01x01 - Breaking Molds and Bending Chocolate

[bunniefuu]

[upbeat music playing]

When it comes to chocolate,

it's a whole 'nother world.

The idea that you take this raw ingredient

and create sculptures, structures,

it's different

than any other medium out there.

I love to eat it mostly. [laughing]

[man] I've been in this industry

for 21 years now,

and I've seen a lot of things,

but you see this guy on social media,

then you see the work,

and it's impeccable.

Amaury? He's a genius.

[laughs] He's a chocolate genius.

Every time that he posts a video,

they go viral.

The ability to craft that

out of chocolate,

to be very frank, it's rare.

It's a pterodactyl! Oh my God!

My first job in Paris as an exec

was when I was 21 years old.

[man] It's just hanging there.

It's chocolate that's hanging.

He's the master of illusion. [laughs]

I'm actually a teacher in my own academy,

The Pastry Academy in Las Vegas.

I'm, like, literally

in Willy Wonka's factory.

This is a school of chocolate.

I will be teaching,

testing you, and challenging you

on your pastry and chocolate knowledge.

-Are you feeling up to the challenge?

-[man 2] Yes.

-[man 3] Yes, Chef.

-You should run.

As much as you want

to say it's not a competition, it is.

The prize is, like, wow.

Total value of $100,000.

-[gasps]

-You did not expect that. [gasps]

Gotta do what it takes to win.

[Amaury] The winner

of School of Chocolate is…

[happy music plays]

[pop music playing]

[exhales forcefully]

[Amaury] Hello.

-[man] Hello, Chef.

-Welcome, everyone. Welcome to the school.

It was just like seeing an idol.

You just want to make a squeal

or something like… [squeals]

I kept it together, you know.

I grab… grabbed the table for stability.

My name is Amaury Guichon.

I know it's weird to pronounce,

but do your best.

I feel like he might've winked at me

when he walked in.

Maybe it was just me?

Got a little warm when he walked in?

I know that you are already professionals,

executive chefs,

business owners,

eager to step up and learn new skills.

Over this course,

you will be taught many things

which you've never learned before.

People do things one way for many years.

I'm gonna ask you

to see things differently.

Innovation is about seeing things

from a different perspective.

Last time I was in school,

I just squeezed by…

[chuckles]

…and, um, I'm nervous.

I've been in this industry

for a long time.

I taught myself a lot of tricks.

Am I gonna get yelled at

for doing some of those tricks?

I don't know.

But I'm super excited to be able to learn.

At the end of the course,

the student with the best overall grade

will be given a special award,

and this award could change your life.

[class chuckles]

Yes, this is a school, there's a prize,

and we all want that prize.

The other competitors

should be watching out for me.

I laugh a lot,

and I look like I don't know a lot,

but they don't know what is coming.

[laughing]

My two fabulous assistants,

Carolyn and Devin,

will be here to provide help and guidance

all the way through the course.

Let's get started. Are you excited?

-[class] Yes, Chef.

-Come forward.

Today we're going to discuss pastry,

and the next task

will be all about chocolate.

Oh, yeah.

Definitely gonna need that. [laughs]

[Amaury] Let me introduce you

to your first pastry exercise.

[woman] Oh, wow.

Creating a pastry without an existing mold

and turning it into an illusion.

This is not really a pastry.

[class laughs]

This is a notebook.

That's not really an illusion either.

But this, this is a lemon pie.

-Okay.

-[woman] Oh.

-[Thiago] Wow.

-[Amanda] Oh, my God.

The challenge, it's how to craft something

without using any premade mold.

Molds help you create something that

everyone is tying to achieve in pastry,

which is perfection.

You get the perfect curvature,

you get the perfect angles.

Been in this industry

for about ten years now,

and trying to create a pastry

without a preexisting mold

is a little bit mind-blowing.

I told myself, if I wanna do

something like that and don't have a mold,

how can I come up

with something like this?

And it's with this state of mind

that I was able to craft things

that look a bit different

from your usual pastry.

In order to push things to their maximum,

this lemon pie can actually write.

-[woman laughing] No.

-[man] Oh my God.

[Amaury] To create the tip of the pencil,

black cocoa butter,

which is the reason

why I can also use it and write with it.

-[woman] So good.

-[man] "Good luck" is right.

-[class laughing]

-No pressure. My cue to go. [chuckles]

[all laughing]

I mean, he picked up a pencil

and wrote with it,

that's made out of chocolate.

I have not seen that. [laughs]

I would like Mellisa to try it,

and… and tell them what you feel.

-Like, just bite into it?

-[Amaury] Yeah, go for it. It's yours.

-Oh…

-It's fine. It's messy. Pastry is messy.

-[Mellisa] Oh… [chuckles]

-[class laughs]

It's fine. It's fine.

Hmm.

-[Amaury] Is it?

-Yeah.

The lemon cream is super citrusy,

then you have the crunch in the middle.

It's nice. It's not firm at all,

which is surprising

because we're mixing two different worlds.

In pastry, it's super secretive.

If you know the trick, you don't tell.

You don't want anybody to do the trick.

And so for here

to be this treasure trove of information,

this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I'm gonna demonstrate the pencil mold.

With just a few acetate sheets

which are just plastic flexible sheets.

Let me start with the frame of it,

which is a perfect hexagon.

I cut some foam board,

and I'm going to push this on

so it will keep the right shape

when we start pouring the chocolate in.

It is just white chocolate

with a little bit of yellow coloration.

The key of using chocolate,

it's the thinner the better.

