He may have missed out on the MasterChef crown in 2010, but a Norfolk chef is to appear in the latest series of the show as a guest judge.

Tim Kinnaird narrowly missed out on the trophy during his appearance on the hit BBC show, but his experience allowed him to set up Macarons & More in Norwich which has been thriving for the past seven years.

He will appear on screen next Wednesday April 5 alongside his fellow finalists Alex Rushmer and Dhruv Baker.

It is not the first time the trio have been asked back, but the food served by contestants has changed over the years.

Tim said: 'You tend to see a lot more Asian style food cooked on the show now, whereas before it was more modern British cuisine so it has changed over time and now reflects the food trends of the country.'

Despite tucking into two courses from each contestant during the four hour judging process, he still managed to go out for a Thai meal afterwards.

He added: 'It is easy when the food is not that great to not eat it all, but when the food is really good you just want to want to keep eating.

'But when judging you also have to think about the different flavours as one minute you could be eating something with lots of chilies and then something a bit fresher so you do need to be careful with your taste buds.'

Macarons & More has a bakery at Hellesdon and its shop is located in Norwich's Royal Arcade.

Tim and his team of bakers are currently reviewing all of the macaron flavours and are running a competition for people to suggest a new version of the meringue-based treat.

Tim is also passing on his knowledge to others by expanding his cookery school, but he did admit that his expertise as a pastry chef makes him a harsher judge when it comes to the desserts.

'I try not to be too harsh on the desserts and try and remember what it was like for me cooking on the show but it is hard as for seven years of my life now I have spent a lot of time criticising desserts,' he added.

• MasterChef airs Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm, and Friday at 8.30pm on BBC One.