Candy is dandy, but to the victor goes the liquor.
Champagne corks popped for one of the three perservering pastry chefs who made it to the finale of Top Chefs: Just Desserts, a well-deserved win after creating a four-course tasting menu that both dazzled the judges and left their teeth in need of a good brushing.
After a couple of dramatic meltdowns and many spirited bitchfests, it was down to the cool and contained Morgan Wilson, exacting visionary Yigit Pura and perky underdog Danielle Keene for all the spoils.
So, whose desserts measured up when it counted most?
He had a few rough weeks, but Yigit's proverbial soufflé rose highest in the end.
After sending out a procession of desserts that the judges called "masterful," the 29-year-old Turkish-born chef from San Francisco was named the first-ever winner of Top Chef: Just Desserts.
"This is the most spectacular feeling in the world, there's no other words to describe it," YIgit, who bowed to his knees with emotion when his name was called, said afterward. "I can't even begin to fathom how it's going to change my career."
He wins $100,000, a spread in Food & Wine magazine, a 2011 Buick Regal and a showcase at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival.
His tasting menu included such delights as lemongrass ginger ice cream, muscovado-braised coconut and pineapple cake and swoon-worthy "milk jam" candy.
Of course, it helped the Morgan's literal soufflés didn't rise evenly, a baking problem that may have doomed him after he showed "elements of brilliance" with his peppery creme brulee and perfectly layered baumkuchen.
"I'm extremely proud of Yigit winning," Morgan said later. "There's no one else in this competition I would feel better about losing to."