You don't want it to take away

from the actual taste and texture.

So we're taking our tip and the core,

and we're going to glue them together.

Melting it down, just for it to fit.

Once you see the trick,

you're like, "Oh, well, duh," right?

And there we go. We have our shell.

Seal it up, and it's a wrap.

-[woman] It's so good.

-Fabulous.

[Stephanie] Thank you.

You cannot, especially as a pastry chef,

you cannot not look at that

and think, "Holy crap."

You have four and a half hours

to come up with your own creative design

without using any preexisting mold.

The theme of your choice,

but it has to be an illusion.

You're gonna be judged on creativity,

flavor, and texture combination.

This is our first pastry exercise,

and I want you to go crazy with it.

Are you ready?

-Oui, Chef.

-Yes.

Let's do it. Go.

-[student speaks indistinctly]

-[chuckles]

All righty, caramel time.

Here we go.

My passion for pastries

started at a very young age.

Since I've had my Easy-Bake Oven,

I've been in the kitchen, uh,

whipping up desserts. [chuckles]

Straight from high school,

I went to culinary school,

so it's been

a pretty amazing 14 years already.

-[Amaury] Stephanie.

-Chef.

-How are you feeling?

-[Stephanie] I'm feeling excited.

My concept was to create,

um, like, an aloe vera plant in a pot.

My flavor profile is gonna be

a chocolate-banana, cashew butter.

[Amaury] Okay.

-[Stephanie] The pot is chocolate.

-[Amaury] Correct.

-And the cake is hidden inside?

-[Stephanie] Of course, yeah.

-[Amaury] That's clever. Good job.

-Thank you. Thanks.

I'm nervous I might've bit off more than

I could chew for this first challenge.

But my grandpa, Lucky, always told me,

"Go big or go home."

And so I'm taking that with me,

'cause… [chuckling] You know?

I'm going in with my eggs.

[whimsical music playing]

Can I bug you a moment

and ask you what you want to do?

-Yeah. I'm gonna do a flashlight.

-[Amaury] All right, fun.

[Mellisa] Yeah. I'm gonna make the tubes

out of the acetate,

then I'm gonna cut this piece

and use part of this to fit into here,

and then I'm gonna meld the two together.

Outside of the box thinking. I like it.

Basically, what he's asking us to do is

to stop thinking the way

that we have been trained to think

and try something new.

In my career, which spans 20 years,

I've never been, like,

challenged in that way

to find kind of that inner genie almost.

I'm pretty pumped up for the challenge.

Juan, can I ask you

what you're planning on doing today?

Yes, I'm gonna be doing a perinola.

I forgot how you say it in English.

-I think it's, um, de… de… dreidel?

-[Amaury] Okay.

[Juan] So, it's a Jewish toy,

but in Colombia

we actually use it also as a toy.

My goal is to, like, hopefully,

actually make it even to work

that you can twist it too.

So, it's creative and interactive.

Very cool.

I am originally from Colombia.

I came from a family of doctors, so,

since little, everybody wanted me to be

a doctor but that was not for me.

I told my parents pastry is my passion,

it's what I wanna do.

They were really sad,

really disappointed, really angry.

They actually took it worse

than me coming out as g*y.

[laughing]

[woman] I don't think I'm as well-known

as maybe some of the other chefs here.

I guess, I'm trying to prove it. Maybe…

Maybe to myself and definitely to, um…

The world who may judge me?

I'm not just a stripper from Baton Rouge.

[chuckles nervously]

I stripped through culinary school.

It cost a lot of money and I was,

like, looking for jobs, applying for jobs,

and nobody was, like, hiring me.

And my bills were, like, piling up.

So, I was like, okay,

something's got to get done. [chuckles]

-I do feel like I'm the underdog.

-How are you?

-Oh, just jolly.

-[chuckles]

-My plan is to do a rolling pin. Uh-huh.

-[Amaury] Rolling pin?

What I like about your design is when you

showed me the sketch, I knew what it was.

[Tyricia] Okay, great.

If it tastes good

and the illusion is successful,

and you didn't use any mold, then you win.

-[Tyricia] Oh, that's… [claps]

-[Amaury] Okay?

Just, like, blew my world. [laughs]

Thank you, Chef.

He just made my life so much easier.

Was over here stressing.

I normally think less of myself,

that's part of me and my overanalyzing.

I'm in therapy for that. [laughs]

Oh, I'm so excited now. Go, Tyricia.

Go, Tyricia. Go, Tyricia.

[whimsical music playing]

Chefs, you have three hours left

for your exercise.

[students, individually] Thank you.

[Amanda] I'm making my take

on a hazelnut latte.

It's gonna be in a pour-over coffee mug

kind of thing.

I spent a lot of time making the molds

because that's the most crucial part,

getting my shape, uh, together.

Three pieces to mold for the bottom,

three pieces to mold for the top.

And it's so time-consuming.

I'm a chef instructor.

So, the pressure from being the instructor

to the student is really just a lot

And it… It kind of opens my eyes

to what they go through.

Obviously, that'll make me

a better instructor when I'm done here

as well as a better student.

[Amaury] Amanda is challenging herself

on something big.

I'm fearing that she might not be able

to accomplish everything she planned

because it's a lot

of different type of mold.

It's getting a little close.

-[suspenseful music plays]

-[sighs]

Why is this not sticking?

Pause.

I'm making a chocolate planter box.

I like nature a lot.

I make art at home with,

uh, full succulents and dried moss.

And so, I wanna recreate that

in an edible form.

