02x05 - Double 75th Birthday

[bunniefuu]

[upbeat music plays]

Hello, bakers!

- Hey.

- Hey, Chef.

- It's time to get to work.

- All right.

It's what I do ♪

[sighs]

- Okay.

- [Christina] Squad.

I wanted to do this

a little differently today.

Hmm.

I wanted to set the mood,

and get you in the right headspace.

[suspenseful music plays]

[tango music plays]

Okay.

[tango music continues]

- [Gonzo] That's a taste of home.

- This is what you do in Argentina?

- That's tango.

- [laughs]

[tango music continues]

[Gonzo] Maybe we could give it a try.

I'll lead.

No way. I'm not a dancer. [laughs]

[tango music ends]

- [cheering]

- [Christina] Come on!

Bravo! Un espectáculo.

- [Christina] Wow.

- [Ashley] Awesome.

- [Christina] That's the Argentinian tango.

- Correct.

Did it give you any ideas

as to what this challenge could be?

- Something to do with two lovers?

- Maybe.

- Something dance related?

- Let's see if you're right.

Bakers, meet our nominators.

- They look like triplets.

- This is Gerard, Max, and Rodrigo.

- [Ashley] Welcome.

- Hi.

Tell us, who's the event for?

This event's for Mom and Dad,

Carlos and Azniv.

They're turning 75

one week apart from each other.

[Bake Squad] Aww!

What do the tango dancers

have to do with this?

- Do any of you tango dance?

- No, but they do.

- Mom and Dad are great tango dancers.

- Are they?

As a matter of fact, they met at a dance.

Oh my gosh.

Now the tango dancers make sense.

- [Ashley] Look at that.

- [Christina] They are an adorable couple.

- That's amazing.

- [Christina] Oh my gosh.

- We are from Argentina.

- My people!

- Of course!

- That's right!

- Yeah!

- That's right.

[laughs]

[Gerard] We moved here in 1991,

and a few years after, in 1996,

we opened an Argentine steakhouse

named after the father of tango,

Carlitos Gardel Argentine Steakhouse.

And we've been working

side by side together ever since.

- Oh!

- That's amazing.

What roles do you play

in the family business?

- I'm the chef.

- I'm the sommelier.

And I'm the family attorney. [laughs]

- We need one in every family.

- That's right.

[laughter]

[Christina] What about Mom?

[Gerard] Mom is

a Michelin-awarded pastry chef.

- [Maya-Camille] Ooh.

- [Christophe] Oh.

- Nice.

- That's right.

What is Mama known for making?

Cake with peaches and cream,

meringue, and dulce de leche.

[Max] She's made it

into wedding cakes, birthday cakes.

- [Gonzo] Oh, wow.

- I love it.

- Wow.

- [Christina] Tell me about Dad.

Dad is the numbers guy.

He's really the heart of the restaurant.

- He's the life of the party.

- [Max] He's very inquisitive.

It's very hard

to keep this a secret from him.

- [Gerard] Yes.

- Oh!

So they don't know it's happening?

- No.

- No.

Wow.

The event is gonna be at the restaurant.

Just a mere hundred guests.

- Did you fake the reservation book?

- That's exactly what we did.

- We're booked out for a night.

- [Rodrigo] Yeah, yeah.

I'd love to get a little bit more insight

into likes and dislikes.

- Mom loves French pastries.

- She does. Very much.

Any chance she gets,

she has Dad take her to Paris.

- You've got your in, Christophe.

- Yes! [laughs]

What about traditional

Argentinian desserts

such as membrillo con queso?

- It's not only about Argentina.

- [laughter]

Quince paste and cheese.

[Max] Bring it on.

- Awesome.

- Dad. What does he like?

He's a chocolate guy.

Chocolate and dulce de leche, really.

I think the common denominator

is every Argentinian dessert

has to include dulce de leche.

- Yes!

- Okay.

[laughter]

It's pretty incredible. They really are

the foundation of your family.

What they've created

has been such a gift to our family,

but also to our Los Angeles community.

Doing this is just a wonderful way

of saying thank you to them.

