“More to Mix , Merrier the Feast”-Chef Soju Philip
Rich and divine Plum cake is the much celebrated icon of Christmas. A celebration without cakes is tough to imagine. as everyone takes pleasure to make their own version of Plum cakes perfect and pleasing. The shops and bakeries across the globe will be stacked with colorful boxes of cakes, the display shelves are neatly arranged with elaborately decorated Christmas cakes and goodies which will attract tens of thousands of customers every year. Mega cake sales and Cake exhibitions were part of this celebration. Tower of cakes and big gigantic model made by cake and sugar were displayed in prominent exhibitions. Ginger bread houses were set up lavishly to create the ambiance of the Holy Birth and Bethlehem. I remember my early days in hotel and when I was working at Bangalore, now known as Bengaluru. Every year in the month of December there will be a Grand cake exhibition will take place which organised by a famous Bakery cum Super stores. In that event, variety of cakes were there for sale and display and the highlight will be a gigantic structure of any famous monuments or churches which made of cake and sugar. In that year it was the Holy shrine of Velankanni, if my memory is correct. It was marvelous. We always witnessed long ques in front the exhibition venue through out the day which underlines the wide acceptability of this event every year.
As I said already, Plum cake has a major role in the Christmas festival. Everyone will start arrangements for the cake preparation even months back. One event which coincides with the Plum cake making is the famous ‘Cake mixing ceremony’. The name says Cake mixing ceremony, but actually its a Fruits mixing ceremony. The dry fruits which required to make the cakes has been bought, cleaned and mix with liquor and spices, keep it in air tight containers for months to mature and absorb all the goodness of spirit, then mixing with refined flour, egg, butter, essences etc to make the delicious and divine treat of Christmas.
The history of the Cake mixing ceremony dates back to 17th century. It is believed to be originated in European continent especially at England where after the harvest, people collect and segregate the best fruits available, dry them and soak with the finest liquor and preserve it for the festival season. The cake mixing ceremony has started as a social event in big families and communities where it was an occasion of social gathering, unity and par taking in the custom and tradition which everyone took pride to participate. It was a symbol of hardworking and unity among the society and families. There were also a custom of exchanging these mixed fruits among the families as a symbol of love and sharing. After all the hard work and careful effort, all will eagerly and patiently waiting for the holy festival and the outcome of all these efforts to results as one of the best Plum cakes which can produce. Before this ceremony was happened in household and communities and later on it gained a wide arena as world took over it. The hotels, bakeries, institutions all were take pride to conduct Cake mixing ceremony every year as a symbol of official starting and warming up for the big festive season.
Its still a debatable topic that why the Christmas cake is called ‘Plum Cake’. With the available documents it is believed that the name has originated at England where the raisins or currants were known as ‘plums’ and it was used in abundant in cake making and called ‘Plum Cake’.
Now a days there were many varieties of dry fruits used in Plum cake making and mixing ceremony. Apart from the raisins, currants and prunes, there were dates, apricot, tutty frutti, orange rind,almonds, cashew, pista, cherry, figs etc were used widely.Spices like cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves also were used along with fruit pulps and finest liquors. Normally the first Sunday of November is marked for the Cake mixing ceremony in Europe, but today many organisations starts months before to make it mature enough. After mixing , the fruit mixture goes into the air tight containers and kept in safe environment for months until the preparation time arrives. In between it was periodically mix to avoid dryness and to ensure maximum absorption of the goodness. Later on it will be opened and mixed with right proportion of flour, sugar, egg, butter and other flavorings to a batter, pour in the cake tin and bake to perfection and the fine aroma tingles in the atmosphere as the final result of all these efforts and hard work.
As the British were the people who conquered and ruled many parts of the world include India, and they took the tradition along with them and practiced locally. The plum cake making has attained a wide popularity by the first quarter of 20th century and India also got many bakeries and Bormas where fine cakes and goodies were baked for British people. The tradition was continued as many other practices which started by the English people, today the Cake Mixing ceremony is a grand event to mark the official kick off of the big festival season .
“More to Mix, Merrier the Feast”
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