Her lemon swiss roll and amaretti trifle made history as the “Platinum Pudding” for the Queen’s Jubilee and now Jemma Melvin has conjured up two new creations fit for the King.
Jemma, a copywriter from Southport, Merseyside, beat more than 5,000 entries with her recipe, a unanimous winner in the eyes of a judging panel that included Dame Mary Berry.
For the Coronation, the star baker has shown her patriotic side with a pair of puddings that are a colourful celebration of great British baking...
My Platinum Pudding recipe was a huge success last year, when people up and down the country made it for the late Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.
For the Coronation, I’ve gone for a simple but impressive red, white and blue-themed trifle that’s easy to make, with minimal decoration.
I also used “wonky” fruit in this recipe that would have otherwise been wasted and are super cheap but just as delicious.
The dessert costs less than £1 a portion (and that’s with nice big servings!).
You could get this down even further with smaller portions. It all depends on how many street party dishes you want to sample!
Also, it would be cheaper if you use shop-bought custard, but the “white” of the Union Flag-inspired design will be more yellow.
On top of my trifle, I’ve created a straightforward but tasty tray bake is the perfect addition to any community trestle table this May.
Again, I’ve gone for patriotic colours and used misshapen fruit destined for the compost heap.
A couple of drops of food colouring is all it takes to achieve the impressive finish, plus the addition of blueberries and raspberries to really freshen the cake up.
It costs about 40p a portion, even with the generous slices I have doled out.
One of my biggest joys of last summer was seeing everyone’s interpretations of my Jubilee trifle.
And I hope you all get creative with my Coronation cakes, too, and put your own twist on them.
I encourage you to take this recipe and run with it, perfection is not the goal here, just delicious homemade cakes for you and yours to enjoy together.
* Jemma says: Please tag me in your creations on instagram – @icedbyjem
Coronation Party Cake
350g butter
50g golden caster sugar
6 medium eggs
2 lemons (zest & juice)
375g self raising
35g ground almonds
150g blueberries
150g raspberries
Red and blue food colouring
Icing sugar, sprinkles, to decorate
1. First, make the custard (or skip to step 8).
2. Place the cream in a pan over a gentle heat and cook until simmering, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
3. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour mixture and the extract.
4. Then, whisking the egg mixture all the time with one hand, gradually pour the hot cream into the bowl.
5. Immediately return the whole lot back to the saucepan using a rubber spatula.
6. Back on the same gentle heat as you continue whisking until the custard is thick and smooth.
7. Pour the custard into a jug or bowl, cover the surface with clingfilm and leave to cool.
8. Set aside a few berries for the top of the trifle before microwaving the jam in a large bowl for about one minute, or until warm and runny.
9. Add the fresh berries and toss to coat.
10. Begin to layer your trifle in your chosen trifle dish, starting with a base of lady fingers.
11. Followed by one-third of the berry mixture.
12. And then half of the cooled custard.
13. Repeat this process, so you have the following layers in your dish: lady fingers, berries, custard, ladyfingers, berries, custard.
14. Then add another layer of lady fingers, the last third of the berries, and then this time add the whipped cream on top instead of custard to finish.
15. Top with the extra berries, and your choice of decoration. I’ve gone for Coronation-style sprinkles.
Coronation Trifle
300g blueberries
150g raspberries
300g strawberries
225g Jam (strawberry or raspberry will work best)
Approx 24 ladyfingers (about 1 pack)
For the topping:
300ml cream
Coronation sprinkles
For the custard (can be replaced with shop bought custard):
425ml double cream
4 large egg yolks
25g golden caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp of vanilla extract/paste
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. In a large bowl, add the butter and sugar and mix until creamy.
3. Add the lemon zest and juice, plus the flour, almonds and eggs and mix again until a batter forms.
4. Split the cake batter into three (one half and two quarters).
5. Keep the half as white and add the red colouring to one quarter and the blue to the other.
6. Gently fold in the fruit to the three batters.
7. Pour the batter in sections into a greased and lined baking tin.
8. Bake for one hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
9. Cool completely, then add the icing and sprinkles.
