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Heart Breakfast's Amanda Holden taste tests the Platinum Jubilee Lemon Trifle recipe

13 May 2022, 09:41

Heart Breakfast's Amanda Holden taste tests the winning Jubilee Pudding

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

Jemma Melvin's Lemon and Swiss Roll Amaretti Trifle was named the official pudding for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

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Congratulations are in order as Jemma Melvin has won the Jubilee Pudding competition.

More than 5,000 people, aged from eight to 108, entered the nationwide search to find the best dessert to commemorate the Queen's 70-year reign.

The five finalists then battled it out in a tense showdown which aired on BBC One on Thursday evening.

After being crowned the champion with her lemon and Swiss roll amaretti trifle, Jemma joined Heart Breakfast's Amanda Holden and JK, who was standing in for Jamie Theakston.

She even bought her winning trifle along so our presenters could give it a taste test.

And it's fair to say Amanda enjoyed the pudding, as she barely spoke for the rest of the interview.

Jemma won the Platinum Pudding competition. Picture: BBC

Talking about making it to the final, Jemma said: "You should have seen some of the others, the four girls their puddings were amazing as well."

The finalists' puddings were judged by a panel led by Mary Berry, Roger Pizey, Rahul Mandal, Monica Galetti, Jane Dunn, Regula Ysewijn and pMatt Adlard, who also joined us on the show.

Opening up about the competition, pastry chef Matt told Amanda and JK: "It was such a great experience, it just became this huge event.

"It was such a great competition and so much emotion goes into it. It was hard to pick but I am really glad the winner got to be crowned."

Lemon and Swiss roll amaretti trifle recipe

INGREDIENTS

Swiss rolls

Four large free-range eggs
100g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
100g self-raising flour, sieved
600ml double cream
Butter, for greasing

Lemon curd

Four large free-range egg yolks
135g granulated sugar
85g salted butter, softened
One lemon, zest only
80ml fresh lemon juice

St Clement’s jelly

Six gelatine leaves
Four unwaxed lemons
Three oranges
150g golden caster sugar

Custard

425ml double cream
Three large free-range egg yolks
25g golden caster sugar
One tbsp cornflour
One tsp lemon extract

Amaretti biscuits

Two free-range egg whites
170g caster sugar
170g ground almonds
One tbsp amaretto
Butter or oil, for greasing

Mandarin coulis

Four x 397g tinned mandarins
45g caster sugar

Jewelled chocolate bark

50g/1¾oz mixed peel
1 tbsp caster sugar (optional)
200g/7oz white chocolate, broken into pieces

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Grease and line two Swiss roll tins with baking paper.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric hand whisk for approximately five minutes
Using a metal spoon, gently fold in the flour. Divide between the two tins and bake for 10–12 minutes.
Sprinkle some extra caster sugar on two sheets of baking paper then turn the sponges out onto the sugared paper.
Peel off the paper from the underside and, while still warm, roll them both up from the short end into a tight spiral using the paper to help. Leave to cool.
To make the lemon curd, place the egg yolks, granulated sugar, butter, lemon zest and lemon juice in a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
Whisk until combined and whisk continuously as the curd cooks until thickened. This should take about 15 minutes. Pour into a clean bowl and set aside to cool.
To make the St Clement’s jelly, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for five minutes to soften.
Using a vegetable peeler, peel six strips from a lemon and six strips from an orange and put these into a saucepan with the sugar and 400ml water.
Bring to a simmer over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and discard the peel.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and stir into the pan until dissolved then leave to cool. Squeeze the lemons and oranges, so you have 150ml of both lemon and orange juice.
Stir into the pan then strain the jelly through a fine sieve into a jug and chill until cool but not set.
To make the amaretti biscuits, preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until firm.
Mix the sugar and almonds gently into it. Add the amaretto and fold in gently until you have a smooth paste.
Place some baking paper on a baking tray and lightly brush with butter or oil. Using a teaspoon, place small heaps of the mixture approximately two cm apart, as they will expand during cooking.
Bake for approximately 15–20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
To make the chunky mandarin coulis, strain two tins of mandarins. Discard the juice and put the fruit into a saucepan with the sugar and heat gently until broken down.
Remove from the heat. In a small bowl, stir the arrowroot with two tablespoons cold water to make a paste, then add to the warm mandarins.
Add the lemon juice and mix well before pouring into a large bowl. Strain the remaining two tins of mandarins and add the fruit to the bowl then leave to cool completely.
To make the jewelled chocolate bark, if the peel feels wet or sticky, roll in the caster sugar to absorb any moisture.
Melt the white chocolate in a bowl sitting over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Pour the white chocolate onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and scatter over the mixed peel. Leave to set then break into shards.
To assemble, unroll the cooled Swiss rolls and spread with the lemon curd. Roll back up again and slice one into 2.5cm slices and place upright around the bottom edge of the trifle dish so the swirl is visible.
Slice the other Swiss roll into thicker pieces and use these to fill the bottom of the dish, ensuring the top is roughly the same level as the slices that line the edge. Use off-cuts of sponge to fill any gaps.
Pour the St Clement’s jelly over the Swiss roll layer and set it aside in the fridge to completely set. This will take approximately three hours.
Once set, pour over the custard then arrange a single layer of amaretti biscuits, keeping a few back for the top.
Pour over the mandarin coulis. In a large bowl, whip the double cream until soft peaks form then spoon this over the coulis.
Crumble over the reserved amaretti biscuits and decorate with the chocolate bark shards.