Maneet Chauhan critiques Tracey’s banana cream French toast on Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out

Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out season 1, episode 8, titled Doomsday Kitchen, aired on Food Network on July 1, 2025. The episode featured chefs Tracey Cenami, Adam Pawlak, Demetrius Brown, and Natalia Roario competing in a series of sabotaged culinary rounds. Guest judge Maneet Chauhan evaluated their dishes, offering detailed feedback on the final creations.

The episode began with Natalia being eliminated in the opening round, narrowing the field to three chefs who moved on to the dessert-based finale.

Host Brian Malarkey challenged them to create a fruit-based dessert in just 45 minutes.

However, the round came with sabotages, including a twist that forced one chef to replace all their dairy with cottage cheese.

Tracey had initially planned to make a bread pudding, but after Demetrius used his sabotage against her, she pivoted to a banana cream French toast.

While Chauhan complimented the caramel and fruit flavors, she remarked that the banana cream element was “taut,” and speculated it may have included cottage cheese.

She concluded, “It’s definitely not my favorite bite,” adding that the flavors seemed to be in conflict.

Sabotages shift the direction of the dessert round in Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out

As the final round began in Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out, Brian Malarkey announced a fruit-based dessert challenge with two sabotages up for bidding.

The first sabotage forced the targeted chef to give up fresh fruit and rely only on faux fruit from a set display. Adam won the bid and assigned this sabotage to Demetrius.

The second allowed the winner to choose from three substitutions—replacing a competitor’s dairy, flour, or sugar.

Demetrius secured the second sabotage and chose to replace Tracey’s dairy with cottage cheese.

This significantly changed Tracey’s original plan in Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out. She pivoted from a bread pudding to banana cream stuffed French toast with a banana vanilla bean caramel.

Despite the adjustment, she completed her dish on time. Maneet Chauhan praised the use of caramel and said the fruits were “nicely done.”

However, she noted,

“It almost makes me feel like there is some cottage cheese, some yogurt or something which has been mixed along with that,” referring to the banana cream, which she felt didn’t work well.

Meanwhile, Demetrius presented a fish-based fruit cake with curried ice cream. Chauhan complimented the coconut almond strudel, but said,

“The curry powder which has been used in it is raw. They should have cooked the curry powder with the milk.”

Judging the final dishes and declaring the winner of Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out

Adam Pawlak prepared a mixed berry and brown butter crepe with hazelnut and peanut crumble and cinnamon cream in Cutthroat Kitchen: Knives Out.

Chauhan appreciated the visual aspect of the crepe but commented on its thickness.

She said that when people think of a crepe, they expect it to be nice and thin.

She also mentioned that the cream could have used more sugar and added that desserts should have a noticeable sweetness.

Regarding the use of peanuts in the crumble, she stated,

“It’s the peanuts which are confusing me because peanuts have such a distinct flavor of its own.”

She felt that the nuts clashed with the other elements and concluded,

“I just wish the peanuts weren’t in it.”

Despite the critiques, Adam was named the winner of the episode. He managed his sabotages effectively and retained $14,500 in his bank, which became his prize money.

The episode highlighted how strategic use of sabotages could change the direction of the competition, influencing both cooking decisions and the final outcome.

Stay tuned for more updates.

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