse, an ice cream or a parfait on the plate in front of them. The dessert’s taste was equally disappointing. “What a shame, the mousse is an absolute disaster,” Gary said. George agreed, commenting that it’s just not good enough.

When the moment of truth came, the judges first called Elena, who they said exemplified everything that they were looking for. Gary paid her the highest compliment by saying it is one of the best dishes they have eaten this year. However, they cannot give the same commendation to Chloe. Looking at the dish, the judges knew straight away that it was going to send its maker home. For her dessert disaster, Chloe was the latest contestant to be eliminated from “MasterChef Australia.”

Find out what happens next on “MasterChef Australia,” and stay tuned for episode spoilers. “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 airs every Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Ten.