Cake mixing heralds festive season

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Sangam Hotel brought in festive cheer on Friday by hosting its annual Christmas cake mixing ceremony that saw participation of the establishment’s guests, chefs and children of the Organisation of the Blind in Tiruchi (ORBIT) orphanage.

Around 120 kg of dried fruits and nuts - figs, dates, tutti-frutti, almonds, pistachios, cashews and walnuts - arranged in a decorative festive pattern on a large work surface, were mixed with 30 bottles of liquor (whiskey, brandy, wine and rum) in the joyous evening event. Chefs J. Mubarak and S. Anthony guided the gathering of around 70 people in mixing the dry and wet ingredients together.

The mixture will be stored in airtight wooden barrels for one-and-a-half months, and will get used in the distinctively spicy and aromatic fruit cakes and puddings that are prepared for Christmas and New Year.

The baking starts a week before Christmas at the hotel’s kitchens which can turn out at least 15 kg of cakes in one batch. A fruit cake typically takes one hour to bake. “After the addition of ingredients such as flour and eggs, we can expect this mix to serve us well for producing at least double the quantity of cakes and puddings,” K. Devakumar, Assistant Food and Beverage Manager, told The Hindu . Most of the cakes are used as corporate gifts, while puddings are served in the hotel’s restaurants. Cakes are also sold on request, he said.

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