Mary Berry to judge competition to find a dessert fit for the Queen for her Platinum Jubilee 

First the Victoria Sponge, then Coronation chicken – and now the Queen’s Platinum Pudding.

Taking inspiration from dishes created to mark previous royal events, Buckingham Palace today announces a nationwide baking competition to find a dessert fit for the Queen to mark her historic jubilee.

Launched with Fortnum and Mason and The Big Jubilee Lunch, the contest will be open to all UK residents aged eight and over.

The winner will be chosen by a expert judging panel including Dame Mary Berry, Masterchef’s Monica Galetti and Buckingham Palace’s head chef Mark Flanagan.

They are looking for an ‘inventive’ dish that can be enjoyed by everyone – and it will be dedicated to the Queen to celebrate her 70 years of service. 

Recipes for the Queen’s Platinum Pudding Competition will be judged by an expert panel including Dame Mary Berry 

The Queen is pictured at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down science park on October 15, 2020

Five finalists will be invited to Fortnum’s store in London’s Piccadilly to create their masterpieces for the judges and the winner will be crowned the creator of the Platinum Pudding.

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.

It comes as details have emerged of other plans to celebrate the monarch’s milestone, including a special Trooping the Colour, a thanksgiving service, the BBC’s Platinum Party at the Palace, a show at Windsor Castle and a series of special exhibitions at royal residences.

There will also be a Platinum Jubilee Pageant held in London.

Mr Flanagan recommended that entrants for the pudding competition keep their recipes simple. 

He added they should think ‘subtle and elegant rather than fussy and over complicated’, with flavours that ‘sing’. 

Dame Mary said she was ‘thrilled’ to judge a competition to ‘make the perfect pudding for the Queen’.

The deadline for entries is February 4, after which they will be judged by a panel of award-winning home bakers, professional chefs, authors, historians and patissiers, who will choose their five favourites to go through to the final round.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries claimed the competition was a ‘wonderful’ way to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. ‘I know it will inspire people of all ages across the UK to get baking,’ she added.

Tom Athron, chief executive of Fortnum and Mason, said: ‘We’re proud to be launching the Platinum Pudding competition to celebrate and say thank you for the Queen’s incredible 70 years of service.

‘We hope that everyone will roll their sleeves up and get involved from individuals, families and community groups to care homes, schools and colleges.’

The Big Jubilee Lunch will be the UK’s biggest community celebration, bringing people together to share ‘friendship, food and fun’, with an estimated twelve million people taking part over the four-day bank holiday weekend of June 2 to 5.

Executive director Peter Stewart said: ‘There are more reasons than ever to get together this year and although things may be difficult right now, we’re really excited to be bringing the spirit of the Jubilee into every neighbourhood with The Big Jubilee Lunch this June.

‘We’ve had some practice in coming together safely over the past two years, so let’s forge ahead and start planning some fun in and bring some Big Jubilee Lunch cheer to the UK.

‘Together we can create a piece of history that everyone can feel part of.’

Other official activities over the Jubilee weekend include a special Trooping The Colour, tickets for which are available by ballot at qbp.army.mod.uk; a service of thanksgiving; the BBC Platinum Party at the Palace, for which tickets will be available by ballot next month; Platinum Jubilee beacons being lit across the country, including at Buckingham Palace; and a series of special exhibitions at royal residences featuring portraits of the Queen and some of her most famous outfits and jewellery. 

The Queen in October at the start of the planting season for the Queen’s Green Canopy, part of the Platinum Jubilee initiative

The Queen and Prince Charles plant a tree at Balmoral Cricket Pavilion to mark the start of the planting season last October

The Platinum Jubilee Pageant, which will see thousands of performers, dancers, musicians and military personnel unite to tell the story of the Queen’s 70-year reign is also asking for schools across the country to get involved by helping to design silk banners that will process down The Mall in London.

Primary and secondary schools are being invited to enter designs incorporating their hopes and aspirations for the planet over the next 70 years. Further details can be obtained at www.riverofhope.co.uk.

There will also be a Platinum Jubilee Celebration during the Royal Windsor Horse Show and events to mark the Queen’s Green Canopy, which has already seen more than 60,000 trees planted to create a living and, hopefully, everlasting tribute to the monarch.

Further details on the Platinum Pudding competition can be found by clicking here