Aww.

It's time for us to show up

for their celebration.

I'll see you here later for your tasting.

Squad, you have seven hours

to pull this off.

Now, the brothers brought you

some of that famous Mama's cake.

- Ooh, yes!

- Yes!

- [Gonzo] Oh, yeah.

- [Christina] Grab your slice.

- We got work to do. Let's do it.

- [Christophe] Thank you.

Good luck! Woo!

See you come alive ♪

[Ashley] Mmm.

Hey, bud. I'm gonna come over here

to ideate with you.

In the starlight ♪

I see you come alive ♪

- So what are you thinking of making?

- This is my jam today.

I know these people,

I know their flavor profiles,

so I'm thinking about

going something big, big, big.

You know, my great-grandmother, she was

the first female Argentinian piano-singer

to actually play on national radio,

and they're also really into tango music,

so I'm thinking

about creating a life-sized piano.

- The biggest thing I've made of chocolate.

- You're crazy.

For this challenge, the pressure is on,

'cause they are from Argentina,

I'm from Argentina.

What an honor it would be to win this

for an actual Argentinian family.

I have to make sure

that I achieve perfection

on every single thing I create for them.

[gentle music plays]

All right, Ash, what are you planning?

All right, well, it's so clear

that this family is thick as thieves.

So I wanna celebrate that sentimental side

of this family, the connection,

by doing an actual functioning photo album

made out of cake.

You open this big cover,

and there's these pages

full of edible images that you can flip.

And it's gotta be darn delicious

because Mama

is a freaking accomplished pastry chef.

- Yeah, she is.

- Tick tock goes the clock.

- Before you go.

- Oh, Lord. What do you need?

[Ashley] I'm gonna need

some edible pictures of the family.

- Okay. Like throughout the years?

- Yeah, throughout the years.

- Okay. Let's do this.

- Thank you, Chef.

Okay, so if you're going big

[tense music plays]

I need to go big too.

All right, I like it!

What are you thinking?

Well, they love going in France,

so a truly French classic,

the croquembouche.

[Gonzo] I like it.

A big celebration, so I'm thinking

probably close to a thousand cream puffs.

- That's gonna be a lot of pâte à choux.

- Yes.

Maya-Camille, you are enjoying

that cake, Mama's cake.

Dulce de leche, that peach layer.

The cake is very light sponge cake.

It's really good.

Pastry chef baking

for another pastry chef.

What are you thinking?

I am thinking that I reimagine Mama's cake

as an homage to their entrepreneurship,

their family restaurant.

But also the pride of their love

is their family.

So why not create a dessert

that each person loves?

I was wondering if there might be a way

that we could maybe get back in touch

with, like, one of the sons

to see what their favorites are.

I've got everyone on speed dial. In fact,

let's see if I can dial up Gerard.

Gerard!

- Hi.

- Maya-Camille has some questions.

When you came here you talked

about what your mom and dad like,

but I'm also interested

in what the family likes.

- Max is a big Lemon bars.

- [Maya-Camille] Ooh.

Rod is a chocoholic.

One of his favorite desserts growing up

was the seven-layer chocolate cake.

- What is your dessert?

- Tiramisu.

We also need the grandchildren.

Anything chocolate,

berries, whipped cream.

We have a lot of work to do.

Have a great day. See you back here

in a few hours. Come hungry.

- Looking forward to it.

- Oh, wow.

Okay. So you got a lot of fuel from that,

but what's your overall thought?

I want to reinterpret

those favorite desserts.

When you tap into someone's favorites,

it's high reward if you get it right,

but it's also high risk,

'cause they have a

High expectations.

That's it. And a personal connection.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thank you so much.

Only to do the drawing

of this croquembouche, I'm already tired.

That is so many cream puffs.

This is only drawing,

and it takes me forever.

- So watch me while I work ♪

- Drop it ♪

So watch me while I work ♪

Argentina and Paris, here we come.

Ooh!

So watch me while I work ♪

[Christina] Gonzo.

This is gonna be the biggest project

I've done in chocolate.

- Oh, okay.

