‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Contestants snub Nigella’s suggestions; Con goes home in a shocking elimination

Three home cooks found themselves on the chopping block on Network Ten’s “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 episode 20. On May 26, the contestants whipped up the best cakes they’ve ever baked in their lives to convince judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston, as well as guest chef Nigella Lawson, that they still deserve a spot in the competition. At the end of the cook, frontrunner Con Vailas served the least impressive cake and was promptly eliminated.

With seven cooks out, the remaining contestants have to prove that they are worthy to stay in the “MasterChef Australia” kitchen. The least they could do is to be complacent, especially when the judges bring the upcoming challenges to a whole new level.

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 night’s episode, focusing on another mystery box challenge. Unlike the previous ones however, it offers a prize that is definitely worth fighting for – whoever wins goes straight to immunity challenge. With this massive advantage in mind, the home cooks push themselves to their limit.

The contestants are advised not to exhaust everything, however, since the challenge is just beginning. For the next part, they find themselves facing the toughest invention test yet: they will cook with no pantry and no core ingredient. In the preview video, Matt Sinclair reveals that they will have to prepare a winning plate from scraps. Since necessity is the mother of invention, the “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls have to think outside the box to come up with exceptional dishes.

“MasterChef Australia” Season 8 recap

After coming up a few hundred dollars short on the last team challenge, the team led by Mimi Baines traded their blue aprons to black ones as they headed to the “MasterChef Australia” kitchen. The amateur chefs faced an array of mouth-watering cakes, seemingly of every kind. They soon found out that they have to choose a cake and name it correctly, in order to be ushered to safety. The first three to get it wrong will be sent to round two of the pressure test.

Matt set the trend as he accurately identified the lamington cake. Brett Carter, Con, Elise Franciskovic, Charlie Sartori and Mimi also breezed in through the first sequence, naming the cakes correctly. The choices got more difficult and soon enough, Charlie became the first person in round two for failing to identify a simnel cake. Matt and Con followed suit after they incorrectly named dobos torte and vinaterta, respectively.

With one foot out the door, Charlie, Matt and Con proceeded to round two, wherein they were instructed to bake any cake they like within 90 minutes. Nigella advised them to play on their strengths by making something that they know they could get absolutely right.

Matt was totally in his element and went through the challenge without any hitch. His confidence reflected on his carrot cake with candied walnuts and walnut cream, and it was easily declared the best cake of the evening. Nigella said it is everything a home-baked cake should be – messy, generous and looks like it wants to feed someone.

Charlie and Con, on the other hand, did not have a sweet time in the pressure test like Matt did. Nigella tried to help them increase their chances of being saved, but both opted to stand their ground, leading to crucial mistakes. For his sponge cake, Nigella told him to put the batter into two pans but he chose to dump it all in one. As a result, he had a hard time baking the cake all the way through, and had to return the pan to the oven twice more which resulted to a dry, overbaked cake. He tried to compensate by putting other elements, and served a chocolate and raspberry hazelnut cake to the judges.

Meanwhile, Con decided to bake a pound cake, which is a bad idea given the limited time. Nigella told him to make something that’s easier to cook, but Con went for it and tried to trade baking time with the temperature. The domestic goddess was certainly not happy seeing a pound cake baked in a 200 degree-temperature. Expectedly, the cake turned out dense, which Con tried to salvage by infusing syrup. At the judges’ table, he presented a thyme pound cake with thyme syrup.

It was a close call between Charlie’s and Con’s desserts – both looked amazing in terms of presentation, but the cakes themselves were problematic. In the end, the judges and Nigella decided that Charlie’s dry and heavy-textured sponge cake was more forgivable than Con’s dense and unevenly cooked pound cake. They bid goodbye to Con in a surprising elimination, considering that the 31-year-old restaurant supervisor was among the top cooks this season.

Speaking of goodbyes, the contestants and the judges said their farewell to Nigella after a week. Before leaving, she gave a MasterClass session to the amateur chefs as a souvenir. She taught them how to make tequila and lime chicken with chili ginger garlic sauce and baked potato, as well as lemon pavlova.

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