‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Matt and Chloe’s strong performance may indicate they are this season’s top two contenders

It was twice the excitement and intensity on Network Ten’s “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 episode 23. On May 31, four home cooks battled it out to convince judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston that they deserve the highly coveted immunity pin. At the end of two rounds, consistent top performers Matt Sinclair and Chloe Baines crushed two seasoned chefs in the immunity challenge. In addition to the game-changing advantage, they may have given a glimpse of what this year’s finale would look like: the two of them going head to head.

Matt and Chloe won’t be able to savour their victory for long, however, since they have to gear up with the rest of the contestants for another massive team challenge. To up the ante on the next episode, the “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls need to deliver their best whilst under stress.

Spoiler Alert! This article contains "MasterChef Australia" Season 8 spoilers. Read only if you want to know more about it.

Network Ten posted a sneak peek of Wednesday’s episode, featuring a restaurant takeover challenge, where the contestants will be divided into two teams. Zoe Konikkos and Miles Pritchett will go head to head as captains of the red and blue teams, respectively. The trailer shows the amateur chefs heading over to George’s restaurant, where they are tasked to prepare a Greek feast.

With 120 hungry mouths to feed, George’s reputation at stake and an elimination on the line, the pressure could be too much to handle. Adding even more weight to the challenge, the contestants have to impress a special guest judge, George’s mother. Most “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls look frazzled in the preview video, with even the typically composed Cecilia Vuong reduced to tears.

“MasterChef Australia” Season 8 recap

Right from the start of the episode, the judges presented two dramatic twists on this particular immunity challenge: there are two pins up for grabs, and they contestants would be cooking in pairs. For round one, the duos would need to use the humble jaffle maker to create restaurant-quality dishes – one sweet and one savoury. For winning in the previous episode’s first challenge, Chloe was given the advantage to choose her partner, and she called on Matt to be on her team. Throughout the cook, the two looked like the team to beat, working harmoniously together. In the end, their dishes – Chloe’s apple pie jaffle with crème fraiche and Matt’s spice mince and caramelised fennel jaffle with curry aioli won over Mimi and Karmen’s plates.

There seemed to be no rest for the wickedly good “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls, as they learned shortly after the renowned chefs that they’ll be competing with. Two of Melbourne’s finest young chefs came waltzing in the kitchen: Wooldland House restaurant’s dynamic duo, Thomas Woods and Hayden McFarland.

Similar to previous immunity challenges, Matt and Chloe get to cook for 75 minutes and choose the hero ingredients. They chose raspberry for the sweet dish and prawns for the savoury plate. The two continued to be on fire, and they went through the preparation smoothly and efficiently like pros. At the end of the cook, the judges picked two outstanding dishes: Matt’s hot and sour prawn head broth for the savoury dish, and Thomas’ raspberry vinegar, goats curd white chocolate for the dessert. Matt received all 9s from the judges, earning himself 27 points out of a possible 30. Thomas, on the other hand, edged with just one point after he got a perfect 10 from judge Matt.

It all boiled down to Chloe’s sweet dish and Hayden’s savoury dish. The judges each gave 6 points for white miso glazed prawns with grilled prawn oashi, which they said tasted bitter. As a result, the Woodland power pair received a total of 46 points. Chloe’s raspberry syrup with rosewater bavarois and pate a bombe, on the other hand, was scored 7 points each by the judges. Combined with Matt’s score, the home cooks received a total of 48 points, winning over the professional chefs and earning the two immunity pins. In the interview at the end of the challenge, Matt could not help but become emotional as he promised to keep striving to be the best in the competition.

Find out what happens next week to “MasterChef Australia,” and stay tuned for episode spoilers. “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 airs every Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Ten.