A yummy yummy Xmas

This is the month of snow and songs, celebrations and decorations and of course the month of candles and cakes. Surely one of the first things that comes to mind when anyone thinks about Christmas delicacies must obviously be the ever popular Christmas cakes. A Christmas cake lends the spirit of joy and celebration not only to those who consume it but also to the bakers who bake it.

Christmas cake is an English tradition that has its origins in the humble plum porridge. People ate the porridge on Christmas Eve to line their stomachs after a day of fasting. Soon dried fruit, spices and honey were added to the porridge mixture, and eventually it turned into the Christmas pudding, which is now as familiar as Christmas cakes.

In the 16th century, oatmeal was removed from the original recipe, and butter, wheat flour and eggs were added. These ingredients helped hold the mixture together and what emerged as a result was boiled plum cake. They made the cake using seasonal dried fruit and spices. The spices represented the exotic eastern spices brought by the Three Wise Men. And thus the ‘Christmas cake’ has undergone a lot of tinkering as far as the recipe is concerned.

The Christmas cakes are made in advance and is a month-long process. The cake mixing ceremony, a big event in many hotels now days often takes place in November. Tonnes of dry fruits are chopped and soaked in liquor in an airtight stainless steel container.

The cake mixing ceremony highlights the spirit of Christmas besides bringing to the fore the ability and unity of the bakers. Most of the hotels will have their own guests, and sometimes even celebrities in their kitchen to mix the cake. The ceremony often brings out the message from the hoteliers that “we are ready for the seasonal celebration.”

The dry fruits are often purchased two months back. “We use about 22 varieties of dry fruits and five varieties of nuts in making the Christmas plum cake. It is soaked in whisky, brandy, rum or wine. Then we preserve it for a month,” says an executive chef at a star hotel here in Coimbatore. The soaking of fruits in the alcohol is to lend it an aroma and also ends up adding richness to the cake.

The dry fruits soaked in liquor are usually preserved for a month or more, but not exceeding 45 days as the fruits get squashed and lose their nature. The dry fruits used normally include red current, dried ginger chips, dried apple, processed pineapple and many more in the list. In between, in a ten-day interval, the whole mixture will be moved upside down because it is important for the alcohol to get into the fruit and soften them, thus making the cake moist.

A perfect Christmas cake is one which is moist, never crumbles, and must be cut with a bread knife, not with a butter knife. This depends mostly on the fruit-mixing process. But the method of baking also will have an impact on the same.

If the fruit-mix, preserved over a month, is baked for 40 to 45 minutes, a delicious Christmas cake results, on the other hand if it is steamed for about eight hours, you get a yummy Christmas pudding. Though both the cake and pudding uses the same fruit-mix soaked in liquor, the output is entirely different. Christmas cake uses 3 to 4 kg of dry fruit for 1 kg of flour while Christmas pudding uses about 11 kg of dry fruits.

“Christmas pudding is richer in taste as its nutritive value remains the same since it is steamed. It is good for all, especially ladies and kids because they need more energy,” a chef explains.

The celebration does not end up with just the cake mixing and cake baking. The third part of the celebration i.e. the cake tasting ceremony is usually held two weeks before Christmas.

Most often, a special counter will be opened in the hotel or cake shop. Apart from the traditional plum cake and pudding there will be other varieties of cake too. “We have introduced 6 to 8 new varieties of cake this year. We always try to give the best to Coimbatoreans,” says S Ashok Kumar, executive chef, The Residency, Coimbatore.

Though many hotels in Coimbatore dropped the cake mixing ceremony as a mark of homage to the Mumbai terror martyrs, they have arranged some small functions including cake tasting ceremonies so that their regular guests and customers won’t feel too depressed.

So, if you don’t have time and patience to go for a homemade cake, but have a yummy want for one, just move out and get a delicious Christmas plum cake or pudding at your nearest cake store. Here is wishing you all a yummy Christmas!