Christmas cake is a long-standing tradition that started all of the way back in the 16th century! This tradition has been carried through families from all over the world and has many variations depending on the recipes that have been passed down over the years. A Christmas table is never without a Christmas cake.
In England, Christmas cake is a tradition that began as plum porridge. People ate the porridge on Christmas Eve, using it to line their stomachs after a day of fasting. Soon dried fruit, spices and honey were added to the porridge mixture, and eventually, it turned into Christmas pudding. Around the 16th century, people began to use richer ingredients so the oats were removed and flour and eggs were added. The pudding started to resemble the kind of fruitcake we’d recognize today. Richer families could also afford to wrap their cakes in marzipan, making them look much like the Christmas cake we eat today.
Weeks before a ceremony called cake mixing ceremony takes place which is interesting to know.
The practice of cake mixing begins quite early, mostly in the first week of December itself. It is an age-old tradition where kilograms of dry fruits, nuts, grains and spices are combined to form a mixture. This mixture is then soaked in alcoholic blends for some days to let them soak all the flavours and aromas. Lastly, it is divided into parts which go into the cake batter, from which further Christmas Fruit Cakes are baked, alcohol is a preservative” It is a lovely ceremony where you do not just make preparations for the upcoming festival, but also get together to welcome the festive spirit that is so synonymous with Christmas.
Let’s find out how the tradition of Christmas cake came to India and became part of our lore.
Prakash Mambally, a baker from Kerala, has a story to tell about the first Christmas cake made in India. He says— In November 1883, a merchant named Murdock Brown went to the Royal Biscuit Factory in what is now the southern Indian state of Kerala and asked its owner Mambally Bapu if he would bake him a cake for Christmas. Mr Bapu knew how to bake bread and biscuits – a skill he learnt at a biscuit factory in Burma (present-day Myanmar) – but he had never made a cake. But he decided to give it a try with Mr Brown’s input.
The experiment came with some improvisations. The result was a unique plum cake made entirely from local ingredients.
When Mr Brown tried it, he was so happy with the results that he ordered a dozen more. The grandson of Mr Bapu’s nephew says “While there are no official documents to back this story, Mambally Bapu and the bakery he started – which is still going strong in Tellicherry (now Thalassery)- are now part of India’s Christmas lore.” Four generations on, Bapu’s descendants take pride in the legacy.
Let’s meet the young bakers of Sunctity who are taking the Christmas Cake forward by putting their heart and soul into baking it:
Pushpa Datt, Resident of E52 FF, is a great baker. Her baking expertise began with baking cakes for her children’s birthdays. Each year her expertise became better and finally, by the time the kids grew up, she was an excellent baker of cakes. Friends and family look forward to getting cakes from Pushpa which are made with love and affection. I am lucky to be her neighbour and enjoy her freshly baked cakes all the time. Her daughter Shreya has now taken the art of baking from her mother and she too bakes excellent cakes.
16-year-old Aishani Sahoo is a resident of F block who takes a great interest in cooking. Baking is one of her favourite hobbies which she has been pursuing since she was 11 years old. She bakes for family, and friends and is always eager to try out new recipes from YouTube. When she bakes a Christmas cake, she soaks the dry fruits in orange juice as an alternative to traditionally used rum, and it always turns out excellent. Kudos to this talented young chef at Sunctity!
Somya Mudgal a Resident of B 108 likes to explore new bakeries in town and wants to learn new techniques. When she was in class 10th during her summer vacation she joined her first workshop for cookie class, from a time pass hobby it got converted into her passion and her dream, she wants to invest her time to learn new things and upgrade her skills in baking. So that one day she can open her cafe and present tasteful and unique items. She says, in my home bakery you will get everything fresh and preservative-free.
Pushpa Datt E-52
