To mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, Buckingham Palace has announced a UK-wide competition to dream up an appropriately-themed dessert dedicated to the monarch

A Right Royal Bake Orf?

Funnily enough, that is exactly what is has been dubbed by wags the length and breadth of the country, and for good reason: the winner will be chosen by none other than Mary Berry, former star of The Great British Bake Off. It’s hoped the winning pudding will become as much of a fixture in the national cuisine as Coronation Chicken or Victoria Sponge.

And they are?

The first is a dish of cold chicken in a curried mayonnaise sauce which was invented by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume for the Queen’s Coronation banquet in 1953. The second is a sponge cake and is named for Queen Victoria, who enjoyed a slice or two with her afternoon tea, though hers was filled only with jam. In the much less abstemious (and decidedly more cholesterol-soaked) 21st century, it’s generally made with cream and jam.

Sounds truly scrumptious

It should be given the calibre of Mrs Berry’s helpmates. Also on the judging panel are Masterchef star Monica Galetti and Mark Flanagan, who just happens to be the Queen’s official chef. Naturally the Queen herself will be able to sample the winner and, having spent a lifetime being wined and dined by some of the world’s greatest chefs, she should know a thing or two about what makes a splendid pudding.

Who can enter?

Anybody over the age of eight is invited to create a recipe, and the winning concoction will be made available to the public ahead of the Jubilee Weekend when it is hoped there will be street parties serving it up. The weekend runs from Thursday June 2 to Sunday June 5 (it includes two extra bank holidays) and is one of dozens of official events. The Jubilee itself, meanwhile, falls on February 6, the day the Queen became monarch at the age of 25 on the death of her father, George VI. She is the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.