Early adopters of the new platinum jubilee pudding – a competition-winning lemon swiss roll and amaretti trifle – were quick to point out what an enormous arse-ache it was. The recipe calls for 11 eggs and more than a litre of whipped cream. It requires you to make your own amaretti biscuits and lemon curd from scratch. Basically, if you fancied making this mega-trifle for a jubilee-weekend party, it’s too late – you should have started already.
But the recipe’s author, Jemma Melvin, insisted from the beginning that certain shortcuts were perfectly acceptable. You didn’t have to make St Clement’s jelly from gelatine leaves; you could substitute a packet of lemon jelly. In a pinch, shop-bought lemon curd would serve. So how quickly can you slap this pudding together in an emergency? I decided to find out.
