We asked the nation’s at-home bakers to create a pudding fit for The Queen – and much like Her Majesty throughout her historic reign, they delivered the extraordinary. Meet our five finalists, discover their puddings, and join Fortnum’s in celebrating the glorious conclusion to our Platinum Pudding Competition.
We’re delighted to reveal that Jemma from Southport’s extraordinary Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti Trifle has been crowned the winner of our Platinum Pudding Competition. Congratulations, Jemma!
"'It’s absolutely wonderful. I think Britain is going to be so delighted and The Queen too.'"
Let us first take a look at what we categorise as puddings today. Although the term 'pudding' has become synonymous with dessert in Britain, not all puddings are desserts, while all desserts are puddings in the modern sense of the word.
A good pudding should be joyful and celebratory, and make people smile. Here’s a reminder of what our esteemed judging panel were looking for.
The ingredients list needed to be 100% accurate - even a degree of imprecision can affect the flavour of a recipe. And of course, it should taste, well, delicious.
The winning dish needed to be easy enough for people everywhere to recreate at home! Our judging panel were looking for ingredients and kitchen equipment readily available to people all over the world, rather than fancy gadgets and complicated instructions.
A good pudding is made with passion and pride, so we loved hearing stories behind the entries. These included recipes inspired by Her Majesty The Queen’s life, those handed down through the generations, or a special family memory.
The proof of the pudding may be in the eating, but this one will be served to The Queen, so it needs to look the part.
“Why do we not have a dish to honour our Queen?”, asked Ameer Kotecha and Jason Kelly. We'd like to say a huge thanks to Ameer and Jason for sharing their idea and passing the baton onto Fortnum & Mason.
And thank you to the Royal Household, The Big Jubilee Lunch and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport for their assistance in bringing the Platinum Pudding Competition to life. Let the baking commence!