I wanna keep the flavors very earthy,

and so I think

it'll go well with the aesthetic.

We do have an exercise

that we have to follow to,

but at the same time, I need to inject

who it is that I am as a pastry chef

into my creation for the exercise.

[whimsical music playing]

-How are you, Daniel?

-Doing well. You?

-Good. Our youngest student.

-Yes.

I live with my two parents

and my three younger brothers.

You don't see

normal 21-year-old pastry cooks

making chocolate showpieces at home.

So, it can get very crazy

especially when Mom wants to cook.

It's a fight for the kitchen.

-Tell me what you came up with.

-A coffee bag.

-A what?

-A coffee bag.

I'm gonna heat up the plastic

so that crumples.

So, it becomes that bag look

that you see in a coffee bag.

[heater blowing]

It's difficult to achieve organic form,

so very fun.

-Good choice.

-Thank you.

-[adventurous music playing]

-[heater blowing]

[Juan] Airbrush time.

-[Tyricia] I didn't do this the smart way.

-[tense music plays]

[Tyricia gasps] Well, that was stupid.

The way that I did it,

I didn't set a bottom.

So, it all came out and poured over.

Tyricia, I don't want to put you

under pressure. I know how you must feel.

Uh, can I help you?

I'm just… I don't know because I'd thought

this was a good idea to hold it

because, I mean, my other alternative was

to plastic wrap it so--

What you could do, put some tape

and make sure it's tight.

-[Tyricia] Okay.

-Okay?

But you… you… you must seal it first

before going ahead and filling it.

-Okay. Thank you.

-And take your time, huh?

[Tyricia] I tempered

the dulce chocolate first

and then I'll come back

with some dark chocolate

and do another coat.

And hopefully I'll be able to fill it up.

You guys-- Oh.

You guys just don't want to listen.

You… you… you're going to do it.

I am. I got the best teacher in the world.

-What are you talking about?

-[laughs]

But this is only day one.

So, I'm not a reflection of you. [laughs]

Thiago, still on track?

[Thiago] Uh, no.

-[chuckles]

-[Amaury] No? Okay, very well.

I decided to make a box of crayons.

I was being very ambitious.

I drew five crayons.

I'm now down to three crayons

and by the end of this

I might be down to one crayon. [laughs]

I don't know what's gonna happen.

I'm ambitious with some backup plans.

So, that's… that's always how I do it.

Chefs, you have

an hour and ten minutes left.

Thank you, Chef.

[suspenseful music playing]

[blowing]

Go faster, go faster.

Do you have all your elements?

The taste-wise?

I have to bake off my almond Florentine

and then make a quick caramel.

Well, a little stressed.

[clicks tongue] We're getting close.

-You can do a lot in 40 minutes.

-Yes. Yes, I can.

[Thiago] Once the moment start

that you're not having this done,

I am like, really scared.

Ugh. Jam it.

No, I don't curse. Normally I don't even

say " damn it." I say " jam it."

[laughing]

Five minutes, guys.

[dramatic music playing]

[Daniel] God bless.

Come on, come on, come on, Ric.

You got this.

[Amaury] Three, two, one.

Chefs, your time is up, stop.

[chuckles]

Okay, guys, this is the moment,

please bring me your creations

so we can have a rap session.

[whimsical music playing]

We're going to start with Juan.

Yes, Chef?

[Amaury] First of all,

this has to be an illusion.

-Did you accomplish what you wanted?

-Yes.

[Amaury] And I agree with you.

I think this has been worn out,

you know, and played with.

I almost want to ask you

to give it a spin.

-You should. It should work.

-Then give me a spin, sir.

-Oh, God. [chuckles]

-[class chuckles]

-What did you ask for, huh?

-[laughing]

Better spin.

-[chuckles]

-[gasps]

-And it actually does work.

-[Juan] Yeah.

[Amaury] I am being charmed

by the whole design,

the story, the playfulness.

When I cut through it,

I don't want to be disappointed.

We're about to find out.

[class chuckles]

[suspenseful music plays]

[class] Ooh.

-Nice.

-[Amaury] I am not disappointed.

The visual inside is as much fun

as the one on the outside.

Let's try this.

From bottom to top,

we have a Milo reconstructed streusel.

Then we have a vanilla financier,

a Milo cremeaux with a Milo caramel

and a dark chocolate mousse.

[whimsical music playing]

-Oh, it's… it's very good.

-Yes.

It's balanced.

The texture complement each other.

-Yeah?

-You set the bar pretty high, huh?

-[Tyricia chuckles]

-Thank you, Chef.

[Amaury] Cedrick. Great illusion.

And it was very clever

to bring an edible element

that has such an organic look to it.

Because it is nature-inspired,

I wanted the flavors to be very earthy.

I love the cherry, the counterbalance,

the fattiness of the chocolate.

-Super cool.

-I'll take it.

-[Amaury] Thiago?

-Yes, Chef.

So, my idea was to bring you guys

this beautiful new box of crayons,

then my kids got it

before I could bring it in.

[class laughing]

They took it outside,

they scribbled around the backyard.

-That's a beautiful story.

-[class laughs]

Uh, illusion wise,

it does look like a used box of crayon.

I see a very colorful box

with multiple colors on top.

I'm expecting to see a rainbow inside.

It's pretty much what you gave us. So…

Overall, it's a good dessert.

Good on that.

-Good job.

-[Thiago] Thank you.

[Amaury] Stephanie, please.

It's a little bit more abstract

than I was going for.

I was trying to initially create

more of a half moon shape.

[Amaury] Let's try it.

Maybe it's delicious.

-I hope so. Let's try it.

-[Amaury] It better be.

For me, the chocolate is way too thick.

-It looks thick, yeah.

-[Amaury] Big time.

It has, uh, espresso chocolate cake

and then a banana curd on top of that.

And the very top, chocolate cookie crumb.

The banana mousse has strong taste.

Nice, light.

Your flavor saved you.

-That's what I was hoping for.

-[Amaury] Yeah.

I can do much better next time.

It'll be much better.

I'm excited to see.

-Amanda.

-[Amanda] Dun-dun-dun.

[Amaury] For me,

if we're talking about pure illusion,

when I see it, I am not into--

I am not like,

"Oh, is it really the thing?"

Right. There's no illusion.

[dramatic music plays]

[Amaury] Chocolate is thin,

it's a good point for you.

You spent time on it and it shows.

[Amanda] The flavor was hazelnut latte.

For me, it lack a little bit

of what you announce.

You're telling me hazelnut coffee

which are two flavor I love.

I want to be… [imitates expl*si*n]

I really want it to explode.

Just need to beef it up more.

-Mellisa.

-[Mellisa] Yeah.

[Amaury] So, we are not

a hundred percent in the illusion.

However, I think you completely

understood what today was about.

Yeah.

Finding intelligent things you could use

towards creating a creative pastry.

The bottle, very smart.

I wish I would have thought of it.

I used the flavors of almond pungent

and blackcurrant and vanilla.

It's flavorful.

-Tyricia?

-Mmm.

Can you tell what she was trying to

create as an illusion?

[Amaury and Tyricia] No.

[Tyricia] I was too afraid

to start all over.

So, I was trying

to make it work. [chuckles]

I felt bad, because I wanted

to step in and help you so bad.

I saw it in your eyes.

[Amaury] Let's see

if the flavor save you a bit.

I hope so.

[Amaury] I am actually quite happy

because so far,

I think you have the thinnest chocolate.

Nice crunch. When Chef went through,

you heard that snap,

which is what you want.

-That was part of my issue.

-[Amaury] Right? And… [stammers]

[all laugh]

-Well, it turns to your advantage, right?

-Oh, my. [laughs]

[Amaury] The texture is very good

and the taste is also good.

You put so much heart to it

and you were maybe lacking

a little push in the back to succeed.

Normally, I would destroy myself.

I'm not doing that. I'm gonna improve.

[Tyricia and Amanda chuckle]

Daniel, way,

way outside-of-the-box thinking.

Really, really creative.

I'm excited to try it.

It is a coffee mousse

with a chocolate chigon sponge.

Blood orange jam as well as

a feuilletine crispy base.

[Amaury] Uh, I like the layering

and the unconventional way

you presented it in the cake,

so that's fun and it's a good combination.

Thank you.

[Amaury] Guys,

it was an amazing first day.

I'm very impressed.

It's one thing to have great ideas.

It's another one to go from the sketchbook

to the actual final piece.

-[Cendrick] Oh, yes it was.

-It was fun.

[class chuckling]

I would like to acknowledge

the work of two individual

that for me, sticks out.

Daniel.

-Oh, my gosh. Thank you. [chuckles]

-[Amaury] And Juan.

-[class applauding]

-[Juan] Thank you.

[Amaury] Creativity, you just nailed it.

Technique, you even brought your own spin

to what I demonstrate which I love.

Thank you, Chef.

Everybody, you don't know what just came.

I mean, this Latino is about to,

like, break it down 'cause I'm ready.

If you stay ready

you ain't gotta get ready.

[chuckles]

-[Stephanie] Now, let's try everything.

-[students chattering]

Pass it down, pass it down.

[students chattering]

[Daniel] There we go. Go for it.

-[Stephanie screams] Oh!

-[students laughing]

I did well.

I, like Juan, we're on the top

of the class, uh, for that exercise.

I think it's no secret.

I'm the youngest one here. Uh--

-You are?

-[Daniel] I am.

-[students laughing]

-I'm sure I surprised a lot of people.

Uh, whether or not there's

a target on my back, perhaps.

I think he was way too nice.

I gotta start preparing

for him to be tougher next time.

-[Tyricia] We'll walk away crying.

-[Thiago] It's the calm before the storm.

[students laugh]

-Hi, guys. How's it going?

-[student] Hi, Chef.

Tyricia, come with me for a second?

Chef would like to speak with you.

[Tyricia] I don't wanna go

to the principal's office. [laughs]

Excuse me, Chef. We have Tyricia.

-Hey. Thank you for coming, Tyricia.

-Hello, Chef.

-Please come in. Take a seat.

-Okay.

How… how are you feeling after…?

Um, I feel okay.

-Yeah?

-[chuckles] Yeah.

-I love that you keep the spirit strong.

-Mm-hmm. Yes.

Amanda, Chef Amaury would like

to see you in his office.

[Amanda] Okay.

[Devin] Right this way.

Oh. I'm… I'm…

I'm not breathing. Oh, my God.

How are you feeling?

I'm… I'm feeling a little defeated, um,

a little humbled by the, uh,

exercise today, but I'm feeling good.

I don't think

you're ready for the next challenge.

[tense music plays]

-Yes, Chef. Okay.

-[Amaury] And I want to get you there.

I don't want you to jump into something

that you are not going to be

comfortable succeeding in.

-So, tomorrow, I will have you practice.

-Okay.

It's for you to be able to succeed better

next time

and to join up on the next task.

