Plum Opportunity

Filled with candied peel and nuts soaked in rum,the Christmas cake stands for the Yuletide spirit. Talk goes on a cake trail to find the best in town.

The markets are decked with bespangled stars,festoons and wreaths and in the air is a mild but tempting aroma of the plum cake,wafting out from a neighbourhood bakery. Angels in my Kitchen in Defence Colony has a range of Christmas cakes in its display window. Some are full of nuts and candied peel,others layered with caramelised sugar.

Good old Wengers in Connaught Place and Sugar & Spice,with various outlets in the city,may be top favourites but there are others vying for a share in the lucrative Christmas pie. Cakes have a big market. Most of our clients are Indian,but there are foreigners as well. We sold about 1,500 cakes last December and expect to double the sales this year, says Gaurav Wadhwa,manager at Theos bakery in Sector-50,Noida,that sells Christmas cakes for Rs 907 per kg. Maxims in Kailash Colony sells about 50 cakes a week.

Every country has its own Christmas speciality. If Philippines celebrates with yellow pound cakes with macerated nuts,Japanese cakes are simple sponge cakes with frosting and strawberries. In India,we follow the British tradition of rich fruit and plum cakes with raisins soaked in liquor weeks in advance.

With business being brisk,there is excitement in restaurants too,with chefs baking cakes on popular request. Indian Accent at The Manor and Cibo at Janpath Hotel have cakes ranging from Rs 1,800 to 2,400 per kg. In traditional cake recipes,several ingredients are added,like champagne,Irish whiskey,apricots and coffee. But some restaurants are replacing the traditional fruit cake with mousse,gateaux and puddings decorated with a sugary Santa.

There are some arty options too. Art aficionados who visit Cafe Art Aria,housed in Gallery Art Positive,in Lado Sarai,will be welcomed with plum and carrot cakes decked with Christmas bells for Rs 200 onwards and ginger bread man cookies (Rs 150). We intend to host unique food festivals in the space and what better way than to start with Christmas, says gallerist Anu Bajaj.

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Christmas cakes

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