Top Moments of Chopped After Hours: Just Desserts

Judges Alex Guarnaschelli, Geoffrey Zakarian and Maneet Chauhan take on the first round from the Chopped Desserts! episode.

Episode: Chopped Desserts!

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A New Dessert Direction

"Here's mud in your pie," Ted Allen tells Maneet, Geoffrey and Alex, who are taking on the chocolate-themed basket from the first-ever Desserts! episode of the show. They must cook with Mississippi mud pie, maraschino cherries, Brie and potato crisps. Ted tells them they have free rein in the kitchen and permission to "tear each other to shreds." Alex chimes in: "It really comes quite naturally."

Second Time Around

"I actually like this," Geoffrey says of the potato crisps. But even so, he decides to use them sparingly by pulverizing them with ladyfingers and sugar to create a powder for dusting his souffle molds. Ted can't believe Geoffrey's making another souffle on After Hours.

Vintage-Dessert Vantage

Maneet's first goal is to get to the ice cream machine. Then she's on to her "retro" dessert, which she says is inspired by Geoffrey. "I love it when everyone talks about me all the time," says Geoffrey. She explains to Ted that her take on cherries jubilee will be a layered sundae.

Re-Creating the Ice Cream Parlor

"I don't know if they're going to work," says Alex, hoping to make an ice cream cone out of tuile batter. Going the real old-school route, she starts on a chocolate shell — chocolate that hardens when you dip an ice cream cone into it. Her recipe is just chocolate and olive oil.

Back-and-Forth Banter and Back Talk

After Maneet's finished with the ice cream machine, Alex gets her Brie mixture in; once it's churned, she folds in some of the mud pie. Geoffrey walks over to taste her ice cream and acts surprised that it's not overchurned. "Don't be jealous because you whipped egg whites and you're done," she tells him.

Don't Question the Master

Not only is Geoffrey making a souffle, he's actually making two in each ramekin: The bottom layer is a Mississippi mud souffle, and the top is a chocolate swirl studded with bits of pie crust. Ted wonders if it will rise. "You know who I am?" Geoffrey asks.

Maneet's Got the "Ice Milk"

Maneet layers her sundae, dipping the potato crisps in melted chocolate and building up her dessert with the ice cream that now contains bits of Brie and mud pie. She's made an eggless ice cream, which Geoffrey calls an "ice milk." Ted jokes, "Your ice milk brought all the chefs to the yard."

An Old-School Taste

Maneet thinks Geoffrey's elevated the ingredients to the next level by turning out a souffle with Brie and maraschino cream. Geoffrey finds her sundae almost like a cheese course because it tastes like a "great palate cleanser." Even though Alex's cones ended up as cups, her fellow judges love the dessert's playfulness. "I went Americana," says Alex. Ted calls them all successful desserts.