His latest test featured a caramelised tonka bean panna cotta, passionfruit “slick” and macaroons. The macaroons had two fillings – jasmine rice pudding ganache and pine nut ganache.

Andre, Poh, Sam and Chris had 90 minutes to recreate the dish. George told them to get their panna cotta in the fridge in the first ten minutes so it would set in time. Once they had done this, they turned their attention to the macaroons.

Andre’s egg whites collapsed when he added sugar syrup so he had to start over. His second attempt wasn’t that great either but he didn’t have time for a third try. When he tried to pipe the macaroon mixture on the tray, it went everywhere because it was too runny. Poh hadn’t been happy with how much her mixture had spread and she had scraped it off the oven tray and piped it again.

Sam was having trouble making the jasmine rice pudding ganache as the rice was not cooking properly. Chris was happy with his passionfruit slick, while Sam and Andre’s macaroons didn’t look too good when they came out of the oven.

Andre chopped the side off his macaroons so they would stand upright when he plated the dessert up. All the contestants had trouble unmoulding their panna cottas and Sam was the last to do so, with seconds to spare.

Gary said Poh’s effort looked a lot like Adriano’s dish. George said her panna cotta was smooth on the palate and had a lovely caramel flavour.

Gary found the rice to be raw in Sam’s jasmine rice pudding ganache. George thought his passionfruit slick was good but Matt said Sam’s macaroons were a disappointment.

George said Chris had made a beautiful panna cotta. Matt commented that while the dish didn’t look as beautiful as Poh’s, the flavour and texture was great.

The judges noted Andre had sliced the edge off his macaroons to sit them upright. Gary said Andre’s panna cotta was beautiful, while Matt decided his passionfruit slick was terrible. Andre’s macaroons were declared a disaster.

Gary told the contestants there were stand out items in all their dishes. Matt told Poh she was still in the competition. George said she had put up a spectacular dish and she should be proud of herself.

Chris was still in the competition, as was Andre. Sam was leaving MasterChef. Matt explained to Sam he had been beaten by a great panna cotta from Andre, which had got him over the line.

Sam was happy to be reunited with his new wife after putting his marriage on hold for the MasterChef competition. Sam intends to make food his career and has spoken to Melbourne’s leading chefs about apprenticeships.

Stay tuned to see Julie cook against Adrian Richardson.