[Tyricia] It was kind of heartbreaking.

You have the lowest score,

what do you expect? [chuckles]

It is what it is.

[groans]

-Peppermint.

-[Daniel chuckles]

-Yeah, that's a good one.

-[students chattering]

[introspective music playing]

[student] Uh-oh.

[students chattering, laughing]

You okay, Amanda?

Uh, it's… We all had a rough day.

I don't think I brought my best game here.

You know, there's so much more to me

than what I represented to Chef

and to my fellow students.

There's so much more to me.

[exhales]

[crying] Crap.

[upbeat music playing]

-[Tyricia] I'm a Taurus.

-I'm a Taurus too.

-[Stephanie] I get along with Taurus.

-When is your birthday?

-April 24th.

-I'm May 14.

[Tyricia] Oh, my God!

-[laughing]

-[Tyricia] That's why we get along great.

-She's like, "Oh, perfect." [laughs]

-[Mellisa] It makes sense now.

I just explains so much.

It's like "Oh, that's why I'm over here."

[all laughing]

-[Tyricia] What's your sign?

-Virgo.

-Oh.

-[Juan] I'm--

I mean, not in a bad way! [chuckles]

[Stephanie and Juan laugh]

Yeah, I… I can be really focused.

I… I love my lists.

I like to have my to-do sheet

so that you can kind of control

what's happening.

That… that is definitely me

as a pastry chef.

-[Tyricia] Don't know much about Vertigos.

-[Mellisa] Virgo.

-Virgo? Not vertigo.

-[Juan] Yeah, Virgo.

-[Tyricia] Yeah. [laughs]

-[all laughing]

[pop music playing]

[gasps] Oh, my God.

Okay.

Look at that.

-Wow.

-[Tyricia chuckles]

[Juan] Look at the shine on this. Wow.

[Tyricia] Oh, my God.

Wow. Wow. It's so sparkly.

How do you think he made those rocks?

-[Cedrick] That whole thing is chocolate?

-[Thiago] It's all chocolate.

This is insane.

Dude, look at the details.

Look how clean it is.

That attention to detail and the ability

to craft that out of chocolate,

you know, it's dynamic, it's incredible,

and to be very frank, it's rare.

-[Stephanie] Looks like a real octopus.

-Yeah, it's no joke.

-[Stephanie] It looks flawless.

-It's amazing.

[rock music playing]

[Amaury] Hey, everyone.

[students] Good morning, Chef.

-Did you take a look at it?

-Oh, yeah.

[Juan] Uh, yes?

The next task will be

all about chocolate. This is art.

-[Thiago laughs]

-[Cedrick] I agree.

This is hundred-percent chocolate.

No trick, no wire, no wood, no foam.

Imagine someone commissioned you

to make a showpiece for

a celebration party or birthday, whatever.

It's my responsibility.

If I bring you a chocolate showpiece,

you eat it all from top to bottom.

[Juan] This octopus and this lighthouse,

just a showpiece, told a story.

And that's what a showpiece should do.

That's what art should do.

Because chocolate is art

and he got me really scared because

I'm like, "Okay, if you just did that,

what am I gonna have to do

for this exercise?"

I'm going to demonstrate

the structural part of it.

The cylinder.

There is few things

that are important to understand

in order to nail the technique.

We're going to build a frame with the bar.

Pour the chocolate in our frame.

You want to move quickly.

Otherwise the chocolate

is going to start setting.

And in one motion,

you're going to pull once and twice.

We're gonna have a 45-second window

to bend the chocolate.

You see the chocolate

goes from a shiny stage to a matte stage?

It's getting set, yet it's still soft.

This is right now, the perfect stage

because you won't leak, you know,

I can bend it. So, what I'm gonna do, is…

Applying my roll.

Adjust the dimension.

Cut the extra chocolate.

You must go fast.

Forty-five seconds to be able to wrap it.

You wait longer, the chocolate will crack.

You go too soon, the chocolate will drip.

You need to nail that perfect window.

It's still warm.

When you apply cold to it,

the chocolate, they bond strongly.

There is science behind it.

-Do you have any question?

-[Thiago] No, Chef.

-No? It's all clear?

-Yep.

-Good. I'm a good teacher. That's good.

-[class chuckles]

[Amaury] The chocolate is now set.

We can just slide it off.

Unwrap.

And you have the perfect cylinder.

With the cylinder technique,

you have the strongest bond ever.

And you can go crazy and you can go high.

My goal is to give you all those keys

so that you can achieve any design

you can think of.

Okay? I'm gonna give you

your assignment of the day.

It must be an architectural creation.

You have to incorporate

the bent chocolate piece technique.

Whether it is visible or not.

The two top dogs from the pastry round,

will be team leaders.

Twist.

This is you guys.

Daniel and Juan,

I want you to pick wisely.

Tyricia and Amanda

won't be picked this time.

Juan, you're gonna go first.

Thiago.

Thiago, first pick.

It's always cool in the school, right?

-To be picked first?

-South America, yeah.

Oh, okay, okay, I see it.

Daniel, who will you pick?

-I'll go with Stephanie.

-[Amaury] Stephanie for team Daniel.

I was a little bit flattered

that he wanted me on his team.

I… I kind of, like,

was just glad I didn't get picked last.

Honestly. [chuckles]

-Second pick. For Juan.

-[Juan] Uh…

-I will pick Cedrick.

-[Amaury] Why is that?

Uh, I like the eye that Cedrick has

in terms of technique and style.

And being the tallest,

you can go higher on your piece, right?

