Warning: Spoilers ahead
Naperville resident Elyce Wooten baked a restaurant-quality, finale-worthy dessert for her “MasterChef” audition and earned herself a place in the Fox network competition.
The home cooks had 45 minutes to make a signature dish to snag one of 15 aprons on Wednesday’s Season 11 premiere. Wooten served a red velvet mini cake with mascarpone cream cheese frosting and freeze-dried raspberries, a dish inspired by her mother. The judging panel — Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Aarón Sánchez — and guest judge Emeril Lagasse raved about the dessert.
“Elyce, I don’t know if I want another bite or (to) hug you. Really, really well done,” Lagasse said.
“It is just money,” Sánchez said.
Wooten, whose resume includes co-ownership of an Oswego salon and a stint at the Cook County sheriff’s office, advanced on Wednesday’s hourlong episode with five other contestants. The winner of Season 11, deemed the “Legends” season because of the big-name guest judges, is slated to receive $250,000.
“I feel amazing. I’m wearing the apron,” Wooten said. “I could not believe it. It’s a dream come true.”
Wednesday’s episode ended with a remembrance of “MasterChef Junior” Season 6 contestant Ben Watkins, a northwest Indiana teenager who died in November of a rare form of cancer. A representative for the show said Endemol Shine North America, which produces “MasterChef,” donated to an online fund for Ben. Ramsay, himself, was said to have contributed $50,000.
“MasterChef” airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on WFLD-Ch. 32. Season 11 auditions are set to be shown over the next two weeks. Watch for stay-at-home mom Lexy Rogers, who lived in north suburban Zion at the time of the competition; physical therapist Kelsey Murphy, who hails from Western Springs; and electronics company executive Kathleen Murray, of Lombard.
Two other Fox cooking shows feature Chicago-area contestants. Alex Lenik, chef de partie at Verve Wine + Provisions, is on Season 20 of “Hell’s Kitchen,” which premiered Monday. Chicago theater actor Emma Rosenthal is a competitor on “Crime Scene Kitchen,” a new baking contest that airs Wednesdays after “MasterChef.”
tswartz@tribpub.com
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