A couple of years ago, Natalie Coleman was just as likely to be spinning the decks in a nightclub as flitting between saucepans in the kitchen.

All that changed in 2013, when the former credit controller and part-time techno DJ won MasterChef and hung up her headphones to pursue her passion for cooking.

"The DJ-ing days are long gone. It's only friends' parties these days. Which is a shame, because I loved playing my music, but you can't do it all," says the 31-year-old.

"I packed up my office job, and now everything I do revolves around food."

Since being crowned winner of the BBC One show, Coleman has brought out her own book, Winning Recipes For Every Day, completed work placements in the kitchens of top chefs such as Marcus Wareing and Michel Roux Jr, and appeared at numerous food festivals and roadshows.

But while Coleman - who jokingly describes herself as "the girl from Hackney done good" - confesses her kitchen is "too tiny to swing a cat in", she won't be moving away from her east-London base any time soon.

"I like it too much here. There's so much going on, loads of places to eat, you've got Brick Lane, Broadway Market, Vietnamese food - everything's on your doorstep."

With a laugh, she adds: "My mum would tell you it's chaos in my kitchen! She won't let me cook in their kitchen. Well, once in a blue moon, but she thinks I make too much mess. I don't think I'm that bad, but she does..."

Coleman's latest project is a series of sweet and savoury recipes for British Cherries to mark this summer's cherry season. The flavoursome dishes include Cherry tart tatin, Cherry mess, Pork, cherry and pistachio terrine, and Spiced duck pancakes with cherry sauce.

You can do so many different things with cherries," says Coleman. "They go really nicely with savoury dishes. With the pork recipe, you need something that's a bit sharp to cut through the fatty meat, so they work really well with it."

Using fresh, seasonal produce in her dishes is important to the chef. "You wouldn't eat a roast dinner at the height of summer, would you? You get ingredients at their best when they're in season."

But what she's most enthusiastic about is inspiring youngsters to get involved in the kitchen.

She's teamed up with Central Street Cooking School in the capital to host affordable cookery lessons for local children.

"They're such a laugh and the kids are so responsive, they love it," says Coleman, who finds the classes are a way of encouraging picky eaters to try dreaded fruit and veg.

"We turn fruit and vegetables into something cool. Tomorrow we're doing little chicken shish kebabs and flatbreads and a 'slaw, they don't realise how many vegetables they're getting, and we're doing muffins with cherries in them," she adds.

The busy cook and food writer still finds time to tune into MasterChef, which she returned to last year as a guest judge.

"Last season was great. When I went back, I did feel for them," adds the star, who admits she got through plenty of nerves-soothing Rescue Remedy during her time on the contest. "I was in their shoes once, and I know what it's like."

Here are three of Coleman's recipes for British Cherries for you to try at home...

CHINESE FIVE SPICED DUCK PANCAKES WITH CHERRY SAUCE

(Serves four to six as a starter)

For the duck:

3 large duck legs

3tsp five spice powder

2tbsp honey

2tbsp water

Salt

For the cherry sauce:

350g cherries - pitted and cut into halves

2tbsp honey

1 star anise

1 strip of orange peel

1 cinnamon stick

1tbsp light soy sauce

1tbsp rice wine vinegar or Mirin

2tbsp water

Good pinch of five spice

Grind of pepper

To serve:

12 Chinese Pancakes

1/2 cucumber - seeds removed and sliced into 5cm long batons

4 spring onions - tops and roots removed and finely sliced into 5cm strips

Prick the duck legs all over with a fork piercing the skin, then massage the five spice into the flesh and season with salt. Place into a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to marinade in the fridge for two hours, for the duck to take on the spice.

30 minutes before cooking, remove from the fridge so you bring the duck up to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 200C/Gas Mark 5. Place the duck into a roasting tin, cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, mix the honey and water and set aside.

After the duck has been in the oven for 45 minutes, remove and drizzle the honey/water over the duck, then return to the oven for a further 35-40 minutes until the duck has crisped up. Check every 15 mins or so and baste the legs with the cooking juices. When cooked, remove and allow the duck to rest for 10 minutes.

When the duck has rested, shred the meat from the bone using two forks and serve while warm.

For the sauce, place three-quarters of the cherries and the rest of the ingredients into a saucepan and, on a medium heat, reduce until the cherries start to give and become a pulp. This should take four to five minutes. Remove from the heat and then remove the star anise, cinnamon stick and orange peel and add the rest of the cherries. Remove from the saucepan into a serving bowl and set aside until ready to serve.

