The Queen's Platinum Jubilee pudding has 22 ingredients and takes a whole day to make. I took every possible shortcut, and it still wasn't worth it.

Josh OngJun 3, 2022, 15:14 IST

The Swiss roll and amaretti trifle took hours to finish.Tim Graham/Getty Images, Josh Ong/Insider

Ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, a competition was held to find a commemorative pudding.
The chosen dish — a Swiss roll and amaretti trifle — is meant to be accessible, but is very complex.

British royalty have a long-held tradition with commemorative food.

Queen Elizabeth II is approaching her Platinum Jubilee, celebrating her 70th year on the throne.Steve Parsons/Insider

Ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, a competition was held to find a pudding recipe to commemorate the occasion.

Gemma Melvin made every element of her trifle herself.James Manning/Getty Images

After looking at the recipe and ingredients list, it was clear I was going to have to take some shortcuts.

I didn't fancy spending a whole day just to make a trifle.Josh Ong/Insider

With all of the substitutions calculated, here's what you'll need to make the trifle for around 10 people.

Even with substitutions, the ingredients list is pretty extensive.Josh Ong/Insider

The first step is to create the St Clement's jelly.

Mixing store-bought orange and lemon jelly will mimic the St Clement's flavor.Josh Ong/Insider

While cooling, take your store-bought Swiss roll, slice it into half-inch-thick slices, and layer it around the side of the bowl.

Try to make sure you can see the rolled pattern of the cake.Josh Ong/Insider

Once fully cooled, pour your jelly mixture over the Swiss roll pieces, before placing the bowl into the refrigerator until set, which should take around three hours.

My middle piece immediately started to float.Josh Ong/Insider

Once completely set, pour the fresh custard over the jelly layer.

This process is probably the easiest part of the recipe.Josh Ong/Insider

Next, take about three-quarters of the amaretti cookies and place them in a layer over the custard.

Any store-bought amaretti biscuits work just fine.Josh Ong/Insider

To make the mandarin coulis, take one of your cans of fruit and drain it fully, before adding it to a saucepan with the caster sugar.

Watch out for seeds, as I had to pick a few out of my mandarins.Josh Ong/Insider

While it's heating up, mix the arrowroot with a few tablespoons of cold water, before adding it to the mandarin mixture.

Mixing the arrowroot in a separate container will ensure that it doesn't clump.Josh Ong/Insider

While cooling, take the second can of mandarins, drain them, and add to the coulis, which should still be thickening.

The second can will add chunkiness to the coulis.Josh Ong/Insider

Once fully cooled, pour it on top of the custard as the penultimate layer.

You should have enough coulis to completely cover the custard.Josh Ong/Insider

For the heavy cream, whip it until it reaches soft peaks.

Using a bigger mixing bowl than I did would be the smart move.Josh Ong/Insider

Once at soft peaks, start to spread the mixture over the top of the coulis as the final layer to the trifle.

I realized I ran out of heavy cream too late.Josh Ong/Insider

For the final decoration, add smashed pieces of white chocolate and the remaining amaretti cookies, crumbled, to the top of the trifle.

I used premium white chocolate to hopefully make up for taking shortcuts.Josh Ong/Insider

After a few hours of work and patience, the Platinum Jubilee trifle is ready to eat.

It's really colorful and actually a little pretty.Josh Ong/Insider

It was a pretty mid-tier dessert, and not worth the effort in my opinion, even with all of the shortcuts.

The dessert isn't so pretty once plated up.Josh Ong/Insider

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