- [Gonzo] Oh yeah.

We are going with a full-on,

life-sized chocolate piano.

This is gonna take at least

300 pounds of chocolate.

[Christina] Whoa!

But then inside of the piano,

we're actually putting desserts.

- All obviously Argentinian classics.

- [Christina] Mm.

[Gonzo] The torta chocolina, Cabsha bars,

a full replica of a mate tea cup

made out of chocolate,

alfajores,

which are Argentinian chocolate cookies.

It doesn't get

any more traditional than that.

Listen, I love the way

that you're approaching this.

You're going to work

with two times the amount of chocolate

you normally work with.

- Yeah.

- Then you have four different desserts.

That range from tempering chocolate

to baking cakes, layering cakes,

you're whipping cream, folding things in.

I'm getting stressed

just by listening. [laughs]

I never like to say

something isn't possible, but, my friend,

you're, like, very close to that line.

On top of that, I'm gonna need your help,

because this structure

needs to be standing on something.

- We need legs for this piano.

- [Christina] Okay.

- I'm on my work, you keep at it.

- Awesome.

- Good luck.

- Thank you.

[rock music plays]

[Christophe] I'm gonna start to make

the pâte à choux dough for my cream puffs.

Yeah ♪

So what better way

to document 75 wonderful years

than to make them a beautiful cake

that looks like a photo book

that highlights all the special memories

throughout their lives.

Cake's in the oven.

The cake I'm gonna make

for Carlos and Azniv

is an Argentinian

rum-soaked vanilla sponge

layered with an amazing

dulce de leche frosting.

The duct tape should be able

to hold it together and make it flexible.

I want this book to be a functioning book.

Looks kind of like a book already.

A croquembouche is a tower of cream puffs

glued together on top of each other,

and today I'm actually going to make

the biggest croquembouche

I ever made in my entire career.

So we have our dough consistency.

It's usually something you will do

as a team with two, three, or four people.

One person will do the sugar work,

and the second will pipe the cream puffs,

the third person will do the pastry cream.

Today I don't have those persons with me.

I am alone, and I'm going to have

to push it through to make it happen.

Christophe.

- Hi, Chef.

- Tell me about this Argentinian in Paris.

One thousand cream puffs

inside a beautiful croquembouche.

Whoa!

[Christophe] Five tiers,

with the flavor of Argentina,

all dipped inside black and red sugar

to represent the tango.

You are going big,

and there is no room to fall short.

- Keep on it.

- [Christophe] Always.

Make your family proud,

make their family proud.

- Thank you, Chef.

- Good luck.

Mm!

Max likes lemon bars, but I want

to elevate the classic lemon bar

and make a lemon ricotta tart.

For this bake, I'm not only making

a dessert for Carlos and Azniv,

but also for each of their sons,

and for the grandchildren.

I'm going to reinterpret

their favorite desserts,

and Mama's cake,

with my own spin on flavor combinations.

I'm going to work on my chocolate tart

for the dad, Carlos.

I can't just focus on one dessert.

I have to focus

on all seven simultaneously.

The pressure is on.

Christophe, did you get inspired

by the dancers?

Oh, yeah, that was really fun, huh?

I'm a wonderful dancer.

You know, they were like

Do-do-do-do-doo ♪

- [Ashley laughs]

- That's

You're gonna actually trip me.

- [Christophe] That's judo. Judo.

- [Ashley] Hold on. Now we're gonna

[Christophe sings]

[Christophe] Boop!

I did ten years of tango. Ten years.

Were you asleep for all ten of 'em?

- Yes.

- [laughs]

Oh my God. This is gonna be

a lot of chocolate that I need.

This piano that I'm creating,

it's actually massive.

It's four and a half feet wide,

and on top of that there is gonna be

a giant chocolate lid

with a stick holding it.

If I don't spread this fast enough,

my chocolate's gonna start crystallizing,

and it needs to look

as smooth as possible.

Once I have my panel, I'm going to create

a quick mold with vinyl strips

in order to create

the walls of the actual piano.

- [Christophe] How's your piano going?

