Platinum Pudding

Platinum Pudding is a dessert created in 2022 to honor Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70 years on the British throne. The dessert emerged from a competition organized by Fortnum & Mason in collaboration with the Big Jubilee Lunch and The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant.

The competition, announced in January 2022, attracted over 5,000 entries from amateur bakers around the United Kingdom. The goal was to find a new pudding that would be as iconic as the Victoria sponge or Coronation Chicken. The judging panel included culinary experts such as Mary Berry, Monica Galetti, and Buckingham Palace Head Chef Mark Flanagan.

The winning recipe was created by Jemma Melvin, a copywriter from Southport. Her entry, a Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti Trifle, won due to its combination of flavors, textures, and its potential to become a legacy dish. It features layers of Swiss roll, St. Clement’s jelly, lemon curd, custard, mandarin coulis, amaretti biscuits, whipped cream, candied peel, chocolate shards, and crushed amaretti biscuits.

The announcement of the winning pudding took place in May 2022, and the recipe was made publicly available, encouraging people to make it as part of their Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The purpose of the Platinum Pudding competition was to create not just a dessert, but a dish that could be prepared and enjoyed by people of all ages and from various backgrounds, fostering community spirit and ongoing celebration of the Queen's historic reign. The accessibility and communal aspect of the trifle aligned well with the ethos of the Big Jubilee Lunch, which aims to bring communities together.