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MasterChef Season 12 returned with an all-new mouth-watering episode on Wednesday night. Titled Winners Mystery Box: Spirit of Vegas, the contestants faced their first mystery box challenge this week.
Episode 5 of MasterChef showcased the contestants battling it out in a mystery box challenge curated by Season 7 winner Shaun O'Neal. They were required to prepare three identical dishes using the spirits they received in their boxes. While most contestants didn't face any hiccups with their dish, Dara hit a road bump after her caramel sauce crystallized. This left her in a difficult situation with no time to prepare it again.
Dara and Shayne were already at a disadvantage. The two young cooks were minors and weren't of drinking age as yet. Dara received dark rum in her mystery box and decided to prepare a dessert with it. But what worried the judges about Dara's dish was that she was taking up too much on her plate.
Dara revealed she was making a tropical tiramisu, along with an almond coconut jaconde sponge that would be soaked in a simple dark rum syrup. Dara also added that she was making mascarpone cream with a strawberry, pineapple, and mango salsa.
Joe was skeptical and told her that it sounded like she was trying to make three desserts. He asked the young cook if it was a tiramisu or not. She replied by saying it had aspects of a tiramisu. When they asked her if she would be able to pull it off, Dara revealed that she had set a high standard for herself (especially with desserts) and believed she could do it.
As the mystery box challenge came to an end, the judges' fears came to fruition as the MasterChef: Back to Win contestant faced some problems. Dara's caramel sauce, which was supposed to be the main ingredient, had crystallized. She was advised against putting it on her plate and was asked to keep going, but the young contestant shared that the majority of her rum was in the caramel sauce.
Dara shared:
"Being in the MasterChef kitchen with these adults is completely different than the juniors competition. And this all harder than I expected."
Fans who watched the episode took to social media to claim that they were worried about the young cook.
Fans feel bad for Dara after her caramel sauce crystallizes in MasterChef Season 12 Episode 5
Taking to Twitter, fans shared that they were worried for the young cook and felt bad for her. Some also encouraged her, claiming that she could still make it through.
More details on what happened this week in Master Chef Season 12 Episode 5
With no time on her hands, Dara decided to scrap the caramel sauce and hoped that the simple syrup would be enough to bring out the dark rum flavor in her dish. However, Dara's dish got her in the bottom three, and she was joined by Cara and Tommy.
When the judges tasted her dish, they claimed that it didn't look like a tiramisu but more like a pancake because it was dry and was missing the sauce. Luckily, it wasn't the worst dish of the night. Dara managed to escape elimination as Cate's dish, which was undercooked and raw, had her sent home.
MasterChef airs every Wednesday night at 8.00 pm ET only on Fox. Readers can check their local listings for more information.