- [Gonzo] Slow. A lot slower than expected.

- Oh, you're making a piano?

- I'm making a giant chocolate piano.

Oh, of course you are.

[Ashley] I'm gonna make a quick simple

syrup for this rum soak for my cake.

Preparing my ingredients

for the pastry cream.

[yelps] Oh God! [laughs nervously]

- Are you okay over there?

- I'm fine. It

That was a very big flame,

much bigger than I was anticipating.

The book cover, since I want this

to be a functioning book,

it can't be 100% chocolate.

In order to make this actually work,

I need to use cardboard

for the structural integrity,

and then cover it in chocolate,

make it look amazing.

Then once the modeling chocolate is on,

I'll use impression mats

to add texture and visual contrast.

I want it to look old and aged.

[Christophe] That's my pastry cream

to pipe into the cream puff.

Every single tier of this croquembouche

will be a different Argentinian flavor.

Chocolate for chocolate pastry cream.

So you have chocolate pastry cream,

strawberry, lemon mascarpone,

dulce de leche,

and one banana pastry cream.

Nice. Beautiful pastry cream.

[upbeat music plays]

- Maya-Camille.

- Hey, Chef.

- [Christina] What do you got going on?

- [Maya-Camille] Cake for tiramisu.

So my tiramisu is going to have

very thin layers of sponge cake

soaked in mate tea,

which is very popular in Argentina.

It's something unexpected.

Where a classic tiramisu would be

ladyfingers soaked in coffee or espresso,

you're going to make thin layers of cake

and soak it in mate instead?

- Yes.

- That's a really big risk, right?

Gerard is a chef.

Will he appreciate that you've

brought him out of his comfort zone,

or that you've ripped him

from his security blanket?

- You have a lot of work to do.

- [Maya-Camille] Thank you.

[Ashley] This airbrush

really makes the texture pop.

[Gonzo] Now that my chocolate panels

are crystallizing,

I start to jump on every single confection

that are actually going into the piano.

I'm working on the dough

for my alfajor cookie.

Those are chocolate cookies

filled with dulce de leche,

and then the whole thing

gets covered in dark chocolate.

This is perfect.

They know the Argentinian flavors.

So everything that I create today

needs to be spot on.

Boom, we have alfajores.

To make this book

look as realistic as possible,

I have to make sure these pages

turn like an actual book.

For these pages, I'm gonna take

two thin sheets of modeling chocolate

and put wafer paper in between them.

It's gonna help it stay flexible,

but give it a little more structure

than if I just used modeling chocolate.

- Beautiful nougatine.

- Wow.

[Christophe] Glucose, almonds,

and sugar mixed together.

Smells good.

[Gonzo] Dulce de leche,

we'll put the cookies

I'm making about ten sheet pans

of cream puffs right now.

And I hope it's gonna be enough.

The challenge today is the consistency.

Piping time.

Every single cream puff

needs to be exactly at the same size,

because when I assemble them together,

we want to keep it level and straight.

If you have a big or small cream puff,

the towers won't stay straight.

601, 602.

I got you some photos like you asked,

of Carlos and Azniv and the boys.

[Ashley] Oh my gosh.

[Gonzo] These are going to be

the shells for my mate cups.

[Maya-Camille] Now I'm going to make

the base for Mama's cake.

The original Mama's cake

consists of layers of cake,

dulce de leche, and peach meringue.

My version of Mama's cake

also has cake, dulce de leche,

but instead of doing peaches

combined with meringue,

I am making a peach jam,

and then I'm covering the cake

with meringue strips.

I don't know how it's gonna be received.

I smell something baking.

How are you thinking

about laying out these seven desserts?

I do want something

along the lines of a family tree,

because I am literally

making desserts for their family tree.

Yeah. Actually, I have a perfect idea

for your presentation.

Leave it with me. Finish desserts.

I'll handle the presentation.

Thank you, Chef.

[Gonzo] I'm making a full replica

of a mate cup made out of chocolate,

and we're actually gonna have

a layered dessert in there.

I have a mascarpone mousse

with a quince-based jelly.

