Daniel had gathered himself and collected his ingredients just as Urara was ready to announce the next matchup. Daniel was the first to be introduced, as he came out of the hallway and into the main arena to a loud roar from the crowd. Urara then introduced Daniel's opponent, Takumi Aldini, as he too came out to rousing applause from the crowd. As Daniel watched his opponent come towards his position in the center of the stage, with Urara continuing to give her introductions, he began to think back to just the previous day, when he found out Takumi would be his opponent.

Flashback: The Previous Day, Main Administrative Building

After Daniel asked Isshiki who his opponent would be, the door to the office opened and Takumi stepped inside, asking, "Sorry I'm late – did I miss anything critical?" At that moment, Daniel had gone from excitement about the theme he had drawn to worry over whom he had drawn as his opponent. "Ah, dammit," he said in a disappointed tone. While Daniel knew it would be a tough match no matter who was his opponent, he knew that he would have an especially tough time against Takumi with this particular theme.

Daniel then sighed and quickly gathered himself, knowing that there was nothing he could do except make the best dessert he could. He then turned to Takumi, who was still looking at him with a slightly confused look over his previous comment, and stated, "Well, Takumi. I know that you really want that grudge match with Soma, but I'm afraid you're going to have to get past me to get it – and I don't plan on making it easy for you!" Takumi grinned back at Daniel and responded, "I wouldn't have it any other way. But I should warn you, you'll be very hard-pressed to beat an Italian at dessert!"

End Flashback

As the two contestants prepared to start the battle, Daniel held out his hand towards Takumi, indicating he wanted a handshake, while saying, "Good luck today, Takumi. May the best dessert win." Takumi was slightly surprised at the gesture, but quickly accepted the handshake and replied, "Thanks. And to you, as well." Momentarily gripping the Irish coin he placed in his chef's coat pocket, as per usual for a challenge, Daniel was as ready as he would ever be. Once both chefs indicated to Urara and the judges that they were ready, the gong sounded, and the cooking began.

As it was Daniel's favorite ingredient, as well as the fact that he belonged to the club bearing said ingredient's namesake, Daniel had decided to make a chocolate-based cake for the challenge. He started by making the cake batter, with the usual cake ingredients, along with chocolate he had melted being mixed together, along with one ingredient that wouldn't be considered conventional for this dish.

After he put his cakes in a couple of cake pans, he put them into the oven to bake before working on the other components of his dish. First, he put a canned ingredient (still in the can) into a pot of boiling water. Next, he mixed what appeared to be a very thick and creamy ingredient with sugar, cinnamon, and some sort of milk to make some type of icing. He then took a couple of strange-looking red-purple fruits, peeled them, chopped them, and then cooked them down before blending the cooked fruit into a sauce.

Before too long, Daniel took the cakes out of the oven – checking them and determining that they were baked to his liking. He then put the cakes into the blast chiller both to stop the cooking process and to cool them off quickly so that he would have enough time to assemble the finished product. As the cakes were cooling, he took the can out of the boiling water, opened it, and poured out the contents int a nearby bowl. He then made a simple syrup for the cakes using sugar, water, and an additional ingredient to go with the cake's theme. Daniel also took several large, thin dark chocolate disks, laid them out, and piped some milk chocolate on them, creating Aztec-like designs on the discs.

Daniel then checked on the cakes and determined that they had cooled down enough for him to start assembling. He first got a medium-sized ring mold, and cut out several circles from the two cakes – enough to make six individual-sized two-layered cakes. He then brushed the simple syrup on the tops and sides of the cakes before spreading some of the stuff from the can on top of one of the cakes. He then placed the second cake on top before spreading his icing mixture on the cake, doing his best to make the layer even and not too thick. He then placed each completed cake on a plate – each of which had the fruit sauce swirled in the middle. Daniel placed each cake in the middle of the layer of sauce before topping each cake with one of the chocolate discs.

