Ingredients
For the Vegan Swiss Rolls
- 1 cup oat milk
- 1 teaspoon distilled vinegar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 ⅔ cup self-raising flour
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch (UK: corn flour)
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (UK: bicarb soda)
For the Vegan Lemon Curd
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch
- ½ cup oat milk
- ½ cup caster sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 pinch turmeric (for color)
For the Vegan Custard
- 3 Tablespoons corn starch (UK: corn flour)
- 2 ¾ cups unsweetened soy milk
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup caster sugar
- 3-4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
For the Vegan St Clement's Jelly
- 2 cups sugar
- ¾ cup lemon juice 1
- ¾ cup orange juice
- ½ cup corn starch
- 2 Tablespoons lemon peel
- 2 Tablespoons orange peels
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 drop red food coloring
For the Vegan Amaretti Biscuits
- 2 cups almond meal (not packed)
- ⅓ cup caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Tablespoons flaxseed meal
- ½ teaspoon distilled vinegar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract or amaretto
For the Vegan Chunky Mandarin Coulis
- ~400 grams tinned mandarins
- 1 Tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
For the Vegan Jewelled White Chocolate Bark
- 1¼ cups vegan white chocolate chips
- ½ cup candied orange peel
Other ingredients
- 3 cups vegan whipped cream (I recommend using store bought if possible)
Instructions
For the Vegan Swiss Rolls
- Heat oven to 180C (350° Fahrenheit). Line the Swiss roll pans with parchment paper.
- Combine all the ingredients for the Swiss rolls, mix for about 30 seconds with an electric hand mixer.
- Pour mixture evenly into the two pans. Check at 10 minutes to see if cakes are done: poke them with a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, they are done.
- Set out two sheets of baking paper and sprinkle with caster sugar. While cakes are warm, carefully turn the cakes over onto the sugared papers. Peel off the baked paper, roll up the cakes into a tight spiral, and allow to cool.
For the Vegan Lemon Curd
- In a saucepan, whisk together the cornstarch and an equal amount of the oat milk, then whisk in the rest of the oat milk and all the other ingredients.
- Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer until it has thickened. stirring continuously (about 5 minutes). Transfer to a bowl, cover, and allow it to cool.
For the Vegan Custard
- In a saucepan, whisk together the cornstarch and an equal amount of the soy milk, then whisk in the rest of the soy milk and all the other ingredients.
- Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer until it has thickened. stirring continuously (about 5 minutes). Transfer to a bowl, cover, and allow it to cool.
For the Vegan St Clements Jelly
- Peel orange and lemon peels with a vegetable peeler (6 strips of each, you will need to count them later). In a saucepan, add all ingredients except the cornstarch and mix well.
- In a small bowl, add the cornstarch and about ½ a cup of the liquid from the pan. Stir until smooth, then slowly add it back into the saucepan, stirring well.
- Bring the pan contents to a gentle boil over medium heat while gently stirring continuously (about 10 minutes). Once thickened, and remove from heat. Cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
For the Vegan Amaretti Biscuits
- Heat oven to 180C (350° Fahrenheit) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until a thick paste is formed.
- Scoop teaspoon-sized balls of the mixture onto the sheet spaced about 2cm. Roll them into balls and coat the balls in powdered sugar. Press down gently on each ball to flatten slightly and crack the sides.
- Bake until golden brown, about 17-20 minutes. Cool them in the turned-off oven to dry them out more or let them dry on a cooling rack.
For the Vegan Chunky Mandarin Coulis
- Drain the cans of mandarins, discarding the juice. Place half of them into a saucepan and add the sugar. Heat on low until the sugar is dissolved and the mandarins are slightly broken down. Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl, combine corn starch and 2 Tablespoons of water. Stir in the lemon juice. Add cornstarch mixture and the other half of the strained mandarins to the saucepan. Transfer mixture to a clean bowl and let chill in the fridge until cool, about 30-40 minutes.
For the Vegan Jewelled White Chocolate Bark
- Place a sheet of parchment paper or greaseproof paper on the countertop. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, being careful not to cook it or it will form hard lumps.
- When the chocolate is melted, spread it onto the paper and scatter pieces of the mixed peel. Once it has cooled and hardened, break the chocolate into shards.
Candied Peel (from scratch, if you don't have ready-made)
- Use a paring knife to slice off the rind of ½ an orange and 1 lemon. Cut the peels in half if they are larger than 2" long.
- In a saucepan, add the peels and cover with water. Bring to boil. Drain. Cover them with water a second time and bring to a boil again. Drain.
- Add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer about 1.5 hours until peels are mostly transparent.
