In celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee, the Duchess and Duke of Cornwall have joined Mary Berry in announcing the winner of the competition to create a Platinum Pudding.
Launched with London grocer Fortnum & Mason and The Big Jubilee Lunch, the nationwide baking competition was aimed at finding a dessert to dedicate to the monarch’s reign.
Camilla, 74, and Dame Mary, 87, were filmed announcing the winning recipe for a BBC One programme, The Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years in the Baking, which will air on May 12 at 8pm.
The hour-long episode documents Fortnum & Mason’s competition to find ‘an original and celebratory cake, tart or pudding fit for the Queen’.
As per the competition rules, the pudding has to be delicious, as well as being ‘makeable in a home kitchen, telling a story, and having the potential to stand the test of time and become Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Pudding’.
Pictured, from left, is the Duchess and Duchess Cornwall (pictured at right), with Dame Mary Berry (pictured at right), to record a segment about the announcement of the Platinum pudding winner. On May 12, the result will be revealed.
Her Majesty, 96, (pictured at a reception in Sandringham House in February to celebrate the start of her Platinum Jubilee) celebrates seven decades on the throne this year
Over 5,000 entries were submitted from all over the UK. Following a blind judging based solely on the recipe by Fortnum & Mason’s executive chef, Roger Pizey, and chef director, Sydney Aldridge and team, this was whittled down to a short list of 50.
Roger Pizey and Sydney Aldridge were then joined by Buckingham Palace’s head chef, Mark Flanagan, and the trio selected their final five top entries.
These five entries will be revealed on the BBC programme, prepared by the bakers, then presented to a judging panel comprising Dame Mary and a host of other award-winning home bakers, professional chefs, authors, historians and patissiers.
Among them are MasterChef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti, food writer Jane Dunn, baker and pastry chef Matt Adlard, and Belgian author and culinary historian, Regula Ysewijn.
Camilla will join Dame Mary as a special guests on the show, while the couple will announce who the winner of the competition.
While nothing is known yet about the top pudding, while speaking about the competition earlier this year, food writer and judge Jane Dunn gave a hint as to what the panel will be looking for in a winning bake.
Pictured at Windsor Castle this week, the Queen is said to love simple and straightforward foods. This may have been reflected in her winning recipe for pudding.
On This Morning, before February’s deadline, she stated:Jane said, “We’re searching for something big like the Victoria sponge and coronation poultry but with an exciting new flavor.”
‘We’re looking for something for everyone to make at home, something everyone will love and for the whole nation to enjoy.’
Gyles Brandreth (Biographer for Prince Philip) said that while the queen likes simple, unfussy food, she’s not fussy.
After the winner is announced, the recipe will be made available for communities to share at an estimated 200,000 Big Jubilee Lunch street parties taking place over the four-day celebratory weekend in June.
You will share it online via the BBC’s Good Food website, Fortnum & Mason’s and the Big Jubilee Lunch.
BBC One’s Jubilee Pudding: 70 years in Baking will air at 8pm, May 12.