The official recipe for platinum pudding: how to make a lemon Swiss wrap and amaretti trifle

Try the impressive little Jemme Melvin – who beat 5,000 rivals to be named the official Platinum pudding – which is a pleasant summer dessert for the crowd.

For this recipe, you will need two Swiss cans for rolls measuring about 24 cm x 34 cm and a container for small items with a volume of about 3.5 liters. However, you can always halve the recipe to serve 10. For shortcuts to this recipe, check out Jemma’s tips below.

Hours

Preparation time: More than 2 hours

Cooking time: 35 minutes, plus setting time

Serve

20

Ingridients

For Swiss rolls

• 4 large free-range eggs
• 100 g of sugar, plus a powder additive
• 100 g of self-rising flour, sifted
• Butter, for lubrication

For lemon curd

• 4 large free-range yolks
• 135 g granulated sugar
• 85 g salted butter, softened
• 1 lemon, just peel
• 80 ml of fresh lemon juice

For the jelly of St. Clement

• 6 sheets of gelatin
• 4 waxed lemons
• 3 oranges
• 150 g of golden sugar

For the cream

• 425 ml of double cream
• 3 large free-range yolks
• 25 g of golden sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

For amaretti cookies

• 2 free range proteins
• 170 g of sugar
• 170 g of ground almonds
• 1 tablespoon amaretta
• Butter or lubricating oil

For thick mandarin coulis

• 4 x 397 g canned tangerines
• 45 g of sugar
• 16 g arrowroot (2 bags)
• ½ Lemons, just juice

For chocolate crust with gems

• 50 g of mixed shell
• 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
• 200 g of white chocolate, broken into pieces

To assemble:

Method

For the preparation of Swiss rolls

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas 4. Grease and line two models for Swiss rolls with baking paper. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric hand whisk for about 5 minutes or until light and pale. Gently stir in the flour with a metal spoon. Divide between the two baking trays and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the mushrooms are lightly golden and baked.
2. Sprinkle a little sugar on two sheets of baking paper, then turn the sponges over on sweetened paper. Peel off the paper from the bottom and, while still warm, wrap both from the short end into a tight spiral using paper. Allow to cool.

To prepare lemon curd

1. Place the yolks, granulated sugar, butter, lemon zest and lemon juice in a glass container over a pan of boiling water (keep the container out of the water). Stir until the curd thickens, and stir constantly. This should take about 15 minutes. Pour into a clean container and set aside to cool.

For the preparation of the jelly of St. Clement

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5 minutes to soften. Peel 6 lemons and 6 oranges with a vegetable peeler and place them in a pan with sugar and 400 ml of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and discard the shell.
2. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin and stir in the pan until dissolved, then allow to cool. Squeeze the lemons and oranges so that you have 150 ml of both lemon and orange juice. Stir in the pan, then strain the jelly through a fine strainer into a jug and refrigerate until cool but not hard.

To prepare amaretti cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas 4. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until firm. Gently stir in the sugar and almonds. Add the amaretto and mix gently until you get a smooth paste.
2. Place some baking paper on the baking tray and lightly coat it with butter or oil. With a teaspoon, place small piles of the mixture about 2 inches apart as they will expand during cooking. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

To prepare a thick mandarin couli

1. Strain two cans of tangerines. Discard the juice and place the fruit in a pan with the sugar and gently heat until it disintegrates. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, mix the maranta with 2 tablespoons of cold water to form a paste, then add to the warm mandarins. Add the lemon juice and mix well before pouring into a larger bowl. Strain the remaining two cans of mandarins and add the fruit to the bowl and allow to cool completely.

To make chocolate bark with gems

1. If the shell is wet or sticky, roll it in sugar to absorb moisture. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pot of slightly boiling water. Pour the white chocolate on a baking tray lined with baking paper and scatter it over the mixed shell. Allow to harden, then cut into chunks.

Assemble

1. Unwrap the cooled Swiss wraps and spread with lemon curd. Twist again and cut one into 2.5 cm slices and place vertically around the bottom edge of the container for the little things so that the vortex is visible. Cut the second Swiss wrap into thicker pieces to fill the bottom of the pan, making sure the top is about the same as the slices that line the edge. Use pieces of sponge to fill in any gaps.
2. Pour St Clement’s jelly over a layer of Swiss roll and place in the fridge to harden completely. This will take about 3 hours. When it hardens, pour over the cream and then spread out one layer of amaretti biscuits, leaving some back for the top. Pour over the mandarin couli. In a large bowl, whisk the double cream until a soft top is formed, then pour it over the couli with a spoon. Crush the reserved amaretti cookies and garnish with chocolate crumb crumbs.

Jemma’s best advice

To simplify this recipe, you can use ready-made versions for most components and simply make Swiss rolls and mandarin couli from scratch. For lemon curd, use 300 g of ready-made lemon curd. Instead of St. Clement’s Jelly, use one packet of lemon-flavored jelly and follow the instructions on the package to make 568ml.

For the cream, use 500 ml of ready-made cream. For cookies, use 100 g of ready-made amaretti cookies. Instead of making a chocolate crust with gems, you can finish this little thing by sprinkling the reserved amaretti cookies, mixed shell and 50g pieces of white chocolate.