-[class laughs]

-Wise choice.

-Daniel?

-And of course, Mellisa.

I'm surprised I was picked last.

I… I was,

but then also I had just delivered

that horrendous-looking flashlight.

So, I would have picked me last too,

honestly.

[Amaury] You will be judged on creativity,

technical execution,

and also a little bit of risk taking.

And you have 14 hours.

-Really?

-Fourteen hours.

-[Amaury] Fair, right?

-Yes.

Three of you times 14 hours is much more

than I had for my own piece.

So, I'm expecting even more than this.

Oh, dear Lord.

-No, I'm kidding.

-[class laughing]

-Ready? Go.

-[Juan] All right.

-[Daniel] Do you have any thoughts?

-What're your thoughts?

I was stumped a little bit.

My mind went playful like, a carousel.

We can model horses and have like a--

-Mmm.

-No?

-I'm… Okay, I'm gonna be really honest.

-No, please.

-I'm not wild about it.

-Okay.

I'm actually not wild about all of it.

Okay, what… What is your thoughts though?

I think it needs to be more like…

Like, maybe a windmill.

I mean, there's a lot of different types

of chocolate elements that we want.

I like that. I'm fine with that.

Windmills would look pretty

out of chocolate.

I love that he chose a lighthouse. Why?

Because there's a block

of not much work you have to do.

True. What do you guys have in mind?

Completely outside the box,

let's do a bridge that's, like, broken.

Think end of the world.

Think when you see end-of-world movies

and you have part of the bridge up

and metal pieces sticking out of it,

you know what I mean?

We could put some land elements

and then you can put sea elements.

[Juan] The good thing

about this is that this is ruins,

so it doesn't have to be super perfect.

You know?

As a team captain, I am extremely nervous

because it's a lot of pressure.

You need to make sure

that they're working in time.

They're working happy.

Because if they're not happy,

it's gonna show on the showpiece,

If the showpiece is not good,

it's gonna reflect on me.

I want to make sure

that everybody see what I can do.

-I don't know where anything is.

-[objects clatter]

-No. !

-[Jun] No. [chuckles]

-[Thiago] You all right?

-[Juan] Yes, just failed.

-We know what we're doing? Here, arches.

-[Stephanie] Yup.

Center cylinder, bottom base.

-All right, let's go.

-[Stephanie] Yep.

[Daniel] Coming into the school,

being surrounded by professionals,

as a 21-year-old,

as the newbie, as the young 'un,

many people are very hesitant.

Does he really know what he's doing?

Yes, I'm here

because of the eye that I have,

because I'm not a normal 21-year-old.

[Mellisa] Are we thinking

I'm gonna cut these archways

before we roll it?

Which one do you think?

Like, or… Would you…

'Cause we can

and we can do it afterwards as well.

-Gonna be faster if we do it after.

-That's fine, then.

I think Daniel is very young,

like he keeps reminding everybody,

and I think that that can come out

to play in his management style,

because he hasn't had as many years

to cultivate his management style

as, well, as I have.

I have been for over a decade

used to being the boss.

My husband says

that I think that I'm always right.

And I think that in some ways as a chef,

that's a good thing

and in some ways it's something

I need to work on.

-Just watch out for over here.

-Don't push down.

It's just a glide.

Almost like you put lipstick on.

-Okay. I think that's…

-Yeah.

-Mind if I go in there?

-Yeah, go.

I don't have so much experience

doing massive showpieces,

but if you don't take chances,

then you don't get rewarded.

So, I'm gonna have some faith

in myself and surprise myself.

Let myself surprise me. [chuckles]

That's what I was gonna do,

but then you guys are making me nervous.

Don't. Breathe. We're all good here.

Okay.

-[Juan] Thiago, how we doing?

-Good job.

-We'll have to roll our first one soon.

-[Juan] I've never bent chocolate before.

It was very difficult and scary,

because we have to move fast,

otherwise the chocolate will set

and it'll crack

and the showpiece will not be stable.

Whoa.

[Daniel] Let's go.

Yeah, we gotta go fast.

-Yep, yep, yep.

-Hold on. Our seam's off. Go again.

There you go.

Hey, you're… you're getting

a private lesson, huh? How… how lucky.

So, to create a wood grain

is not composed with, uh, just one color,

it's multiple layers

of different tone of wood.

I am so lucky to have

the one-on-one with Chef Amaury.

It's like a win-lose.

You guys might get to do

a chocolate piece,

but I'm getting personal time with Chef.

Go faster.

Showing me how he would do it.

It's, like, amazing.

-[Amanda] Do you mind if I watch, Chef?

-No, no, no. Okay, it's made for that.

-This is my private lesson.

-When--

[Amaury and Amanda laugh]

-[Cedrick] Question.

-Yes.

We plan on covering

all of this with that, correct?

-[Juan] Correct. That looks really nice.

-[Cedrick] I'd like to work with my hands.

I want to show some of that off, so we can

do hand craft with details like that

'cause I can work pretty quickly.

So I wanted to know, like…

Cover some of it for sure,

but keep some exposed

just for texture and detail? Okay, cool.

-[Juan] Oh, it looks beautiful.

-Good.

[microwave beeps]

-You guys good?

-Mmm.

I know. We all feel the same.

[Mellisa] Not everybody has

showpiece experience

so it makes it difficult.

[Thiago] I know.

Feel bad for Stephanie.

[Mellisa] She's, really great though,

she's just letting us boss her around.

[Thiago] Yeah.

Well, I mean, they're here to learn.

