Great Chocolate Showdown episode 5 was highly emotional

This week’s Great Chocolate Showdown was filled with tears; both happy and sad. I don’t think I’ve ever started tearing up while watching a cooking competition show, but I guess there’s a first for everything.

Episode 5 of Great Chocolate Showdown started off with chef Cynthia Stroud showing the contestants how to make chocolate bonbons. She made this look like the easiest thing in the world when in fact…it is not. But that’s the sign of a good chef. They always make it look easy!

And then it was the bakers’ turn. But they didn’t only have to make some bonbons, they also had to make a spectacle cake to go with the bonbons. No big deal, right??

The bakers also had to work in teams and since Fadi won last week, he picked the teams. He teamed himself with T because he wanted to be on an all-queer team which is the best reason for picking a teammate ever. He then teamed Casey and Kathy together and finally, Vanessa and Renu.

This week’s Great Chocolate Showdown featured shocking departure

Fadi and T created a Pride cake (with jelly beans inside!), Casey and Kathy made a Saturday morning breakfast cake (there were donuts on this cake; that’s all I needed to know), and Vanessa and Renu made a Neapolitan carnival cake (this cake was so colorful and pretty!).

The judges seemed to like all the cakes but they did think Fadi and T’s was not the prettiest while the donuts on Casey’s and Kathy’s were a little dry.  They did suggest that Renu and Vanessa’s cake needed a more intense strawberry flavor, but since with was well done overall,  they won immunity.

On to the elimination challenge! This time, the judges tasked the bakers with making their own spin on the Black Forest cake. To say this round was stressful would be the understatement of the year. I had several heart attacks.

But it was certainly not lacking in creativity. Casey made a Black Forest pie with a chocolate dome over it, Kathy made Black Forest cream puffs, and T made a two-layered chocolate tart with cherry jam in the middle. Fadi started off making a chocolate puff pastry with a sour cherry curd and a chantilly cream but the puff pastry gods said “not today!”

All the butter ran right out of his puff pastry but that wasn’t the only issue. His curd did not set up either and my heart practically shattered into a million pieces. But Fadi is amazing under pressure and still made a complete dish by turning the puff pastry into shortbread and the curd into a coulis.

Unfortunately, that did not save him and he was the one to go home this week. I’m still kind of in shock. I know I was not the only one who thought he had a very good chance of winning the whole competition. His fellow bakers were not the only ones in tears to see him leave the kitchen.

But the tears were not only because of Fadi’s departure. T finally mastered his plating and when chef Cynthia said she was proud of him, I definitely had to wipe a tear or two away.

As for the winner, Kathy won this week with her amazing-looking cream puffs. I’m not the biggest fan of Black Forest cake, but I would eat those cream puffs any day of the week.

Next week, the bakers will learn how to make chocolate flowers and then have to create a dessert where they pair chocolate with a savory element. Yum!

What did you think of this week’s episode of Great Chocolate Showdown? Were you surprised by Fadi’s departure? Let us know in the comments below!