MasterChef Australia grand finalists Emelia Jackson, Laura Cassai and Brent Owens assess chance

EMELIA, Laura and Brent have no illusions about their own strengths and weaknesses going into the final two nights of MasterChef.

MasterChef: Final three rate chances

MASTERCHEF’S Emelia Jackson, Laura Cassai and Brent Owens are about to hit the wall.

The three have endured six months of non-stop 14-hour days as they fight it out to get into tomorrow night’s Grand Final of the reinvigorated reality cooking show.

MASTERCHEF: Most watched TV show in Australia

All admit that they seriously underestimated the mental, physical, and emotional toll of plating up extraordinary dishes episode after episode for judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan.

FOURTH: Jamie Fleming ‘absolutely devastated’ at missing finale

MasterChef’s top three ... Laura Cassai, Brent Owens and Emelia Jackson.

They have survived the tough Heston Blumenthal week, when Amy Shields was eliminated, and finals week which saw the exits of Ben MacDonald, Tracy Collins, and Jamie Fleming.

Many people’s favourite ... Emelia Jackson in action in the MasterChef kitchen.

Tonight is sudden death. The trio face off in a service challenge creating dishes they would serve in their dream restaurant, each preparing a main and a dessert for 20 diners and the judges.

The contestant with the least impressive dishes is eliminated. The remaining two are through to the Grand Final.

“I really expected MasterChef to be easier than it is,” Jackson, 24, says. “I never considered how exhausting, mentally draining and emotionally-charged the experience would be.”

Some of that emotion extended to the MasterChef house — a multi-million dollar property in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Brighton.

Eliminated contestant Tash Shan accused her fellow competitors of making her feel marginalised and lonely in the house.

But Owens says the biggest surprise was how well he got on with contestants outside the competition.

“A majority of them have helped me get through this in their unique ways and I hope I did the same for them,” Owens, 24, says.

Until now, Callum Hann is the youngest contestant to make the MasterChef Grand Final. Hann was 20 when he was runner-up to then-31-year-old Adam Liaw in 2010.

Cassai, 19, hopes to be the first teenager to compete in the grand final. She has been a standout from the start.

Youngest ever finalist if she survives tonight’s show ... Laura Cassai is in MasterChef’s final three.

“To make the Top 3 is just insane. One of my biggest strengths is extracting flavour out of minimal ingredients. The downside is that I can sometimes get really flustered when things go wrong. I’m going to have to work to keep my cool,” Cassai says.

New direction ... Brent Owens hopes to pursue a TV career after MasterChef..

Marketing co-ordinator Jackson — a.k.a. the dessert queen — plans to open a cafe in the future.

“My strengths are my ability to be really organised and efficient,” Jackson says. “My weakness is probably over-complicating things.”

Owens lives with his girlfriend of six years, Madison, and works as a bobcat driver for her father Laurence’s excavation business.

Post MasterChef, he has television in his sights, wanting to make his own foodie travel series.

“As the competition has progressed, my plating has continued to improve,” Owens says.

“My weaknesses are following recipes and getting ingredient anxiety. When there is an open pantry, I man-scan with no ideas.”

This season’s devilish dishes

THERE hasn’t been a unicorn custard with elves tears jus this year, but some of the challenges have come pretty close. Here are the three most diabolic:

Lemon, Lime and Bitters

Extraordinary ... The deceptive Lemon, Lime and Bitters dessert created by George Calombaris. Picture: Channel Ten

It looked like a lemon, but George Calombaris’ foray into Heston Blumenthal territory was actually a sphere of chocolate, lime jelly and curd, cunningly disguised as a lemon.

The Choc Top

Yummy ... Emelia and Sarah with designer choc tops from Gelato Messina. Picture: Andrew Tauber

Who makes a choc top from scratch? Nick Palumbo from Gelato Messina, for one. Recreating his salted caramel-themed delight required almost, but not quite, burning the caramel, and taking a 15-second window to roll the sugar cones without them shattering.

Out in the cold: Sarah Todd eliminated from MasterChef after failing Choc Top test

Croquembouche — Minus a recipe

Without a recipe ... MasterChef contestant Kira Westwick unveils her croquembouche.

Each of the three contestants had a bit of the recipe, but none of them had it all.

MasterChef exit: Croquembouche pressure test not a level playing field, says Kira

MasterChef goes from zero to hero

LAST year’s MasterChef was a dud — cruelled by a mediocre batch of contestants and a trio of judges who looked bored.

This year, viewers flocked back with ratings up about double-digits on 2013.

Judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston.

“MasterChef has got back to basics and is no longer trying to ape My Kitchen Rules by ramping up the personalities and the clashes,” media analyst Steve Allen says.

“This year’s contestants can really cook and the judges are nurturing the talent in front of them. It is very wholesome, warm and approachable — and viewers have responded.”

■ MasterChef Australia, 7.30pm, Sunday, Ten; Grand Final, 7.30pm, Monday, Ten

Originally published as MasterChef Australia grand finalists Emelia Jackson, Laura Cassai and Brent Owens assess chance