Episode 81

The Pressure Test was revealed to carry an autobiographical theme, with the contestants having three hours to prepare three dishes that represented the stages of their lives: childhood years, formative and now. Conceiving the recipes was a challenge in itself – the judges helping to steer some ill-conceived ideas in the right direction. Though the idea behind Dani’s dishes was good her time management and execution were clearly several steps behind her follow members of the Top 4 and the tasting revealed as much to the judges. Dani was subsequently eliminated, leaving Alana, Kate and Michael as MasterChef 2011’s final three.