We saw her teary-eyed on Tuesday evening, when victory was snatched from her grasp on television cookery competition The Taste.
But nonetheless, runner-up Dixie Innes says she has no regrets and would happily apply for the show again.
“Of course I would’ve liked to have won,“ says the 26-year-old, who lives in Leyton. “It was a great experience, I hope it’s going to open a lot of doors for me, it gets my name out there and I’ve made some great friends – we’re a right mushy bunch.
“It was hard work. I’m pleased the show is over, but if I was to get the chance to do it again, of course I would.“
The Taste, dubbed a cooking version of The Voice, is a show in which amateur cooks attempt to impress celebrity chefs Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lufubvre by supplying them with spoon-sized dishes – a mere taste of a meal, in a blind taste test.
Dixie decided to apply for the show after she was approached by researchers who had spotted her food and recipe blog.
Selected by Anthony Bourdain for his team, Dixie sailed through nine competitive rounds, beating countless contestants.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor, he was a really cool dude, and I’m pleased I had him out of the others,“ she says. “I don’t work well when people are shouting, like Ludo, or constantly telling you what to do, like Nigella.
“Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice people, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be on their teams. Nigella was very much herself, there was none of the Charles Saatchi stuff going on at the time, she was very much in television chef mode.“
Tuesday night was Dixie’s downfall, when guest judge Pierre Koffman failed to pick her caviar-topped canapé, designed to accompany champagne.
What followed was a nail-biting cook-off as she was pitted against fellow contestant Chloe Campbell to create the perfect omelette.
Emerging triumphant from that round, for the final task she had to compete against Debbie Halls-Evans and Kelly Sealey to create a three-course taster meal for the judges.
Unfortunately, she failed to secure the win.
“I’m actually gutted, because I messed up really badly,“ she says. “They made us wait around for five hours before we went in and started cooking and I just wasn’t thinking properly, I was really nervous. So yeah... it didn’t go very well.
“I got quite emotional, it was all very intense, and on top of that I was tired. So of course, I couldn’t help but have a good cry when it didn’t go to plan.“
Since the show’s been screened, Dixie reveals she’s had a mainly positive reaction from the public, with only a handful of people saying they’ve not enjoyed the show.
She’s also set up her own market stall – Phat Bread, at Maltby Street Market, selling flatbreads covered in toppings.
“I just want to carry on cooking,“ she says. “Of course it would be a dream to have my own cookery show or book... who knows what the future holds.“

 

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

 

 

Get cooking with Dixie

Clementine and Cardamom Madeleines

These dainty little cakes are just great, they really are a doddle to make and best enjoyed fresh from the oven. They are a classic French cake enjoyed with coffee, but I’ve added a little twist with clementine and cardamom just to give a delicious fragrance. If your not a fan of clementine and cardamom leave it out. I haven’t used classic Madeleine trays because I don’t have them, ordinary 12 cup cupcake trays will do just fine.                      

Dixie Innes

Makes 12 cakes
2 free-range eggs
100g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 clementine, juice and zest
1/2 lemon (you will need just a squeeze of juice and a few scrapes of zest)
8 green cardamom pods
¾ tsp baking powder
100g butter melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for greasing
2 tsp milk

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 200C or gas mark 6.
Brush your madeleines tray or cupcake tray with some of the melted butter, then lightly dust with flour and a little sugar, tap out any excess and set aside.
Whisk together the sugar and eggs until pale and fluffy.
Crush the cardamom pods with the bottom of a glass to extract the seeds inside. Discard the husks (maybe keep for a curry, or to lightly flavour some rice) and gently crush the extracted seeds in a pestle and mortar.
Add all the rest of the ingredients to the egg and sugar mixture (including the crushed cardamom seeds) and whisk together lightly.
Leave to rest for 20-30 minutes.
Spoon the mix into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, the middle should rise a little.
When ready remove from the oven and pop the cakes out of the tins straight away. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then serve with a nice cup of tea or coffee.