It's a perfect trifle

inside of an actual chocolate cup.

999

One thousand!

You got us feeling on top of the world ♪

We're on top of the world ♪

Bake Squad, four hours remain.

Yeah ♪

Guys, do you mind giving me a quick hand

to take this monster into the fridge?

The base of the piano by itself,

it's around 120 pounds of chocolate.

- [Ashley groans]

- Holy moly!

[Gonzo] It's very, very heavy,

so I'm gonna need everybody to help me

transport this into the walk-in cooler.

- This is a lot skinnier.

- [Christophe] Are we gonna fit?

We're gonna have to slide it somehow.

Ash, when we slide it

make sure it doesn't go down.

It's It's not gonna go inside.

We're gonna tilt it. Make sure it

- Towards me?

- Yeah.

- What?

- Tilt it at an angle. A bit.

No, mais non.

- It's slipping.

- [Gonzo] Tilt it. Gonna have to hold it.

[Maya-Camille] Oh, no.

[Christophe] How do you want

to put this thing?

[Ashley] Can't we lift it

and put it up there?

I'm very nervous at this point,

'cause if this thing falls off,

I'm screwed.

- [Ashley] Up there.

- [Maya-Camille] Lift it up over your head.

[nervous chuckling]

Definitely no Plan B, no backup for this.

This is a one-shot,

one-chance opportunity.

That's good, we're going in!

[Ashley grunts] Here.

[Gonzo] Right there, guys.

We're good. It's stable, we're good!

- [Maya-Camille laughs]

- We did it! Thank you!

- I'm

- [Maya-Camille laughs]

- [Gonzo] Thanks.

- Crazy.

I'm very, very relieved.

- Bake Squad, just three hours remain.

- [Christophe] Cream puffs out of the oven.

[tense music plays]

[Maya-Camille] I'm gonna put

the chocolate cake into the oven.

[Christophe] I have five different sizes

of this nougatine to do,

and, uh, I'm going

to build my croquembouche

and use a disc

as a base for each and every layer.

Rodrigo loves chocolate cake, but I want

to do something a little bit different,

and so I'm going to do four layers

of chocolate cake

with Argentinian espresso buttercream.

It's not covered in buttercream frosting,

but you can actually see the layers

of buttercream inside the cake.

[groans]

It also requires even piping. It requires

a lot of patience to do it correctly.

All right, I have my dulce de leche

mascarpone mousse.

So the chocolina cake,

this cake traditionally

is actually made of Argentinian wafers.

But in this case,

I'm gonna make cake for this,

so I put different layers

of dark-chocolate sheet cake,

a dulce de leche mousse.

Once that is perfectly layered,

I cut it up

and I make perfect,

beautiful little squares

that will be inside of the piano.

This is perfect.

All right, let's fill up the cream puffs.

They're gonna be delicious.

[Gonzo] All right, I'm working

on my keys right now.

So for the piano keys,

I'm making chocolate bars, Cabsha bars,

which are chocolate

filled with dulce de leche.

Carlos eats dulce de leche

by the spoonful,

so he's going to love this.

All right, Bake Squad, two hours remain.

Keep your eye on that clock.

[upbeat music plays]

[Christophe] Dipping time.

- Hey, Gonzo, look what I got!

- Oh my God, that's perfect!

[Maya-Camille] Mama's cake, looking good.

Hey, guys, can you help me?

Let's get the piano out of the walk-in.

[Ashley] You go that way,

I'll go this way. Let's do this!

- I freaking love this.

- [Gonzo] Put it on the counter.

Oh my Lord.

[Christophe] Now it's time

to assemble the croquembouche.

Are we in? ♪

We've got the time until it's gone

For now ♪

Has it been

Taking just a little too long? ♪

Wonder how ♪

All right, now time for the pages.

Hey, Christophe, buddy, for the 75th time,

can I ask you for a favor, my friend?

- Yes, of course.

- We're gonna put the lid on, okay?

The lid is made entirely out of chocolate,

so placing the actual lid

on top of the piano

is the hardest part of the project.

- Lift it more.

