A fan favourite in MasterChef Australia‘s high intensity Back To Win season has hung up her apron for a second time around.

Steph de Sousa, 52, who appeared in the 11th season of the series and has since gone on to find cookbook fame with Air Fryer Queen and Easy Dinner Queen, got knocked out of the competition following a brutal taste test and cook off.

The pressure was on during Sunday night’s episode after Steph’s team lost the notorious ‘One Inch Cube Taste Test’ and were placed in an elimination challenge.

For the cook, contestants could only use the ingredients from the taste test, which led to Steph making a pork belly dish with caramel sauce and a celeriac, fennel and green apple coleslaw.

But with no fish sauce at her disposal, Steph got creative by using Balachan – a fermented shrimp paste – instead, a choice that sealed her fate when it overpowered her caramel.

Despite the judges’ warnings that her flavours may be too punchy, the chef stuck to her guns and produced final result that she was proud of.

Steph de Sousa (pictured left), who appeared in the 11th season of the series and has since gone on to find cookbook fame with Air Fryer Queen and Easy Dinner Queen, got knocked out of the competition following a brutal taste test and cook off

The pressure was on during Sunday night’s episode after Steph’s team lost the notorious ‘One Inch Cube Taste Test’ and were placed in an elimination challenge

Despite the judges’ warnings that her flavours may be too punchy, the chef stuck to her guns and produced final result that she was proud of

‘I really love strong, funky flavours, I love fermented food and I really enjoyed my dish,’ she told 10Play of her final episode cook.

However, relying on her instincts saw the chef come in last, with an overpowering palate and pork belly fat that hadn’t rendered enough.

‘It’s just the luck of the draw, isn’t it? A bad cook on the wrong day,’ Steph said.

Speaking of her time on the show, Steph said that it was ‘nowhere near as stressful’ as the first time around, however she was still surprised when she was eliminated.

‘Obviously it was a bit of a shock because I really liked my dish but I was happy just to be there for the short time that I was, and happy to go back and do what I love to do!’

Fans had pegged the chef as a possible winner before the disastrous result.

Last week saw Savindri Perera leave the kitchen for a second time around after a tricky dish designed by none other than dessert royalty Kirsten Tibballs turned up the heat in the kitchen.

The test – a realistic looking chocolate and coffee caviar tin finished off with an edible spoon and melba toast – sent temperatures rising, but also sent season 16’s Sav home.

Sav, who left her tins on the bench instead of putting them in the fridge, had to re-temper her chocolate, putting her at a severe time disadvantage compared to the other chefs.

Last week saw Savindri Perera (pictured) leave the kitchen for a second time around after a tricky dish designed by none other than dessert royalty and MasterChef regular Kirsten Tibballs turned up the heat in the kitchen

The test – a realistic looking chocolate and coffee caviar tin finished off with an edible spoon and melba toast – sent temperatures rising, but also sent season 16’s Sav home

The result was a wonky tin, layers that didn’t meet Kirsten’s precision and an early exit for the fan favourite.

Speaking of the heartbreaking moment, Sav wasn’t going to waste time beating herself up over the challenge, and instead propped herself up for completing it at all.

‘I hated that it wasn’t perfect, but I was actually really proud of myself that I got it done,’ Sav admitted to Channel 10 Play.

Adding that she was over being ‘self-critical in the kitchen’, Sav gave herself a pat on the back for finishing the tricky cook off, even if it didn’t keep her safe in the competition.

Sav also pointed out that dessert connoisseur Kirsten was a tough chef to battle it out with in the pressure test, especially considering her history of making challenging recipes for the MasterChef Australia participants.

‘The fact that Kirsten Tibballs is setting the challenge this early on just goes to show you the calibre at which we’re expected to perform, and that’s very, very daunting,’ she said, adding that Kirsten usually only appears on the show at the very end.

Despite her tricky final cook up, Sav revealed that she’d achieved exactly what she aimed to during her time on the show.

‘I kept saying I wasn’t there for a long time, but I was there for a fun time and, my gosh, I had a lot of fun,’ she giggled.