-Yeah. We are too.

-[Thiago] We're all here to learn, right?

[Thiago chuckles]

[Amaury] What are you doing?

[Thiago] This is our concrete

to go on the edge on the side.

[Amaury] Great color.

Yeah, no, I was really happy with it.

Actually looks just like cement

and we like the little black specks,

so we added a little more in the end.

I'm a very ambitious chef, I want to do

something that you haven't seen before.

I have won some awards for, you know,

Sexiest Chef Alive a couple of times.

One was funny because it was

by Shape Magazine and I was like,

"I guess round is a shape,

so that counts."

[chuckles] But, you know.

Look at this concrete.

It's screaming to tag on it.

-No. What we have is beautiful.

-[Thiago] You're an artiste.

-Tag it up.

-[Juan] It's okay. [chuckles]

-What season is it gonna be, Cedrick?

-[Cedrick] Could be like an early spring.

-Because it'll have moss and whatnot on.

-[Carolyn] Yup. Nature overtaking?

-Yeah, yes.

-Nice.

I like moss. I like nature.

You know, it's not until recently

that I… I thought

about bringing it into pastry.

Like, what I've been creating here

are things that have been in my mind

and I have a chance to do it.

It's a school.

I have the resources

to create this vision in my head.

[Thiago] Cedrick, I love you

but I don't wanna see no more moss.

I love it, but my fingers are like no mas.

[chuckles]

[Cedrick] It has to come to life.

You got a dead bridge here.

Chefs, you are exactly halfway

in your time.

[Thiago] Yes, Chef.

-[hissing]

-[suspenseful music playing]

[whirring]

[Mellisa] I don't know,

it's bugging me. I have to fix it.

-[Stephanie] What's bugging you?

-This ridge here.

It just needs

to be faded out a little bit.

I think maybe, like,

five more minutes on it, don't you?

[Stephanie] I think it looks fine.

Yeah, but don't want it to look fine.

I want it to look perfect.

[Stephanie] Okay. I need something to do.

I feel like I'm not contributing enough.

-[Daniel] What else would you like to do?

-[Stephanie] I can do the rails.

[Daniel] Let's go for that, then.

[Carolyn] Two hours left to go.

Come on, guys. We got this!

[upbeat music playing]

-[Juan gasps]

-[Thiago] Ooh, watch out.

-What happened?

-No…

-Was it me?

-Yes.

-Sorry.

-It's okay.

Right now, they just broke a piece.

Cool thing about choosing a design

like a beat-up design,

whether it is antique

or post-apocalyptic, etc.,

you can allow yourself to be less precise.

I almost…

destroyed the whole showpiece.

[Thiago] Don't scare me like that.

We'll have two different results.

They can be a little bit more messier

because of their theme.

They will have to be much more precise.

Just right here. Good.

-[tense music plays]

-Oh.

[scoffs]

They just snapped off.

The weight of the wing is too heavy

for the thickness of the bar.

-[dramatic music playing]

-[Mellisa] It's two of them.

Okay. You can fix it. No worries.

[Mellisa] I'm trying to process how to…

How to fix this to make sure

that in the time we have

to get it on the table,

that it's not gonna happen again.

[Amaury] Don't overthink it.

-You know why it broke, right?

-Yeah.

So, you warm both side,

you put some temper chocolate,

you glue it, and you keep on moving.

-But I would go fast.

-Yeah.

[Amaury] I would do it right now.

-Don't try to overthink it.

-Okay.

[Amaury] The quality of a chef

is what you're gonna do about it now.

Yeah. Totally.

One hour to go, okay? Time to push, guys.

Okay, I'm letting go.

-[gasps]

-[Daniel] It's fine.

I'm not a fan of this.

-[Stephanie] What do you wanna do?

-[Daniel] I wanna do maybe, like, pegs.

To be quite honest, like pegs.

Once I have the top for this,

I'll roll beaucoup and I'll roll out

more of these guys and that's it.

-And just it? Just like that?

-[Daniel] Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Daniel initially wasn't concerned with

what we were doing.

Until he decided to flip that

and decide to like,

"Stop doing this. Start doing that."

Barking out orders.

So, it was like a total 180.

Other side. No, no, no. That's a gap.

And that, like,

you know, irked me a little bit.

-Last thing are rocks in the window.

-You're still missing some railing.

I don't think

there's any time to roll it out,

paint it, and then attach it.

I really don't.

-Okay. Got it.

-Yeah.

Final touches, guys, final touches.

Five minutes to go.

All right, guys, we can do this.

Come on. Let's push it.

[Thiago] The gale force winds

from their windmill

broke our bridge apart.

[Juan laughs]

[Amaury] One minute left.

-[Mellisa] Wanna say a prayer?

-Yeah. Hail Mary.

Chefs. Your time is up.

-Phew.

-[Amaury] Done.

-[Juan] Good job, guys. Good job.

-[Cedrick] Good job, guys.

-Good job.

-[Juan] Teamwork.

-Did you try to turn the wheel?

-No.

That's the grand reveal for everybody.

-[Stephanie laughs]

-[Daniel laughs] Let's hope so. No.

[Amaury] Good job, guys. It looks amazing.

[suspenseful music plays]

Team Daniel.

-Can you please bring me your creation?

-[Daniel] Yes, Chef.

[suspenseful music playing]

Team Juan. Your turn.

[Cedrick] Slowly, slowly.

[Juan whispers] Good job, guys.

Juan, tell me about your piece.

We wanted to show that,

yes, there is destruction.

