 Cake mixing ceremony
 The age-old ceremony of cake mixing starts a few months before Christmas at The Park, Chennai. The resident chefs, headed by Chef Willi, took a select audience through the paces of fruits, nuts and the art of mixing them recently at the Aqua poolside.
An interesting array of fruits (raisins, glazed red cherries, orange peel, tutti-frutti, black currants, dates, dried apricots, figs and prunes), nuts (walnuts, cashew, almond flakes and pistachio) and spices (ground cardamom, cinnamon and cloves) went into a huge cauldron. Endless bottles of spirits and syrups like golden syrup, molasses, honey and vanilla essence were poured into the mix while a number of gloved hands kneaded the concoction tirelessly. The more to mix, the merrier the feat!
The Park considers this a ritual to usher in the festive season, the good tidings, happiness and lots of Christmas cakes!
There was a similar cake mixing ceremony at the Raintree (on St Mary's Road) too.
The Rain Tree, which claims to be Chennai's only Ecotel hotel in south India, recently celebrated its 'Cake Mixing Ceremony' on the Roof Top, in the inaugural year of its operation.
Christmas is no fun without the traditional Christmas cake; and making this cake is no quick and easy task. Preparations begin months in advance. The first step towards making the cake is the mixing process, formally called the 'Cake Mixing Ceremony', a ritual religiously followed the world over and said to be a harbinger of good tidings and happiness.
The Cake Mixing Ceremony is a community event. The ceremony heralds the festive season of Christmas and captures the spirit of New Year. During this ceremony, the chefs, all the executives and sometimes even celebrity guests participate in this ritual. They marinate the dry fruits to be used in the cake, by soaking them in liquor, brandy, rum and whatever other spirits, flavouring agents and other taste-makers used. The greater the duration of soaking, the better and richer is the end product.
Everybody from the hotel participates in stirring this quite a splendid mix. Come December, this mix will be ready for baking and, of course, eating.
Says Akash Gupta, director - Food & Beverages: "Come December and one of the good things to look forward to is the Christmas season, along with the cake. More so it is the love and togetherness with which everyone gets together for merry-making that makes it more interesting. It is believed that the more the number of people involved in stirring the mixture, the better and bountiful will the year ahead be. It is believed that cake stirring actually fulfils wishes."
Geoff Magee, chief executive officer, The Raintree Hotel, pointed out, "There is no discounting the joy and cheer associated with the ritual. Cake mixing is an old tradition, ushering in the Christmas season to the hospitality industry months in advance and is one of the integral elements that go into the preparations for the festive season. Once the cake mixing ceremony is complete, thereafter, the hotel prepares in full flow for the festivities to follow...with the sole aim of spreading cheer, joy and happiness all around."
R Rangaraj |
