Today’s media scene has been called the golden age of television. The foodie generation has similarly taken the culinary world by storm. Combine these two forces and you get the acme of food TV — cooking shows, baking competitions, travel guides — we’re obsessed (at least I am). The Netflix original show “Zumbo’s Just Desserts” is an immensely creative, fantastical dessert competition showcasing Australia’s best amateur dessert-makers. Think Willy Wonka meets The Great British Baking Show. The colors and theatrics of hosts Adriano Zumbo and Rachel Khoo are just enough to keep things magical, while still keeping the focus on the desserts.
The Contestants
The season starts off with 12 amateur Australian dessert-makers, who have come to Zumbo’s fantastical dessert factory to pursue their confectionary dreams. Just as in the Great British Baking Show, these contestants are normal people like you and me—their careers range from insurance brokers to stay-at-home moms to even a bouncer. But their mad dessert skills unify all of them, in their quest for a spot in the two-person final, and a chance to win the grand prize: $100,000 and one of their signature desserts in Zumbo’s stores. It sounds easy— get through 12 challenges, win dessert fame and a fortune? Not so fast.
These contestants aren’t just baking and cooking. They’re freezing, aerating, emulsifying, carbonating, oh and throwing some things in the oven too. You won’t find any ordinary cakes or pies; these dessert-makers are whipping up mouse bombes, petit gateaux, and countless other intricate creations.
The Challenges
Each episode starts with a Sweet Sensations task, curated by master patissier and chef, Adriano Zumbo. These tasks range from creating a gravity-defying dessert to a reimagining of a classic Aussie treat. Each contestant’s dessert is judged and scored by Zumbo and Rachel, who taste these beautiful creations using gold utensils. Rachel Khoo, besides being a fashion, lifestyle, and culinary mogul, also brings her dessert expertise to critique the contestants’ dishes.
The Zumbo Test
After judging, the dessert-makers with the two lowest scores face off in the Zumbo Test. This is where the culinary craziness really kicks into gear. Zumbo unveils one of his signature desserts– these are notoriously intricate symphonies of flavor encapsulated inside artfully decorated pieces of dessert artwork. These two (unfortunate) souls must recreate this dessert, provided pages and pages of recipes. That’s right, the heat just got turned up. Waaay up.
Sometimes the home-bakers exceed all expectations and earn a nod of approval from the man himself; other times, not so much. The lower-scoring of the two dessert-makers is eliminated from the competition, and is sent off with a, “May all your sweet dreams come true.”
Dreaming about desserts already? Cancel your weekend plans, because you have a sweet date with 12+ hours of Netflix and dessert magic.