A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as five exceptional home bakers are plucked from thousands in a national competition to find a brand-new pudding to mark The Queen’s historic Platinum Jubilee.
In The Queen’s Jubilee year, this one-hour celebratory special follows Fortum & Mason’s competition as it celebrates our Monarch’s 70 years on the throne by finding an original and celebratory cake, tart or pudding fit for The Queen.
Following in the footsteps of the Coronation Chicken and the Victoria Sponge, this winning recipe will go down in history and become part of the British food story. Up and down the country on Jubilee weekend the winning recipe will be recreated at street parties, family events and community gatherings, as the centrepiece to the nation’s celebrations as the Platinum Pudding.
Fortnum & Mason challenged the people of Britain to create an iconic dish fulfilling the criteria of being makable in a home kitchen, containing easily accessible ingredients, telling a story, and having the potential to stand the test of time and become Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Pudding.
A phenomenal response of nearly 5,000 entries flooded in from across the country, from Land’s End to Duncansby Head, the final shortlist of 50 was judged blind, purely by recipe alone, and selected by Executive Pastry Chef, Fortnum & Mason, Roger Pizey, Fortnum’s Chef Director Sydney Aldridge and their team. They painstakingly assessed the incredible range of different styles of cakes, tarts and puddings, to select the final 50.
Together with Buckingham Palace Head Chef, Mark Flanagan LVO, Roger Pizey and Chef Sydney Aldridge filtered the 50 to a final five ambitious, passionate and creative bakers – all sharing inspirational stories behind their stunning designs.
Chaired by Food writer and Television Presenter, Dame Mary Berry the judging panel comprises of award-winning home bakers and professional chefs, authors, historians and pâtissiers including Monica Galetti: Chef proprietor of Mere, TV presenter and judge on MasterChef: The Professionals, and Food Writer, author and baker, Jane Dunn; Baker, author and TV presenter, Rahul Mandal; Pastry Chef, Matt Adlard; and culinary historian and author, Regula Ysewijn.
We follow the finalists, Kathryn, Jemma, Sam, Shabnam and Susan as they make their way from across the UK to London and walk through the iconic Fortnum & Mason doors to prepare their culinary creations fit for The Queen. Our finalists have motivations and inspirations as varied as their creations – all with two things in common: a love of baking and the honour to develop a dish worthy of being named the Platinum Pudding.
Under the watchful and supportive eye of Chef Roger Pizey and his team there is no time limit for the finalists to prepare their beloved recipes before presenting them to the esteemed judging panel.
