A FOOD BLOGGER is facing the ultimate culinary challenge as she competes on hit show MasterChef.

Bicester resident Sarah McCready will be battling with 11 other contestants in the BBC programme’s knockout rounds, which begin on Monday.

The 24-year-old community project leader at Dorchester Living, who writes for Heyford Park magazine, will have to conjure up either a main or a pudding from a brief given by scrutinising judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace.

Miss McCready said: “I have always been passionate about food. I am from a big Italian family so I have been cooking and preparing food my whole life.

“This past year I have been more serious about food: blogging and doing restaurant reviews. This year it became a bit more than a hobby so if I was to apply any year to the competition this year seemed right.

“I am really enjoying it.”

Nine cooks will go through automatically on Monday while the bottom three will have to come up with a showstopper in a cook-off. One will go home.

The format will be repeated each day until eight are left to progress to the semi-finals the following week.

Miss McCready reached the knock-out rounds after impressing restaurant critic Tracey MacLeod, who was guest judge in the episode on Friday, March 20.

Four contestants were tasked with cooking up a vegetable main and “fruit and spice and all things nice” dessert set by the guest judge.

The 24-year-old created an egg yolk and potato raviolo, with salsa verde, parmesan cream and fried courgettes.

Ms MacLeod commented: “I have never had raviolo with egg done in that way and it really works. It is fantastic and I really like what you’ve done with the courgette. It has just been whacked over the head with that enormous salsa verde.”

For dessert, Miss McCready made chai tea and cardamom crepe soufflé with black peppercorn and pineapple puree and a chocolate sauce.

The contestant was up against it after over-whipping her egg whites and had to remake her soufflé with just 15 minutes left on the clock.

She said: “It looks really stressful watching it back but it has been a really fun process and everyone involved – the competitors, crew and [presenters] John and Gregg are lovely and supportive. Gregg and John have been so helpful.

“While you are cooking, they walk around and chat and give helpful tips, especially John as he is a chef.

“People say I look so in control when I am really not. You have to get used to cooking in a kitchen that’s not familiar to you.

“I am really lucky, I enjoy my day job and now I have been able to take food a bit more seriously rather than it just being a hobby previously, and also to get that external validation of what I am cooking is good.”

The knockout episode featuring Miss McCready will air on BBC One on Monday at 8.30pm.