To serve, warm the pancakes as directed on the pack. Separate and top each with a spoonful of warm cherry sauce, some duck shreds, cucumber, spring onion, then roll up.

PORK, CHERRY AND PISTACHIO TERRINE

(Serves 10 to 12)

15g unsalted butter

1tbsp olive oil

1 large onion - peeled and diced

2tbsp cognac

1tsp fennel seeds

1 large chicken breast

750g lean pork mince

75g cherries - pitted and cut into eighths

2tbsp parsley finely chopped

25g pistachios - shelled and roughly chopped

14 rashers unsmoked bacon, stretched with the back of a cook's knife until half as long again

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. In a frying pan, add a splash of olive oil and the butter and melt. Add the onion and soften until translucent (four to five minutes) When softened, remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Deglaze the pan with the cognac and cook for 30 seconds, then add to the onions.

In a dry pan, toast the fennel seeds for one or two minutes on a medium-low heat until they start to release their aromas. Remove from heat and using a spice blender or pestle and mortar, grind until powder.

In a food processor, blitz the chicken breast until minced well.

In a large mixing bowl, add the chicken, pork mince, cherries, onion/cognac, fennel seeds, parsley and pistachios, and season well with salt and pepper. Mix well so everything is combined equally using your hands.

Line the bottom of a 900g loaf tin with a piece of greaseproof paper. Then line the tin with the bacon so half the bacon is in the tin and the other half other hanging, as you will need to wrap this over the top to make sure the top of the terrine is covered.

Once the tin is lined with the bacon, add the terrine mixture, then fold over the bacon to seal the top of the terrine. Cover with a piece of greased foil.

Boil a kettle. Place the terrine tin into a roasting tin and then fill the tray with boiling water, so it comes up the terrine tin halfway. Place into the oven to cook for one hour or just over, so it's cooked all the way through and the juices run clear when pierced in the centre with a knife.

When cooked, remove from the oven, take the terrine tin out of the roasting tray and allow to cool to room temperature. Chill well, overnight if you have time, before removing from the mould, peeling off the lining paper and slicing.

Serve with crusty bread and dressed salad leaves (optional).

CHERRY MESS

(Serves six)

For the meringues:

4 egg whites

150g caster sugar

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

For the roasted cherries:

500g cherries - pitted

2tbsp runny honey

Zest 1/2 orange

1 vanilla pod - split and seeds removed

For the vanilla whipped cream:

300ml double cream

3tbsp icing sugar

1tbsp vanilla paste

3 ginger biscuits blitzed to ground crumbs

Preheat the oven to 160C/Gas Mark 3. Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer to stiff peaks. Add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking well between each addition.

Fold in the vinegar with a spatula, then spoon the meringue mixture on to a baking tray lined with baking parchment. You want it to be 1.5cm thick.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150C/Gas Mark 2 and bake for 45 minutes, or until the outside of the meringue is set lightly golden brown and the inside will be chewy. Leave to cool on the baking tray. Once cooled, break into pieces.

For the roasted cherries, preheat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Place all the ingredients into a baking tray and mix well. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes until the cherries have softened. Remove from the oven and remove the vanilla pod. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

For the vanilla whipped cream, whisk or, using an electric mixer, beat the cream, icing sugar and vanilla paste until soft swirls and set aside until ready to serve.

To serve, add the broken meringue pieces to the vanilla whipped cream and then fold through the roasted cherries, but don't mix too well as you want it to be red and white, not pink. Spoon into glasses, sprinkle with the crushed ginger biscuits and serve within 30 minutes so that the meringue keeps its wonderful texture.

For more information and ideas, visit www.seasonalberries.co.uk

THREE OF THE BEST... Fruity mueslis

:: Dorset Cereals Luscious Berries and Cherries Muesli, £3.79 for 800g, waitrose.com

They don't scrimp on fruit in this muesli, with plenty of dried cranberries, cherries, blackcurrants, blueberries and raspberries in the mix. Berry nice.

:: Delicious Alchemy Purely Oaty Fruity Muesli, £2.99 for 450g, morrisons.com

This gluten and dairy-free muesli contains 'power-packed' oats, raisins, sultanas, cranberries and dates. Crunchy sunflower and pumpkin seeds add a bit of extra bite to your breakfast.

:: Aldi Specially Selected Exotic Fruits Muesli, £1.59 for 500g, aldi.co.uk

Close your eyes and get transported from your kitchen table to more exotic climes with this muesli from Aldi's premium label. Mangoes, raspberries and creamy coconut combine to make this a summery alternative to bog-standard porridge or cornflakes. Good price, too.