Emily Hallock talks about being on MasterChef and her thoughts on her Baked Alaska

It was technically a double elimination for the semi-final round of the MasterChef: Back to Win season. And that means two challenges to figure out which chefs would end up in the final three.

For the first challenge of the night, it was all about Fire and Ice. And according to the MasterChef judges, the best way to bring the idea of fire and ice to life in the kitchen was with a Baked Alaska.

Ultimately, be the end of this first semi-final challenge, it was Emily Hallock who saw her MasterChef chances dashed, as her Baked Alaska simply didn’t set the way it would have needed to.

Following her elimination episode, we had the chance to chat with Emily about returning to the MasterChef kitchen, what happened with her Baked Alaska, and what it was like watching the season back.

Emily Hallock chats with Guilty Eats about her MasterChef: Back to Win journey

Guilty Eats: Congratulations on all you did this season on MasterChef.

Emily Hallock: “I made it further than than last time around so that was pretty much my goal going into it.”

GE: You did and it was so close.

EH: “I know. I mean, I was at the point literally where I was planning my finale menu because, once you get to the top five, you’re thinking like, ‘Okay, I’m so close.’ Like I need to start thinking about what I would maybe make if I was in the finale.”

GE: I have to ask, have you been watching the season back as it’s played?

EH: “Every Wednesday!”

GE: So what’s it been like for you to see your journey as you progressed in the season?

EH: “I think it was a little bit different, especially this time around. Just because we’ve all been through it before, you know, so like, I think it was less nerve wracking. Then in season nine watching it back…. I think it’s funny because people are a little confused about why I’m nervous when I’m watching it. And I’m like, ‘Well, I don’t know what they’re gonna show.’ Yeah, I know ultimately what happens, but I don’t know what they’re going to show you.

Honestly, we filmed it a while ago. I don’t remember some of the things that happen. When I’m watching it sometimes I’m as surprised as the viewers are where I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t remember that happening.’ So it’s kind of a nerve wracking experience, but ultimately, it’s very good. I think this season was a little different for me because I was in the bottom a few times. I had to deal with those emotions because in season nine, I wasn’t at the bottom until I got eliminated. So that is difficult. Those are difficult episodes to watch. So those were definitely spent, you know at home on my couch, with dogs and a bottle of wine.”

GE: What was the hardest part of coming back?

EH: “I think the hardest part for me was getting back into the swing of thinking about food all the time. That was probably the most challenging part is that I was one of the only people that didn’t leave MasterChef their first season and go on to pursue a career in cooking or food or restaurants. I came from 10 years in the service industry. Like I worked in restaurants for 10 years. I knew that that was not what I wanted to do. And so I had gone back to my career. I’m a market research manager.

So like, do I think about food all the time? Yes. Am I cooking MasterChef quality dishes every night at home for dinner? No. So when when I got the call and they were like, ‘Would you be interested in doing this?’ I had to kind of say oh, I need to brush up on on some more advanced skills. I learned a few new things so that I had something to kind of pull out of my sleeve. So I think that was probably the most difficult part was just the preparation aspect. I mean, it wasn’t more difficult than season nine, but it was a challenge for sure.”

GE: So, I hate to ask but can you tell me what happened with your Baked Alaska?

EH: “You know, this is actually the funniest thing. I do not know and I have had months to replay this over and over again, and think like what went wrong. And so I was actually discussing this last night with my boyfriend and I was like, you know, I think this elimination is different than my season nine elimination. Because after the fact I look back on what happened in season nine. And I was like, I know that I made these errors along the way which ultimately led to my cake falling over and my elimination.

So like I knew that I didn’t cut enough off the top of the cake. So I called them upside down. It was a whole thing, right? So structurally it was not sound.

My Baked Alaska just kept melting. It was not… you know, I feel like the way that they portrayed it last night was along the lines of if you add goat cheese to ice cream it has a higher propensity to melt. That’s not accurate. That’s not what I said. It’s not accurate. So that’s not an accurate scientific explanation for what happened, but I am still mystified. And no I’ve not yet had the balls to remake it and then try to figure out what that was. Who makes Baked Alaska at home? Nobody. You know why? Because it’s fancy. It’s challenging. It’s temperature controlled. Like who’s doing that? Nobody.”

GE: Like they said it is one of the hardest desserts to make, so why would anybody be practicing that?

EH: “Exactly. And like I have made Baked Alaska one other time in my life. But I’ve made all of the components several times. I’ve never put them together into a baked Alaska but, I’ve made all of those components several times.

The biggest challenge for that was working with something cold. I even said, I remember saying this in my elimination interview, making something cold does not happen as quickly as making something hot. So when you’re talking about freezing something that takes a significant amount of time to solidify as ice cream and to make sure that it’s the proper temperature before you start coating it and piping it with Swiss merengue and all that stuff. So I was just like, I don’t know, but as soon as I pulled it out, it was a perfect, nice, thick ice cream when I packed it into the bowl and I put it in the freezer. I took it out of the freezer like 15 or 20 minutes later and it was softer than when I had put it in the freezer. And so I was like what am I going to do? Like I can’t keep this frozen. There’s no way for me to keep it frozen.”

GE: Would you do it again?

EH: “So everyone always asked me that after season nine. And my response after season nine was if I had to go back in time and do it again, knowing what I know now. Absolutely, 100% I would still do it. If they called me tomorrow and asked me if I wanted to go back and do it again. Absolutely not.

And then three years later, they actually called me and asked me if I wanted to come back and do it again. I said yes. So like, I don’t know. I think right now it’s a little raw. It’s a little fresh, right? I think at this exact moment, it’s like, you know what, that was great. And do I genuinely think that I will be able to get to the top five again, with an even more advanced skilled group of people? Probably not. Do I want to take that risk? Not so sure that I want to do that.”

GE: So my final question: We are called Guilty Eats, so what is your guilty eat?

EH: “Hands down, and this is like the same answer that I always give but, it is Culvers fried cheese curds.

The other thing is, like so if that’s like the lowbrow, guilty  eat. That’s a you got to do what you got to do. If it’s like highbrow, going out to a restaurant and it’s on a menu and I’m going to order it. It is either like a roasted bone marrow or a pate if there’s any kind of like chicken liver mousse or a pork pate or something on the menu. I just, I can’t say no, I’ve got to order it.”

If you want to continue following Emily’s journey after MasterChef, check out her Instagram account for even more food and fun.