The Platinum Pudding is a British pudding consisting of a lemon and amaretti trifle. It was created by Jemma Melvin in 2022 for a competition celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Competition

The Platinum Pudding Competition was founded in 2021 by Fortnum & Mason, developing the original concept that was the idea of British diplomat and food, culture, and travel writer Ameer Kotecha and former British diplomat and curator Jason Kelly, who shared their idea with Fortnum & Mason in order to deliver it on behalf of the nation. The competition was launched throughout the United Kingdom on 10 January 2022 by

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, Fortnum & Mason and The Big Jubilee Lunch to find a new pudding dedicated to the Queen as part of the official Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022. United Kingdom Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Nadine Dorries, said, "The Platinum Pudding Competition is a wonderful way to celebrate Her Majesty's 70 year reign and I know it will inspire people of all ages across the UK to get baking". Upon closure of competition entries, Fortnum & Mason chefs managed the process of filtering competition entries in preparation of the competition's final, which Fortnum & Mason hosted at their principal store on

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

in central London. From the competition outset, the form committed to sharing the winning recipe, ensuring it was gifted to the nation. The winning pudding was intended to be an important part of the celebrations marking the Jubilee, with the winner at the centre of the celebrations. "The winning recipe will be made available to the public and the pudding will be enjoyed at Big Jubilee Lunches during the Jubilee weekend, and by generations to come," the Palace said.

Eligibility

British residents aged 8 and over were eligible for the competition, along with all individuals, families, school classes, community groups, companies and other entities.

Judges

The judging panel was chaired by Mary Berry along with an independent panel of expert judges comprising notable home bakers, professional chefs, authors, historians and patissiers. They were: Platinum Jubilee Puddings 03

* Mary Berry: Food writer and television presenter *Roger Pizey: Executive Pastry Chef, Fortnum & Mason * Mark Flanagan LVO:

Head Chef *Jane Dunn: Food writer, author and baker * Liam Charles: Baker, author and TV presenter *Matt Adlard: Pastry Chef * Monica Galetti: Chef proprietor of Mere, TV presenter and judge on '' MasterChef: The Professionals'' *

Regula Ysewijn Regula Ysewijn (born 1983) is a Flemish food writer and photographer. She is known in Belgium as a judge for the television programmes ''Bake Off Vlaanderen'' and ''Junior Bake Off'' and internationally as one of the judges for the special progam ...

: Culinary historian, author and judge on

Bake Off A cook-off is a cooking competition where the contestants each prepare dishes for judging either by a select group of judges or by the general public. Cook-offs are very popular among competitors (such as restaurants) with very similar dishes, s ...

in Belgium *Rahul Mandal: Great British Bake Off winner 2018

Timeline

The competition opened for entries from 10 January to 4 February, with the first round of judging overseen by the Fortnum & Mason chefs commencing on 7 February. The second round of the competition saw 30–50 entries being shared with each judge who nominated their top three. The third round of the competition saw the judges select their top five to go through to the final. The competition final saw five finalists invited to attend the live final at Fortnum & Mason during the week of 14 March. The winner was announced on 12 May in the BBC One documentary ''The Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years in the Baking'', which also saw the Duchess of Cornwall in attendance. The winning recipe was a lemon Swiss roll and amaretti trifle created by Jemma Melvin.

Winning recipe

The winning recipe, by Jemma Melvin from Southport, was "Jemma's lemon

Swiss roll A Swiss roll, jelly roll (United States), roll cake, cream roll, roulade or Swiss log is a type of rolled sponge cake filled with whipped cream, jam, or icing. The origins of the term are unclear; in spite of the name "Swiss roll", the cake i ...

and Amaretti trifle". The recipe is for 20 servings, and Melvin points out that the lemon curd, jelly, Amaretti biscuits and

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

can be bought ready-made, while the

and

mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

coulis should be made from scratch.

Cost

Food writer and anti-poverty campaigner

Jack Monroe Jack Monroe (born 17 March 1988) is a British food writer, journalist and activist known for campaigning on poverty issues, particularly hunger relief. She initially rose to prominence by writing a blog titled ''A Girl Called Jack'' (now r ...

estimated the cost of ingredients at "around £35" (serves 20), and devised a similar alternative costing, she said, £4.85 (serves 10; equivalent to £9.70 for 20). Breaking down these costings on her Twitter account: the cost of the Platinum Pudding was based on the purchase price of the full packet of required ingredients; the cost of her version was based on the quantities used.

References

External links

The Platinum Pudding Competition
at fortnumandmason.com
The winning recipe created by Jemma Melvin
{{Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II British cuisine British puddings