Meanwhile, Takumi proceeded by making his cake – a genoise style cake where the whites and yolks of the eggs were whisked together before being mixed into the batter. After he put his cake in the oven, he began making a crème anglaise mixture, using heavy cream and lemons as his main bases. With the lemons, Takumi not only used the juice of the lemons, but he also used the zest to enhance the lemon flavor. He was able to further enhance the lemon flavor by also mixing in some limoncello liquor.

As he put the mixture into the machine to turn it into gelato, Takumi was gathering his ingredients for the next component of his dish when he looked over at Daniel's station. Clearly, he saw something that surprised him and made him concerned that his dish wouldn't be good enough as is to beat Daniel. He looked around quickly at what ingredients he had left before getting an idea and setting to it. He used lemon juice and zest, egg yolks, sugar, and something else in a green bottle to make some sort of mixture that he put aside for the time being.

Takumi then went to work making an almond praline, presumably as a topping for the dessert, toasting some almonds before mixing them in a caramel created with some sugar and cream. He then took his cake out of the oven to cool, right after which, he took the gelato mixture out of the machine, apparently happy with the consistency it had reached. He then set it aside as he quickly made the final component – a simple syrup similar to what Daniel had made, except his extra ingredient was the limoncello.

He then began assembling his dessert as one large item, spreading the simple syrup on the cake and allowing it to be absorbed before spreading the mystery mixture on top of that, creating a bright golden layer. Next, he put the gelato on as the next layer, mixing it with more toasted almonds to give the diner some texture differential before finally topping it off with the almond praline mixture. He then cut the dessert into neat, rectangular, individual sized portions before topping each of them with a thin lemon slice.

Daniel was first to present as he brought five completed individual-sized cakes to the judges table – one for each judge. He also provided Takumi with a portion, which he accepted. Daniel then began to explain his dish. "I present to you, a Mexican Chocolate Cake," he stated as each of the judges and Takumi took a bite of their portions. When they put it into their mouths, they were immediately hit with the variety and depth of flavor that Daniel had put into his cake. For his part, Senzaemon bore his chest, indicating that he found the dish to be delicious.

For the cake itself, Daniel had melted some Mexican chocolate into the batter, which also contained cinnamon. There was also one additional spice Daniel added that was starting to become apparent as a low, slow, but noticeable burn began to make their way up their throats. Senzaemon instantly recognized it as chile powder, which Daniel confirmed. "To be more precise, it's guajillo chile powder," he explained. "That particular chile pepper's fruitiness really compliments the chocolate. In addition, I made a tequila simple syrup, which I used on the cake itself to keep it nice and moist."

As they continued to dig in, Takumi and the judges noticed that the icing had an unusual tang to it as well as a hint of…sage? "Correct again," Daniel stated. "The base of the icing is actually a very soft goat cheese, giving it a unique tang. To that I mixed in cinnamon, rice milk, and sugar that had been infused with the flavor of fresh sage." As the judges were taking in the various flavors of the icing, they noticed a gooey layer between the cakes and asked what it was. "It's dulce de leche," Daniel explained. "I took a can of sweetened condensed milk and boiled it in a pot of water creating the smooth caramel-like spread." He then added, "In addition, in order to offset the sweetness, I placed a coulis underneath the bottom of the cake, made with prickly pear. The tartness of the fruit provides a nice contrast to the cake's sweetness if I say so myself."

The judges were impressed with what Daniel had been able to come up with and praised his creativity, even noting how the chocolate topper illuminated the flavor origins of the cake. Even Takumi could see that Daniel had skills when it came to desserts – and on a level that could match his own, and maybe more. Nonetheless, Takumi wore a stoic face as he presented his offering to the judges, though he also provided a portion to Daniel, returning Daniel's earlier gesture.

Takumi's dish was a Lemon-Almond Semifreddo, a dessert that sought to balance the sweetness, earthiness, and tartness of its most prominent ingredients. As Daniel and the judges dug in, the flavor of the lemon shone through immediately as something that felt very refreshing, and light compared to Daniel's dessert. The cake, while dense, was also nice and moist thanks to the limoncello simple syrup Takumi had spread on the cake. In addition, the gelato was smooth and creamy, with the almonds providing a nice crunch both within the gelato and in the praline that made up the top layer of the dessert.

