It all came down to Heston Blumenthal's 91-step dessert "Verjus in Egg" in the final round, after Elena trailed Matt by three points through the first two rounds of the grand finale.

Matt edged out Elena with 26 out of 30 for his entree of pan-seared quail with confit legs, corn and chorizo salsa and Pedro Ximenez glaze against her marron two ways with a smoked vegetable salad and a dashi dressing, which was let down by the dressing and scored 23.

It looked set to be anyone's competition during round two; Elena seemed to be in her element cooking twice-cooked lamb, lamb jus, with a macadamia, garlic and onion puree, pickled beets and vegetables.

Matt was left to doubt his dish of crisp-skinned barramundi with brussels sprouts and a pancetta and prawn broth after MasterChef judge Gary Mehigan suggested the addition of prawn heads to the broth risked over-complicating the fish flavours.

Gary, however, ate his words on tasting said broth and Elena and Matt both took perfect scores: 30 out of 30 each.

Elena began the final challenge on the backfoot on 53 points to Matt's score of 56, and it showed when she made the first mistake making Heston's most challenging dessert on the show to date.

While making her jelly for the "egg yolk" she added an element too early and, with a lack of spare ingredients, had to start again using only half the measurements.

But any confidence felt by Matt soon turned to despair when his panna cotta, which was meant to hold the "egg" together, failed to set. With only two hours left he was forced to make another, costing him precious time and causing him to fall behind Elena.

Elena described her cool-headed turnaround as "a moment of clarity" over her desire to have fun during her last cook in the MasterChef kitchen. And she helped a struggling Matt with his liquid nitrogen step, even though she hadn't finished plating her own dessert.

"I just wanted to see us both get over the line, we've been great mates throughout the entire process and I wanted him to be happy at the end. I know he'd do the same for me," Elena said after the show.

However it wasn't enough for Matt, who missed a vital step. His egg split apart right at the end.

Although neither cook could have known for sure at the time – two sets of outcomes were filmed to keep contestants guessing until the show went to air – it wasn't Matt's night. His chocolate wasn't tempered correctly and he scored seven out of 10 from all five judges, taking him to a total of 84 out of 110.

Elena, with her perfectly cracked egg sitting atop a delicate nest, was rewarded with eight out of 10 from the MasterChef judges and two nines from Heston and his executive chef Ashley Palmer-Watts, edging out the season favourite by two points with a total of 86.

Elena, the dark horse of the competition (similar to last year's winner Billie McKay) says she never focused on Matt as the one to beat.

"I knew that he was going to be there at the end. I had no doubt. His strengths, his capabilities, his knowledge of food – he was fantastic from the beginning. But in terms of competitiveness I was really just focused on myself and bettering my own skills, technique and knowledge."

Elena, who is now $250,000 richer and has a monthly column in Delicious food magazine, says her plans of starting a farm cafe in a similar vein to Maggie Beer's Farm Shop in South Australia or Alla Wolf Tasker's Lake House in Victoria will go on hold for a year while she gains more experience.

"Maggie Beer and Alla Wolf Tasker – their journeys, what they represent, what they've built – they're both very inspiring women and chefs to me and that's definitely a long-term goal," she said at the conclusion of the show.

"That was from the beginning and it is still there but now it's about taking the steps to put myself in the best possible position to ensure its success, so that will involve a lot more work experience.

"I definitely want to visit local producers and farmers and other restaurants that are doing similar things. I'd love to spend some time at Biota [Dining] down in Bowral, with James Vile I'd love to work with Three Blue Ducks Group, [previous winner] Andy Allen works with them and they have a farm up in Byron Bay. I'd love to spend some time with Alla Wolf Tasker and I might even go do some work experience in California."

Matt hasn't left empty handed, winning $40,000 towards his food truck dream. Even Harry Foster, who was eliminated in the semi-final, won $10,000.

smh.com.au