Big anniversary Pud Bake Off! Who will be the winner of the Queen’s Platinum Pudding Contest?

When the Queen requests pudding, she chooses it from a red leather-bound royal menu book written in French and instructs her chef three days in advance.

There’s the mint-flavored Bombe Glacée Royale, of course, and her all-time favorite, the lemon fluff.

Now folks will see another dish added to the monarch’s list, a new dessert created for their platinum anniversary celebration in June.

Five of her subjects worked hard for the honor of creating a dessert in honor of the queen’s 70th birthday on the throne.

And, like the coronation chicken that marked Her Majesty’s coronation in 1953, and the Battenburg and Victoria Sponge Pie, synonymous with Queen Victoria’s reign, it will certainly become a staple of culinary history.

The winner was chosen in a Platinum Pudding Cake launched in January, whose recipes are so popular with royalty that, according to her mother, one of the first words Prince Louis said was “Mary”, the Pie Queen Dame Mary Berry. , Duchess of Cambridge.

These will be unveiled on this week’s one-hour BBC1 special, The Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years In The Baking, where viewers see the five finalists put together their creations and the winner is crowned by the Duchess of Cornwall.

It was difficult to judge. Comparing puddings is like comparing apples and pears—or in this case, a crown-shaped sponge cake with Passion Fruit and Thyme Frangipane Tart and a dollop of Dubonnet Jam.

The cake is the work of the mother of two Kathryn, a 29-year-old from Oxfordshire, a composer and oboist.

She believes the flavors of summer—passion fruit jelly, cheesecake, and frangipani all encased in a butter cookie—are perfect for the four-day June party weekend.

Her main tester was her husband Mike. “She was worried about the thyme level and made sure it didn’t taste like roast beef!” she smiles.

The Bundt cake was made by Sam, 32, a Warwickshire lawyer whose biggest fear was to get his sculptural sponge out of the box that day without a fragile mess.

“Dame Mary had a very important moment,” she recalls. “Luckily it went perfectly, it was a relief.”

The Dubonnet is a clever addition to a Dubonnet cocktail – two pieces of Dubonnet gin in one – which was the queen’s favorite drink until she was told last year to stop drinking alcohol.

Dame Mary Berry (pictured) will judge the winner of the Bake-off Platinum Pudding. The winner will appear in the Queen’s Red Leather Hardback of the Royal Menus

But Sam’s personal appeal to the monarch is met with opposition from other fancy puddings.

Shabnam, a mother of two from London, made Rose Falooda cake, originally from Mumbai. She believes this embodies the Queen’s love for the Commonwealth, which she has guided since her accession in 1952.

“Queen Elizabeth embraced a multiethnic and multicultural society and I wanted my cake to reflect that,” she says.

Shabnam describes her cake as “silky noodles with basil seeds, glace soaked in a bath of fragrant creamy pink mascarpone placed between saffron sponges, sprinkled with rose petal jelly and chopped walnuts, garnished with pistachios, gold leaf and fruit.”

Closer to home, 65-year-old Susan of Argyll and Bute, who works for the National Trust, has prepared a Quadruple Pudding in honor of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“I wanted to make a pudding that represented the UK with something special from all over the country,” says Susan.

“There’s Scottish berry, Yorkshire rhubarb, Welsh muffins and Irish butter and cream. My goal was to get together and make the queen laugh.’

These ingenious cupcakes contrast with the love story of 31-year-old Southport copywriter Jemma’s voice. The Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti Trifle are reminiscent of the lemon puddings often served to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh during their 73-year marriage.

The Queen cuts a cake during an event. Celebrating 70 years on the throne, the Platinum Pudding competition was started by royal grocer Fortnum & Mason in partnership with The Big Jubilee Lunch, whose patron is Camilla.

Lemon peel has been on royal menus since 1956, when it was served at London’s Guildhall to celebrate the couple’s return from an official visit to Nigeria.

With just three ingredients (double cream, golden granulated sugar, and lemon), the pudding delights the monarch, who is known to love simple foods.

Former royal chief Darren McGrady says he often does it for her, accompanied by macarons and blueberries from the Buckingham Palace courtyard.

Her Majesty has a sweet tooth – McGrady called it “chocolate” – so she can’t wait to taste the winning dish.

Celebrating 70 years on the throne, the Platinum Pudding competition was started by royal grocer Fortnum & Mason in partnership with The Big Jubilee Lunch, whose patron is Camilla. Following the success of the first Big Anniversary Luncheon at Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the Big Lunch initiative encouraged communities to get to know each other by dining together.

Former royal chief Darren McGrady (pictured) says he often does it for her, accompanied by macarons and blueberries from the Buckingham Palace courtyard.

The contestants had to be home cooks and their wonderful preparations could be made using everyday ingredients in an ordinary kitchen, but had the potential to become a classic. In British kitchens ranging from John O’Groats to Land’s End, nearly 5,000 bakers donned aprons and performed commando demonstrations.

A 50-person shortlist was reduced to just five by Buckingham Palace chef Mark Flanagan and Fortnum & Mason pastry chef Roger Pizey.

The BBC program follows the finalists as they make their way to Fortnum’s famous blue-green doors.

The shop represents the anniversaries of the Silver Jubilee, when King George V opened a special department for princes and monarchs traveling to London in 1935.

Contestants faced a panel of judges led by Dame Mary. Among them were Mark Flanagan, MasterChef host and restaurateur Monica Galetti, and Matt Adlard, who rose to fame on YouTube as the Topless Baker.

Kathryn, whose pudding was pastry, was afraid to cook for Lady Mary. I thought, ‘I can’t get my ass wet…’

The winning recipe will be presented on recipe cards and on the BBC and Fortnum websites, with expert advice from the Fortnum & Mason cooking team. It is expected to take part in most of the 200,000 Great Jubilee Lunch street parties that take place from June 2-5.

A Platinum Pudding is a carefree yet appropriate way to celebrate the monarch’s milestone because the love of pudding has been passed down in the family for generations. Four times a week Queen Victoria had chocolate sponges, waffles, pastries, princess cakes, pralines and candies canned and sent to the palace from the kitchens of Windsor.

We may even find out one day that the Duke of Cambridge is up for royalty on Chocolate Biscuit Cake. This is Her Majesty’s favorite tea table and Prince William loved it so much that he had one made for his wedding to the Duchess of Cambridge.

Now the spirit of this platinum anniversary celebrating country, community and family is baked into a new royal pudding.

As Susan says, “If five girls can get together and cook something to honor our queen, everyone in the country can celebrate, make new friends, and enjoy cooking.” It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s all about sharing and reaching out to other people.’

• Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years in the Bake, Thursday, 20:00, BBC1