Steamed or baked, layered or rolled, a pie or crumble, a cake or tart, the Platinum Pudding Competition is open to interpretation.
Your recipe submission should be sweet. If in doubt, just imagine your recipe being served for afternoon tea or after the main course.
This competition is open to all individuals, families, school classes, community groups, companies and other entities. However, one lead entrant must be nominated and submit the entry on their behalf and for the purposes of the competition that nominated person shall be responsible for that submission.
We all know that baking and cooking can be a hazardous (and messy!) affair whatever your age – but children over the age of 8 are able to be a bit more independent in the kitchen, and be more involved in prepping and planning too. Adult supervision is still recommended though.
10th January – Competition opens for entries
4th February – Final day to submit your entry
Round one: Week commencing 7th February 2022
The initial judging will be overseen by a team of Fortnum & Mason chefs.
Round two: Week commencing 14th February 2022
At this next stage, the Fortnum & Mason chefs will choose 50 finalists.
Round three: Week commencing 21st February 2022
The judging panel will select five recipes to go through to the final.
The final: Week commencing 14th March 2022
The five finalists will be invited to Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly, London to bake their recipe for the judging panel. If for any reason a finalist cannot attend or wishes to forfeit, the opportunity will be offered to the next runner up.
The winner of the Platinum Pudding Competition, and the winning recipe, will be shared at a later date. Please keep an eye out for further updates via our website www.fortnumandmason.co.uk/platinum-pudding
Dame Mary Berry
Food writer, presenter and Chair of the Judges
Dr. Rahul Mandal
Food writer, author and baker
Mark Flanagan LVO
Buckingham Palace Head Chef
Matt Adlard
Pastry Chef
Monica Galetti
Chef proprietor Mere, TV presenter and judge on MasterChef: The Professionals
Regula Ysewijn
Culinary historian and author
Roger Pizey
Fortnum & Mason Executive Pastry Chef
Jane Dunn
Food writer, author & baker
As the competition is open to entrants as young as 8 years of age, the competition is limited to amateur bakers.
Entrants must not (i) have any NVQ, BTEC and/or equivalent professional qualification in baking, cooking, food production, food preparation or catering (ii) be employed in a commercial organisation as a baker, cook or chef or (iii) have a livelihood that is derived from commercial baking or cooking.
We ask that the recipe fields be completed to the best of your ability. This means filling out the recipe form in English and listing the ingredients in metric measurements. In addition, our judges are looking for a winning pudding that meets the following criteria:
It Tastes Just Right
While our judges won’t be able to taste your pudding unless it makes it to the ‘live bake’ of the final round, you do need to ensure the ingredients list is 100% accurate - even a degree of imprecision will affect the flavour. And of course, it should taste, well, delicious.
Perfect for Home Bakers
Your pudding needs to be easy enough for people everywhere to recreate at home! Try to use ingredients and kitchen equipment readily available to people all over the world, rather than fancy gadgets and rare flowers only grown in your back garden.
A Memorable Story
A good pudding is made with passion and pride, so we’d love to hear the story behind your entry. Perhaps the recipe was inspired by Her Majesty The Queen’s life, has been handed down through the generations of your family, or recalls one of your own special memories.
Fit for The Queen
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. A few final decorative flourishes always help – and make sure your photograph is nice and clear too for our judges to see your masterpiece in all its glory.
The recipe will be gifted to The Queen and the public as part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Fortnum & Mason are working in partnership with The Big Jubilee Lunch who will encourage people to make the recipe at home to enjoy with family, friends, and their local community.
Ideally, we hope to sell the pudding as either a fresh product in Fortnum & Mason or a packaged item to buy online. However, it depends on the winning recipe. We’re pleased to say, ALL profits will be donated to two UK charities:
Two runners up prizes:
The winner’s prize:
Besides the opportunity for your winning pudding to go down in history, if you’re the lucky winner you’ll be awarded:
By entering the competition and accepting our terms and conditions, you are consenting to F&M using your personal data for the purposes of administering the competition and prize fulfilment.
If you are shortlisted or are the winner of the competition, F&M may use your name and submission on its website, in public announcements and publicity to announce the winner of this competition and for any other reasonable and related promotional purposes.
At the end of the application form, you have the option to opt into F&M’s mailings to receive our newsletter and other offers and promotions. Your data will only be used in this way if you tick this box.
For more information on how F&M manages your personal data, please read our privacy policy.
Press enquiries only should be directed to Fortnum & Mason’s PR team. For images, press information, filming and interviews, please contact: