Platinum Jubilee weekend will make country ‘feel united’, Mary Berry says

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Dame Mary Berry has said the Platinum Jubilee weekend will make Britain “feel united”.

Speaking ahead of the Jubilee weekend next month, she said: “Jubilees are very special, people are going to come together, have street parties and come together for the occasion as families and communities.

“It’s a wonderful thought that perhaps this Jubilee pudding will be made for everyone celebrating whether at street parties, for family occasions, or even made for just two people.

“The Jubilee weekend will feel as though the country is united.”

The Dame is a judge for the Platinum Pudding competition, which asked amateaur bakers across the UK to submit their recipes to honour the Queen’s 70th year on the throne.

Of the nearly 5,000 entries submitted, just five bakers were selected to take part in the televised competition, which will air on BBC One on Thursday 12 May.

Berry will be joined by the Duchess of Cornwall to announce the winner for The Queen’s Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years In The Baking.

Speaking of the entrants, Berry said: “It’s rather wonderful too about the different ages, there were some from children as young as 10, and they sent in pictures of what they were doing.

“I was very impressed. The final five puddings couldn’t have been more different, and the bakers were all very organised, putting forward their idea and explaining so passionately why they chose it. It was lovely.”

Finalists Kathryn, Jemma, Sam, Shabnam and Susan travelled to London to create their puddings in what Dame Mary described as Fortnum & Masons’ “very smart” tea room.

The judging panel also included MasterChef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti, writer Jane Dunn, former Bake Off champion Rahul Mandal, pastry chef Matt Adlard and culinary historian and author Regula Ysewijn.

When asked what she would create for a Jubilee pudding, Berry said she would make something that would be “possible for a street party, a family celebration, and it would be portable”.

She added: “Something that could be made ahead of an event and something with favourite flavours, not too unusual and spectacular that everybody would go ‘ooh and ahh’ about.”

Additional reporting by PA