- [Christophe grunts] It's heavy.

- [Gonzo] I know.

- [Christophe grunts]

[Gonzo] Stay right there.

I have to make sure the actual lid prop

is holding 120 pounds of chocolate.

I'm scared to let it go.

[tense music plays]

If the lid holds,

today we might have a piano.

- Let it go.

- [tense music continues]

- [Christophe] What do you think?

- [tense music continues]

It holds.

All right, Bake Squad,

just 30 minutes remain.

The devil's in the details.

Keep on running, baby ♪

Keep your head up, don't stop, baby ♪

Pure perfection.

Running, running ♪

[Christina] Maya-Camille!

- [Maya-Camille] Oh my goodness.

- What do you think about it?

- [Maya-Camille] Oh, wow.

- Family tree.

Each platform

is for the different desserts.

This is crazy.

[upbeat music plays]

- All right, Bake Squad, ten minutes.

- I gotta go, I gotta go.

[Ashley] Time is disappearing.

[Ashley] Um

That's it. All right.

Tuck it in there, you are almost there.

All right, bakers, 60 seconds.

[upbeat music continues]

[Christina] Gonzo, finishing touches.

I got you a little something.

- I even have a stool.

- [Christina] Know what I mean?

Thirty seconds, bakers.

Here come the brothers.

[upbeat music continues]

- Wow. All of that.

- Oh my God, that's amazing.

- [Christina] What the?

- [Gonzo] Oh my God.

- [Maya-Camille grunts]

- All right, bakers, time is up!

[Ashley exhales]

[Christina] Guys, you ready?

- Let's do it.

- Let's do it.

[upbeat music plays]

- Maya-Camille.

- Chef.

Just incredible.

There's so much going on here.

I'm dying to know what the backstory is.

- Do I see a family tree theme?

- Yeah.

- [chuckling]

- So I call this the Tree of Love.

So at the very top,

I have my interpretation of Mama's cake.

- [Gerard] Mama's cake?

- Wow.

All right.

[Maya-Camille] Mama's cake

has sponge cake,

dulce de leche, and a peach jam.

And the meringue is on the outside.

Oh, wow, look at that!

- Oh, wow.

- Those layers.

[laughter]

- I just wanted to try something different.

- Oh, wow.

Wow.

- Yeah?

- [Rodrigo] Mm-hm.

So moist. The jam is unbelievable.

Mixed with the dulce de leche,

it elevates it

to a completely different level.

This frosting is out of control.

You gotta leave some space

for you to try your own namesake desserts,

what do you think?

- Pull this babe down.

- [Maya-Camille] We have a tiramisu.

And instead of soaking in espresso,

I gave the cake a little soak of mate tea.

- Oh, wow.

- Wow.

I'm wondering

how I never came up with that myself.

- This is amazing.

- [Rodrigo] And this is mine.

[Maya-Camille] This is

my favorite chocolate cake,

but instead of chocolate frosting,

I decided to give you

Argentinian espresso buttercream.

The espresso comes through

and you could taste it.

- It's subtle, but delicious.

- Thank you so much.

[Max] Come to me.

[Maya-Camille] I am

all about all things pies and tarts,

so I had to give you a lemon ricotta tart.

[Max] So refined.

I mean, it's

elegance in a plate. It's incredible.

- [Rodrigo] Can I?

- Awesome.

Look at them.

[Christina] I'm gonna get in on the action

with these incredible push pops.

[Maya-Camille] For the grandkids,

the push pops, I filled with berries,

so the chocolate has, uh, blueberries,

and blackberries, and raspberries.

And the vanilla cake has strawberries.

It is the best whipped cream

of your dreams,

layered with this really fresh,

moist vanilla cake.

Maya-Camille, I love the vision.

I think your execution

was absolutely spot on.

- Clearly delicious. I love it.

- [Rodrigo] Yeah.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, MC.

- Appreciate it, thank you.

- Let's do it.

[tango music plays]

- All right, Ash.

- Hey, guys.

[Rodrigo] That is a piece of art.

[chuckles]

It looks like our family

- Photo book.

