The temperature is rising for Chef Yohann

Ocala chef Yohann Le Bescond. [Maven Film + Photo, file photo]

The judges of the “Summer Baking Championship” came really close to eliminating an Ocala-based chef during its most recent showdown, but Yohann Le Bescond is still in the running.

The executive pastry chef at the World Equestrian Center is competing against eight chefs for a $25,000 grand prize on the reality competition series that airs Monday night at 9 p.m. on the Food Network cable channel.

If you don’t have cable, “The Summer Baking Championship” — hosted by Jesse Palmer and judged by Duff Goldman, Carla Hall and Damaris Phillips — challenges trained pastry chefs to create desserts, often with disparate ingredients, with themes inspired by summertime activities. The series is now available with the Max streaming platform, formerly known as HBO Max, and a handful of live TV subscription platforms.

Le Bescond, who was born in Brittany, France, had a strong start when the first episode aired on May 15, but experienced some disappointing rounds during subsequent episodes. Through it all, he has maintained a steady fanbase with positive comments on Reddit. A writer from “Fansided,” a web-based TV publication, said she was relieved that he wasn’t eliminated on Episode 4 because he was one of her favorites.

Despite the more challenging moments, Le Bescond said he’s had a great time and learned a lot from the experience.

“The other competitors and I were friends since the first day, and it was really hard for me, specifically, to see people going home because you get attached really quick,” Le Bescond shared. “It’s like being at camp. You get very attached because you are living the same experience in a close environment. So, seeing someone leaving is always hard.”

Episode 4, on May 29, challenged the contestants to make a fruit cobbler, crumble or a clafoutis (pronounced claw-foot-ee) in less than an hour and a half.

Le Bescond received a raspberry crumble as his challenge. His finished treat, elevated by ginger and citrus, appeared to be topped with a crispy crunch and looked attractive but the crumble wound up undercooked and doughy.

Watermelon bedeviled all of the contestants in the second round as the primary component and honey was Le Bescond’s assigned ingredient.

He sighed and said with a smile, “Let go and let God!”

The award-winning pastry chef added a salty Greek cheese to his buttercream center between two watermelon-stylized macarons. The watermelon-designed cookies presented problems and required repeated attempts.

“You learn from your mistakes and you push through,” Le Bescond admitted. “What they haven’t shown is that I actually redid my macarons three times and my buttercream twice. So, I did not give up. I tried and kept going and kept going.”

The judges praised the second dessert’s presentation and even the buttercream but were visibly dismayed by his gooey watermelon burst nestled inside the cream.

“I’m posting a macaron redemption video on my socials this week,” Le Bescond said with a laugh. “Macarons are something that I’ve been doing since I was 16 years old and I consider myself a master at it. But you know, it’s one of those things that you’ve done it forever and somehow it doesn’t work, and, also, I think the egg whites I used were not good.”

The cookie, however, does sometimes crumble in Chef Yohann’s favor. Le Bescond discovered that he made the Chef Power List for 2023, published by Restaurant Hospitality (RH), a major hospitality industry publication. Each year RH puts out a call to restaurants for nominations for the annual honors.

And let’s not forget, Le Bescond is still in it to win it. Episode 5’s challenge focuses on a beach-day drink trifle and an old-timey favorite, the cream pie.

Will the WEC chef rebound and triumph? Tune in to find out.

Follow Chef Yohann LeBescond at instagram.com/yohannlebescond and tune into the “Summer Baking Championship” on the Food Network on Monday nights at 9 p.m. The Food Network is available on Spectrum Ch. 59 or you can stream online with Max, Sling, Philo, Hulu with Live TV, Fubo, DirecTV Stream or YouTube TV (Youtube’s live platform; not available on Youtube.com, the free video channel).

Contestant Yohann Le Bescond, portrait, as seen on Summer Baking Championship, Season 1. [Submitted photo]