A MASTERCHEF sensation has survived the latest round of the TV cookery show, securing her place in the final round of the knock-out stages which will air on BBC 1 tonight.

Moonira Hingotwala from Blackburn had a close shave on Tuesday night’s episode, becoming unstuck with her fresh cream sponge served with tempered chocolate, honeyed figs, chocolate mascarpone and raspberry Caviar.

The pharmacist has been a roaring success with judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace ever since her debut on the show, but received stark criticism in the latest episode with her desert failing to impress Michelin-starred chef Nathan Outlaw who appeared as a guest judge this week.

On receiving a taste of her first real criticism, Moonira said: “This week was our first experience in a professional kitchen and we were quite literally dropped in at the deep-end.

“From the utensils, to the recipes, every thing was so new and it took a while to get used to working in that environment.

“When Nathan Outlaw saw my plate I think I realised that maybe I had tried to do too much.

“His cooking style is very clean and crisp and I was thinking maybe I’ve tried to pull off too much is a short space of time. It was hard. Really, really tough.”

Giving feedback on her decadent dessert, Nathan Outlaw said: “Fig and dark chocolate, that’s quite new to me.

“I’ve not really tried that before and I’m not sure if it works.

“It just needs a little bit of refinement on the appearance.”

Moonira, who has so far wowed judges with her authentic Indian cooking, said: “Moving forward, the biggest thing I’ll take from that feedback was the need to refine my presentation.

“The Indian cooking I am used to is served very authentically in pots and pans but I realise I need to work on my plating up.

“Right now I just feel very lucky and happy to reach the next stage!”

To see Moonira in action tune into BBC1 tonight at 9pm to find out which three amateur chefs will be the first to make it through to the MasterChef semi-finals.