- Photo album? You got that one right.

I thought what better way

to celebrate this monumental event

with a cake that represents the legacy

and the history of your family

and your beautiful parents.

So inside of this book,

we have a cover that's made

completely of modeling chocolate.

Wow.

[Ashley] Inside, there's pages

of modeling chocolate

printed on both sides with edible images

of the family on rice paper.

No kidding?

[Ashley] The story begins in Argentina.

Photos of your father and your mother.

[Max] Look at Mom.

[Ashley] And then

the love blossomed in 1972.

- Wow.

- Oh my God. I love it.

[Ashley] The cake itself is a caramelized,

rum-soaked vanilla sponge

with layers of dulce de leche buttercream

and vanilla Swiss meringue.

- Oh, wow. The cake itself is so moist.

- Good.

The rum is just adding a different layer

that's just unbelievable.

Amazing.

And then I love the depth of flavor

of that Swiss meringue

flavored with caramel.

Ashley, it's clear that you envisioned

and brought to life

something that really speaks

to their family.

Gerard's finished his,

I'm gonna finish mine on the way.

We gotta keep moving.

Come on. Ashley, thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Gonzo, well, well, well.

- Well, welcome.

- [Gerard] My goodness.

- You guys

- [Gerard] Alfajores!

- [Christina] All edible, minus the stool.

[Gonzo] The whole piano

is made out of chocolate.

- There's at least 300 pounds of chocolate.

- What?

This is the biggest

chocolate sculpture I've ever made.

[Rodrigo] God.

- The whole thing is edible.

- I can't believe it.

[Gerard] Unbelievable.

[Gonzo] The notes, the keys,

absolutely everything you see.

[Rodrigo] Oh my God.

Incredible.

[Gonzo] This whole presentation

El Piano de Gardel.

It's obviously inspired in music,

as you guys explained

you love music, you love tango.

We have some alfajores.

torta chocolina.

Instead of using cookies

I made chocolate cake for it.

barritas cabsha,

chocolate and dulce de leche,

which are actually the keys right here.

- You put dulce de leche in those?

- Oh, yeah.

We have really good dulce de leche there.

And then obviously we got un mate.

The mate is made out of chocolate,

membrillo, and queso.

- What do you wanna go for?

- The mate.

- [Christina] Okay. Rod?

- Chocolina.

- Bravo. You, Gerard?

- [Rodrigo] Awesome.

I'll go with the alfajor.

[Christina] Amazing.

Each of you, come and get a key.

- That's right, I was waiting.

- [Christina] Come on, come on.

[tense music plays]

Wow!

The chocolate is just perfection.

The dulce de leche, the sweetness of it,

everything is on point.

[Gonzo] Thank you.

- You nailed it.

- Pasá el mate.

[Rodrigo] Mm-hm. [chuckles]

Mm.

[Gerard] Mate's good?

The zestiness of the filling of the mate,

it's not overly sweet,

it's super well-balanced.

- It's the creaminess of it, it's amazing.

- [Gonzo] Thank you.

And, Rod, what do you think?

The chocolina cake?

It's moist, soft, but at the same time

packed with flavor, but not too heavy,

where you can actually

eat the whole thing.

Amazing.

[Christina] Gerard,

what do you think of your alfajor?

Alfajores is such

an emblematic Argentine snack.

This alfajor is not the alfajor

we used to have when we were little.

- There are so many layers of flavors.

- Has he done you proud?

- Has he done Argentina proud?

- Yes.

- Incredible.

- Congratulations.

If you wanna take anything for the road,

I know I am.

- [Max] I need an alfajor.

- Get in there. Let's do this.

Go to town.

Bye. Thank you.

- Christophe.

- Chef.

- That's a piece of architecture.

- [Gerard] Wow.

[Rodrigo] Love it. And I love the

tango dancers, Mom and Dad, at the top.

And the 75 years in the bottom.

[Rodrigo] Unbelievable.

This is a croquembouche,

one of the most

classic desserts in France.

Today we have Argentinians in Paris.

[Rodrigo] I love it.

