The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Recipe Contest Officially Has A Winner
Earlier this year, the British department store Fortnum & Mason, along with Queen Elizabeth II, made the exciting decision to host a baking competition. The store began the search for the best pudding in the country for the "Platinum Pudding Competition," which was created for Her Royal Majesty in celebration of her 70th successive year on the royal seat.
According to The Guardian, the best pudding made to mark such a huge accomplishment needed to meet criteria including "a memorable story, the perfect taste, and a recipe simple enough for home bakers." The five finalists, out of 5,000 entrants, had a lot of work to do while preparing the dessert that would be ideal for the Queen and her Platinum Jubilee lunches (via Independent).
In a similar event, at the Queen's coronation in 1953, florist Constance Spry and cordon bleu chef Rosemary Hume created a "coronation chicken" dish, and that recipe was "widely published at the time so that it could be enjoyed at street parties across Britain" (per History Extra). The Platinum Jubilee recipe for the best pudding will have the same fate. But which one of the five finalists has managed to pull it off?
Jemma Melvin made a winning cake fit for the Queen
The winner of the competition was announced on BBC One's "The Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years in the Baking," and judges such as chef Monica Galetti, Dame Mary Berry, and Buckingham Palace's executive chef Mark Flanagan all took part in judging the tasty desserts made by amateur bakers. A copywriter from Southport, Jemma Melvin, has been announced as the winner, and her magnificent creation is "a combination of "lemon curd swiss roll on the bottom, St Clement's jelly, lemon custard, amaretti biscuits, mandarin coulis, fresh whipped cream, candied peel, chocolate shards and crushed amaretti biscuits on top" (per The Guardian). We must admit that it sounds delicious, although not easy enough for beginner bakers.
Melvin's dessert wowed the panel of judges, and Dame Mary Berry, who we all love to watch on "The Great British Bake-Off," said that the winning cake was "absolutely wonderful" (via The Mirror). Jemma's dessert was "inspired by the lemon posset served at the Queen's 1947 wedding to Prince Philip," (per BBC) and she humbly thanked the women who taught her how to bake — her grandmothers. Now, Jemma can breathe easily, as her dessert will attempt to be recreated by home bakers for years to come.