But beauty came back, light came back.

Life came back and took over

and bring it back to life.

The concrete look, nailed it.

Spot on. Love it.

You spent so much time

on detail and it shows.

I think it's pretty realistic color

for the water, for the green.

I do love all the little detail

on the dirt, on the rocks.

Cedrick, making beautiful moss

and glue it together.

It's quite pretty but just patching things

in a beautiful way,

it's not a chocolatier work.

I don't want to see it in your next work.

I want to see the pastry chef

and chocolatier Cedrick.

-Not the gardener Cedrick.

-[tense music plays]

The bridge, this is smart.

I love the kinetic,

brings a little detail.

I love this reinforcement here.

For me, the… the…

the finesse is the top

and you kept that for last

almost like as a second thought.

The fact that we wanted a broken bridge,

we didn't pay as much attention.

Even though we wanted

to have it more cleaner.

When I saw you build this,

I knew it was gonna be a difficult task.

I would have built this frame

flat on the table and secure it.

And then you come and you apply

and then you can break it as you want.

Right now, it looks like

it's not precise enough in my opinion.

I know how difficult this is,

like, for real.

I think it's very good for a first one.

I just want you to know that you can

really push yourself further

and I want to help you achieve that.

-Daniel.

-Yes, Chef.

[Amaury] Are you happy of

the overall look of the piece?

[Daniel] We are our harshest critics.

-I will probably be your harshest critic.

-Yeah, you're right.

-[chuckles]

-[Amaury] You will see.

You went with the much simpler design.

It's… it's a very nice geometric.

I think you nailed it.

It's hard doing chocolate that way.

All the color were chosen wisely.

The blue and white wins.

The black, uh, complements.

This I like.

This is cleaner. You know,

I actually like the brushing of it,

I like the… The top texture is very fun.

-Stephanie, the fence.

-[Stephanie] The fence.

-[Amaury] You like it?

-I wish it would've been complete.

We didn't have enough of the posts,

just what we, um, ran out of time for,

so that small detail stopped us from

adding the rest of the rails.

[tense music playing]

Unfortunate.

You… you really remind me of,

like, uh, an old windmill in Greece

but when you try to do

something that exists in real life,

you must stick

as closely as possible to it.

The blades are upside-down on a windmill.

I want to see it work.

-[Daniel] Yeah.

-[Amaury] Please.

[class chuckles]

Hey, you have to blow on it.

-[blows]

-[class chuckles]

[Daniel] There it goes.

Well, re-sticking,

I think we… we have it, right?

-[Daniel chuckles]

-[class applauds]

[Daniel] Amazing. Good work, you guys.

Bringing a mechanism to a piece,

it's always a challenge. This was a risk.

I like that you didn't give up.

You break it. You fix it. You overcome.

You know,

it's funny how you can give one exercise

and this two vision

completely different come.

The bridge idea, it's very unconventional.

Usually we always want to go vertical

and in my opinion, it's not about

the biggest piece is the better.

Honestly it's… it's a big tie.

We have something more simple

and with a risk

we have something much more detail,

so it's really a tough call for me.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Amaury breathes intensely]

We have a team winner.

Team Daniel.

-[Juan] All right. Good job.

-Thank you.

Good job, you guys.

-Thank you.

-Good job.

[Amaury] Team Juan,

you lost a little bit track

of the main theme,

which was architecture.

They utilize the cylinder technique

and it's fine that you hid it,

but it is not

an essential structure piece.

Just by doing that frame,

thick, you don't need this piece.

I definitely think we should've won.

There was more technique

and there was a lot in our showpiece.

But I can't wait to just do the next one

and then just, like, nail it.

Every day, I also want to

give credit to one individual,

the "best in class,"

and it's important

because at the end of the course,

I will choose one best student.

It'll be an overall evaluation of skills,

attitude, everything we discuss.

This best student

is gonna receive a special award.

Part of that award,

will be to come teach an international

master class in my own academy.

The Pastry Academy in Las Vegas.

[Thiago] Oh, wow. Awesome.

[students chuckle]

Pretty cool.

That's, of course, not everything.

Jesus.

In addition to that, it will be something

that helps you achieve

your professional dreams.

And this is $50,000.

[class laughing]

[laughs and gasps]

[Amaury] Fifty thousand is the beginning

of a restaurant, of a pastry shop.

It's a little push towards your dream.

It's an opportunity that I never really…

As a chef, you don't make a lot of money.

You struggle.

[emotional] For that to happen,

it's… it's amazing.

Now I'm going to name today,

best in class.

One individual who shined

through both challenges as an individual,

as a leader, as a follower, as a creative.

[inspirational music playing]

My choice today for best in class…

will have to be…

Juan.

-[class applauds]

-Awesome. [chuckles]

[Amaury] From the pastry exercise,

to the chocolate exercise,

I was very pleased by

your rhythm in the kitchen.

You were all over the place.

Organized, but you were always moving.

You were always in motion.

It was lovely seeing you work.

Juan did have that leadership role

nailed down much more than I did.

So, I do have a little more room

to work with, which honestly is…

Is a humbling thing.

Really fight every day

to be the best in class.

Like, it would be so important to me

to see that within all of you.

Get a good night of sleep

because tomorrow it'll be rough.

-Thank you, Chef.

-See you tomorrow.

[Amaury] Have a good night.

I feel like that definitely puts a target

on me, but I'm not letting that scare me.

I'm not letting that frighten me.

I'm gonna just, like, play it nice,

but just go on there and I just,

like, "Boom! Here I am."