Christmas cheer already in the air

Though Christmas is still a good one month away, it’s already time for celebration; especially for chefs in the city hotels indulging in interesting cake mixing ceremonies as a pre-run for the traditional plum cake baking.

The three wise men were guided to the manger where the son of God, Baby Jesus Christ was born to virgin mother Mary and Joseph.... The stories of Christmas are many and like every year, this year too, the spirit of Christmas started with cake mixing ceremonies.

Spreading the cheer of the festivities, hotels and homes are already busy mixing the fruits that go into the traditional cakes. The choicest of fruits and nuts are mixed with liquor and left to mature until Christmas. To make the occasion festive, elaborate ceremonies are arranged in city hotels, where the environment charges up with pre-Christmas cheers and songs playing in the background.

The hotels have already started chasing Christmas business. With many majors expecting a rise in demand for their in-house plum and fruit cakes, they have begun cake mixing in the right earnest. Nithin Mathur, Executive Chef, Taj Krishna, shares, “At our hotel, we mix about 120 to 150 kilos of fruits. There are plums, peaches, candied apples, pineapple, dates, orange peel...etc. Dry fruits and nuts are soaked in wine and liquor, mixed thoroughly and kept to mature for a few weeks. The mix will be used to bake a 500 kg plum cake.” Shirley Michael, who runs a cookery school in Marredpally says, “Christmas is no fun without the traditional Christmas cake. Making such a big cake is not an easy task. The preparation begins well in advance. The first step is the mixing and is believed to be a forerunner of good things and happiness.”

“I prepare two types of cakes - one is made with alcohol in it, where I soak the dry fruits in brandy or rum. For those who do not like alcohol, I make the other variety where I soak the fruits in sugar. Both taste the same,” adds Shirley.

Steffan Dawson, Executive Chef, Westin Hyderabad Mindspace, says, “We have special Christmas goodies menu for our guests. The mix of dried apricots, figs and prunes, walnuts, cashew, almond flakes, pistachio is mixed mostly in rum, but we also include a small portion of brandy.” The cost of mixed cakes has gone up. A good cake will cost you around Rs 1500-1800 at the five-star hotels.

Every hotel tries and makes the most of this traditional ceremony and do it as differently as possible. “We are inviting the two NGOs, Heal a Child Foundation and Cheers Foundation, so that the kids can have fun and enjoy the cake mixing ceremony,” shares Steffan.

Elaborating on the tradition, Caroline Vaz, a teacher by profession and a good cook says, “The tradition of having a Christmas cake has its origin in the European culture of the 16th century. The ingredients have been modified to suit the convenience of the place, palate and the individual capacity of a person.”