Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
God save the cream
THE JUBILEE PUDDING: 70 YEARS IN THE BAKING
BBC1, 8pm
IN a one-hour celebratory cake-fest, this special follows the nationwide competition to find an original pudding fit for the Queen.
Run by royal grocer Fortnum & Mason, with the Royal Household and The Big Lunch charity, a home baker must create an iconic dish to celebrate the monarch’s 70 years on the throne.
The winning recipe will be gifted to the nation and known forever as the Platinum Pudding.
Some 5,000 entries flooded in and were whittled down to five stand-out ideas by Fortnum & Mason pastry chef Roger Pizey and his team.
Roger says: “It took over our lives. We received everything from cakes to tarts, to what we call the kitchen sink – a tart with a cake in it and a meringue on top.
“I’m really proud to be here knowing that what we do will change someone’s life for ever.”
But no one has tasted the cakes, they’ve only seen the recipes. Arriving in the F&M kitchen, the five now have to bake their creations for a top-notch judging panel.
Headed up by Dame Mary Berry, of course, it also comprises chef Monica Galetti, self-taught pastry chef Matt Adlard, author and baker Jane Dunn, Bake Off winner Rahul Mandal and dessert historian Regula Ysewijn.
The hopefuls are Kathryn with her passion fruit tart, Jemma with a seven layer trifle, Sam with a Bundt sponge, Shabnam and a floral Falooda cake and Susan with a four nations pudding. But only one can win.
Mary says: “This recipe has got to stand the test of time. There’s no one more important to bake for than the Queen.”