What most intrigued the judges, however, was the golden layer that was nestled between the cake and the gelato. Takumi explained that it was a lemon curd, placed there to provide more intensity to the dessert's overall lemon profile. One of the judges then asked how Takumi had made this, as it had appeared that he used all his butter in his other components – something Daniel wondered about as well. Takumi then pulled out a green bottle, explaining that it was a special olive oil made by his family. "I saw what Daniel was doing with the dulce de leche, and I knew I had to take my dessert to another level," he said. "With what I had left, I decided to bet victory on the lemon flavors of the dish, and was able to create a lemon curd using olive oil."

The flavor of the olive oil went perfectly with the lemons, even more so than butter would have. Even Senzaemon noted that Takumi's quick thinking and creativity had brought forth a new cooking technique, once again baring his chest to indicate that he also found this dish to be delicious. During this time, Daniel looked at Takumi and commented, "An olive oil lemon curd to enhance your lemon dessert and counter my dulce de leche, huh? I have to say, that was pretty clever."

As the tasting concluded, the judges began to consider who would be declared the winner of this bout. Two judges voted for Daniel's dish, and two voted for Takumi's before Senzaemon stood up to deliver the deciding vote. He noted that while Takumi's dish was delicious, and that he showed his creativity with his lemon curd, Daniel's dish brought together a wider variety of different flavors into a cohesive dish. In addition, his flavors were more intense, providing a depth of flavor that made it more memorable. "Therefore," he stated, "I must conclude that the winner of this bout is Daniel Horowitz!"

As Senzaemon made his pronouncement, Daniel leaned over forward in both joy and relief, as he exclaimed, "Shut the front door!" The judges chuckled as his exclamation as Senzaemon commented that Daniel had earned the victory that day. Daniel then turned to Takumi, who had a very disappointed look on his face. Daniel immediately approached Takumi and shook his hand, saying, "You did well today. That semifreddo was really delicious – it was so close; it could have gone either way." Takumi then gave a sad smile, accepting Daniel's graciousness and replied, "Thanks. Master Senzaemon is right – you did earn it today. Good luck in the next round." As Daniel then turned towards the crowd, he saw the section where his Polar Star friends were sitting, cheering on his victory. He waved to them before turning back towards the hallway to change back into his regular clothing. 'This recipe is definitely going in the notebook,' he thought.

A short time later, Daniel met up with said friends outside the arena, where they continued to gush over the cake he had created and the victory he had achieved. As he was chuckling, Daniel heard a few familiar voices call out to him. When he turned in the direction of the voices, he saw his parents and sister coming towards them! While they hadn't been able to make it out for the preliminary rounds, they had apparently been able to get the time off to come out and support Daniel for the quarterfinals.

Daniel quickly introduced them to his friends and tried serving as an interpreter for their conversation. After a few minutes, his mom asked, "So how did you come up with the recipe for that cake you made? It looked really good." Daniel was about to answer when he heard, "I'm curious about that myself." He turned and saw Takumi and Isami coming towards the group. "How were you able to come up with something like that in only a day?" Takumi asked. "Was it based on something you had made before, like mine was?" Daniel shook his head as he replied, "Nope. I thought of it as I was remembering a trip my family took to New Mexico several years back." Daniel then turned to his family and asked, "Remember that road trip we took? And that really good chocolate shop we stopped at in Santa Fe?" His parents then gave a look of "Oh, yeah!" as they began to remember that trip. His sister, meanwhile, commented, "I can't believe you actually remember that so vividly." Takumi seemed surprised by this as well, thinking to himself, 'He came up with an entirely new recipe on the fly just from a memory? That mind of his is really something else.'

Soon after, Daniel's family bid their farewells, complimenting Daniel on his group of friends and congratulating him on his success that day with big hugs all around. Although a bit embarrassed (as teenagers are wont in such situations), he accepted them before bidding them farewell for the time being and rejoining his friends as they made their way back to Polar Star – anticipating the next day when two more of their own would be competing in the other quarterfinal matches.