Viewers of the popular reality TV cooking competition were gobsmacked when they saw what contestants had to cook — a lemon meringue pie.

But it wasn’t any old pie — it had an unusual MasterChef twist that required contestants to make it by using a 3D food printer.

3D food printers combine nozzles, powdery material, lasers and robotic arms to make sculptures and geometric shapes.

The 3D printer was used by the contestants to create part of the dessert, the caramelised white chocolate base.

They made up a mixture for the base that was then placed in the 3D printer.

Once the base was at the right consistency, it was put in a piping bag and then squeezed into a syringe on the 3D food printer.

The lemon meringue pie was the star of a gruelling pressure test that contestants had to make while at the d’Arenberg Cube restaurant in McLaren Vale in South Australia

Contestants Ben Borsht, Hoda Kobeissi, Genene Dwyer and Chloe Carroll had three hours to make the challenging dish that also required them to use liquid nitrogen and make a ginger snow.

MasterChef judge Matt Preston told them the dish had a “cutting edge-type element” on it before they saw it.

“We’ve seen the dish. There’s one element there that I don’t think I’ve seen on an Australian restaurant menu anywhere else around the country. And that’s a totally cutting edge-type element that I think is going to bake your noodles,” he said.

The dish contained lemon curd parfait balls, and lemon curd gel on the side. It also had nitro fennel balls, coconut rocher and a meringue sheet on top and a caramelised white chocolate base.

Chloe said: “It’s absolutely crazy. We’ll be using a 3D printer to create food. This is definitely not our average day in the kitchen. This is so cool.”

The contestant with the weakest dish faced elimination from the show. Each of them had 10 minutes to plate it up.

There was mixed reaction from fans on social media.

Not everyone was impressed with many saying it was too complex and they would’ve preferred a less modern twist.

One Twitter user wrote: “#MasterChefAU I would not go to a restaurant that served this as dessert with those ugly dining chairs to sit on.”

Another wrote: #MasterChefAU hold a sec.... isn’t masterchef all about less is best and not to over complicate a dish. This lemon meringue pie is the complete opposite - 3D printing plus the white chocolate... what is happening to this program.”

Others concurred, saying the dish was too wanky. One tweeted: “Did #MasterchefAU put a call out for the most wankferfied dessert? Cause they hit the jackpot.”

Another tweeted: “I love wanky food but that plate is way too big for that dessert and you cannot convince me otherwise #MasterChefAU”

Others just accepted the future of cooking was here, saying: “Those against the 3d printer, it’s seriously the way of the future #MasterChefAU”

Others saw the humour in it. One person tweeted: “For what I assume is an outrageous price for this barely visible dessert I would expect *snow* to be a different sort of thing lol #MasterChefAU”

Another posted: “Definitely how you find Australia’s best home chef... I’m about to boot up my 3D food printer now and attempt this. #Masterchefau”

Unfortunately the dish cost Genene her spot in the competition and she was eliminated.

Preston said her balance of flavour wasn’t right and her dish was “just lacking too many elements”.