- Cool to room temperature and remove peels from the syrup. Let peels dry on a plate about 2 hours, then flip over and let the other side dry 2 hours. Best if you let them dry overnight.
- Use kitchen scissors to cut the peels into small ¼" or ½cm squares. Put the squares in a container with a lid and shake so that the sticky edges get sugared. Let them dry in a single layer another hour before using for chocolate bark.
To Assemble the Platinum Pudding
- Unroll the cooled Swiss rolls and spread the lemon curd over. Roll back up and slice one of the rolls into 2cm slices. Place the slices around the bottom edge of the trifle dish so they are seen from the sides. Slice the other roll into thicker pieces and place them in the bottom of the trifle dish.
- Pour the St Clement's jelly over the roll cake and let chill in the fridge until set (about 1-2 hours).
- Pour the custard over, then add a layer of the biscuits, reserving some for the topping later.
- Pour the mandarin coulis over, then add a layer of vegan whipped cream. Crumble the reserved amaretti biscuits and scatter them over the whipped cream. Arrange the shards of chocolate bark on top to create the form of a crown.
Notes
- 1 cup (120g) flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Nutrition
Want to make the platinum pudding dairy free or vegan? This trifle can be made just as good with plant-based ingredients such as oat milk and soy milk. With five magnificent layers of orange and lemon flavors, this will make a very impressive party dessert.
What is the Platinum Pudding?
The #PlatinumPudding competition was launched in 2022 by Buckingham Palace, Fortnum & Mason, and The Big Jubilee Lunch to find a dessert dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II in honor of her platinum jubilee, which celebrates her 70th year as monarch.
As an admirer of Her Majesty the Queen, I have been following the news of jubilee-related events and was excited to try the winning “platinum pudding” when I read about it on BBC.com. The winning dessert is the fantastic “Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti Trifle” by Jemma Melvin. Congratulations, Jemma!
Looking at the official recipe, I realized that making it vegan would be challenging, but I love challenges so I decided to try and make the jubilee pudding vegan, which will make it suitable for those with dairy and/or egg allergies as well.
It was a lot of work but I think the end result looks beautiful and it really is a very tasty combination of ingredients with the lemon, orange, and vanilla.
Making the pudding
Making this dessert is quite a commitment, simply because there are so many different parts to prepare. It took me about 8 hours over the course of two days to complete it. Actually, it took a bit longer because I was taking photos and video of each step, but if I hadn’t been doing that I’m sure it would have been much quicker!
Pudding Elements
Here are all the (8) elements of this jubilee pudding:
- Swiss rolls
- Lemon curd
- St Clement’s jelly
- Custard
- Amaretti biscuits
- Mandarin coulis
- Chocolate bark
- Whipped cream
I had to my own candied peel, since I couldn’t find it ready-made in the grocery store (although it can be found on Amazon). If you want to save time and possibly money, I suggest looking for ready-made options for as many of the elements as you can.
I tried in vain to find almond cookies at the store. I know they have Amaretti biscuits on Amazon for example. Luckily, I was able to find a plant-based whipped cream at Aldi and have also seen plant-based Redi-whip at the big supermarket in my area. If you’re in the UK you may be able to find the Oatly brand whippable cream at Tesco.
Supplies Needed
Let me touch on supplies since I feel like I used quite a lot of them on this recipe. I used:
- Small/medium saucepan
- Double boiler
- Whisk
- Vegetable peeler
- Lemon zester
- Fine mesh sieve (or anything you can use to filter the pulp out of orange & lemon juices)
- Spatula
- Mixing bowls
- Plastic wrap
- Parchment paper
- Kitchen scissors
- Baking sheets
- Electric hand mixer
- And last but not least, a trifle dish!
If you don’t have a trifle dish, you could use a medium to large-sized bowl, preferably one with transparent sides so that the layers of the pudding can be seen from the outside. A glass salad bowl would work well. I found my trifle dish at Home Goods for about $12. Here are some trifle dishes on Amazon.
Top Tips
I suggest making this recipe over the course of two days if you are working on it alone. Here’s how I split it up, and in the order I prepared everything in:
Day 1:
- Candied Peel (if needed)
- Vegan Swiss Rolls
- Vegan Lemon Curd
- Vegan Custard
- Vegan Amaretti Biscuits
Day 2:
- Vegan St Clement’s Jelly
- Begin assembly (cake layer, jelly, and chill)
- Vegan Chunky Mandarin Coulis
- Vegan Jewelled White Chocolate Bark
- Complete assembly (custard, biscuits, mandarin coulis, whipped cream, biscuit bits and white chocolate shards)
Haven’t had the chance to taste the final pudding yet but the individual elements are tasting heavenly!