Masterchef: Harrogate contestant Abi reaches semi-finals after canape challenge

Abi, 21, who was born and raised in Harrogate but now lives in Leeds, was part of last night’s quarter-final, which saw the remaining nine contestants set a brief to cook canapes, which could be sweet or savoury.

Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace said they were looking for “a single mouthful of absolute deliciousness”.

The contestants had one hour and 45 minutes to cook nine portions of their canapes, which had to be identical.

Abi, who has reached this stage by combining modern European techniques with Asian-inspired dishes, created a steak tartare with confit quail’s egg yolk and horseradish mayonnaise on a nigella seed cracker.

"It’s one of my favourite dishes. It’s really, really nice – well, if I get it right,” she said.

Giving his feedback, John described her canapes as “great”.

He added: “The cracker is fantastic. They are slightly salty, which I really like."

But Gregg had an issue with the appearance of her canapes.

“I’m definitely not feeling happy with my presentation – they looked honestly awful,” Abi said.

“But they did say it tasted nice, so at least that’s something.

“It would mean a tonne to get through to the semi-finals, big bragging rights but, yeah, don’t know if that’s going to happen.”

When the judges revealed which contestant would be leaving the competition, Abi looked visibly shocked to have been put through.

She is now one of the last eight in this year’s competition. She will be back on our TV screens on Tuesday, May 14 at 8pm on BBC One as semi-finals week begins.