[Christophe] I wanted to represent tango,

classy, kind of the black and red dresses,

into that croquembouche and, true story,

it's the biggest croquembouche

I ever done in my entire career.

We have a chocolate cream puff,

lemon mascarpone cream puff,

a dulce de leche,

a banana, and a strawberry.

Mm, banana.

- [Gerard] Vanilla bean on the banana?

- Yes.

Vanilla bean, we have banana.

Such fine, delicate flavor.

I mean, you could You could tell

the artistry that went into this.

There's so much texture.

The crunch from the caramelized glaze.

There's the subtlety of the cream inside.

- Max, do you have a favorite cream puff?

- Banana and dulce de leche.

But the mascarpone is superb as well.

I mean, the evenness of the piping

in every single cream puff,

it's absolutely incredible, Christophe.

This is the most magical cream puff

I've ever had.

- Gracias.

- Thank you.

Gracias.

[upbeat music plays]

You raised the bar bigger than even

I thought was possible in this kitchen.

I wanna say congratulations.

It's super unfair

that we have to choose one.

[laughs]

- You've made our jobs very hard.

- Yeah.

But the reality is

you can only take one dessert

to this very special

surprise double birthday.

Have you made a decision?

We're torn between Gonzo's piano

and the family tree.

- [Christina] Maya-Camille's family tree.

- [Rodrigo] Yes.

[Christina] Gonzo, he made

the Carlos Gardel chocolate piano.

You really captured

the heritage of us as a family,

and we are

such a musically-inclined family,

so coming up with the piano theme

was quite brilliant.

- Thank you very much.

- And then Maya-Camille's family tree.

[Rodrigo] When I first saw it,

I was blown away.

The fact that you had the courage

to tackle Mama's cake.

- It was a masterpiece.

- Thank you.

Take a deep breath, and tell us

which of these desserts you're taking

to your parents' surprise double birthday

celebrating their 75th year.

[Gerard] We'll be taking

the piano.

[cheering]

The piano! Gonzo, come on!

You know it!

- [chuckling]

- Gracias.

- Yeah, Gonzo!

- [Christina] Get in there!

Argentina!

[Gonzo chuckles]

- Cute.

- [Christina] You three.

You've got a restaurant to get to.

We'll meet you there with dessert.

- Gracias.

- [Gerard] Thank you all so much.

Have a good party.

- [Christina] You know where that belongs.

- Let's make it happen.

- All right!

- [cheering]

- [Christophe] Gonzo!

- [Ashley] Awesome job!

- Yes, yes, yes!

- Good job, buddy!

- Good job.

- [Gonzo] Thank you, thank you.

[upbeat music plays]

[Gerard] Today's a really important day

for our family.

It's, uh, both my parents' 75th birthday.

Sh! It's a secret still.

- Como estás, bien?

- How are you?

[Gerard] You are all here

for Mom and Dad's surprise party.

I'm also very nervous.

Shh, guys, they're almost here.

[Gerard] We've been planning

for three months,

and I'm hoping

it goes off without a hitch.

[suspenseful music plays]

[all] Surprise!

[cheering]

[Gerard] Couldn't have gone any better.

They were shocked, couldn't believe it.

I thought my mother was going to faint.

If you like to dance

If you like to dance ♪

Mom, Dad, we've been working

with the Bake Squad

[cheering]

to create

this incredible dessert for you.

It's all chocolate.

If you like to dance

If you like to dance ♪

Dance and the day is yours ♪

Oh, wow.

Looks amazing. So real.

I'm impressed. Totally impressed.

[Rodrigo] This is chocolate.

This is all edible. Everything is edible.

So if you like to dance

If you like to dance ♪

Wow.

The mate is so delicious.

Oh my God.

[Azniv] Very nice.

Incredible, incredible.

[laughter]

It is the best dessert

I've ever tried in my life.

If you like to dance ♪

[cheering]

- Spectacular.

- Wow.

- [Rodrigo] We did it.

- Congratulations.

[Gerard] An amazing success.

[all] Thank you, Bake Squad!

[upbeat music plays]