Hotels and bakeries in the city have begun to prepare for the festive season’s Christmas cakes and confectionery through in-house and public “cake-mixing” ceremonies where large quantities of dried fruits, nuts, spices, and sugar are soaked in alcohol as a prelude to the cooking process.
On Friday, Courtyard by Marriott in Tiruchi invited guests to mix close to 100 kg of dried fruits, nuts and spices with alcohol and cranberry juice at an evening programme.
“Traditionally, fruit cake uses mixture that has been soaked for at least a year because it is more flavourful and improves the texture of the cake. But we will be using today’s mix by December, to make more than 100 kg of Christmas cake, Dundee Cake, Plum Cake and Christmas Pudding,” Pramod Chougale, executive chef, Courtyard by Marriott, told The Hindu.
“For one kilo of dried fruit, we can add three to four litres of alcohol like rum, brandy, wine, whisky and so on. The mixture will be kept in sealed containers at room temperature to allow fermentation,” he added.
Eggless cakes
Cake Bee, which operates bakeries and restaurants across Tiruchi, Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, is preparing for Christmas sales with over 1,000 kg of fruit cake in the first week of December.
“We have already mixed nearly 12 varieties of dry fruits and nuts for the Christmas confectionery; based on customers’ requests, we have added eggless and non-alcoholic fruit cakes. Our fruit mix will be used in Rich Plum Cake, Wine Cake, Dundee Cake, and Panettone. For the non-alcoholic variations, we will soak the dried fruits in natural fruit juice for a shorter period,” said proprietor S.P. Sethu Subbiah.
The German delicacy Christstollen, a yeast bread baked with dried fruits, candied citrus peel, nuts and spices, will also be on offer this year, he said.
Perambalur-based Aswins Home Specials had an early start by holding its fruit mixing ceremony two months ago, in order to cater to customers at 32 outlets across several cities.
“We have used cherries, raisins, apricot, and dates, among other nutritious fruits, and soaked them in high quality red wine that will be used in our Christmas cakes. We will also be making Christmas Pudding, cookies and chocolates this year,” K.R.V. Ganesan, founder, Aswins Home Specials, said in a statement.
