As the coastal town cooled down with continuous drizzle on Friday, preparations for the Christmas season set in. Several hotels across Puducherry prepped up by inviting their guests for a traditional cake-mixing ceremony.
When the clock ticked 4 p.m., hotel staff at Promenade hotel invited guests for a short course in making dry fruits and nuts Sangria. As the guests watched the hotel staff mix dry fruits with red wine, cognac, orange liqueur and lemon juice, Santa Claus caps and gloves were distributed to them.
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After the Sangria preparation, the guests and hotel staff, sporting the cap and covering their hands in gloves, shifted to a large plate of dry fruits meticulously spread out. Holding the 10 bottles of wine, brandy and rum, the cake-mixing ceremony began as they emptied the bottles on to the dry fruits. Dipen Desai, brand manager at Hidesign, informed that nearly 40 kg of dry fruits and cinnamon powder was mixed, from which 80 kg of cake would be prepared.
On the other hand, as a gesture to support and help orphanages in and around Puducherry, Hot Breads invited children from Bon Secours Convent and Missionaries of Charity to be part of the cake fruit mixing festival. Hot Breads will make plum cake rich dry fruits cake, Dundee cake, almond cake and even eggless plum cakes. “The mix will also be used in their other offerings like plum pudding and Yule log cake,” said V.J. Dobson, Manager, Hot Breads, Puducherry.
Accord Hotel this year celebrated the traditional cake-mixing ceremony on November 4. “They mixed nearly 35 to 40 kg of dry fruits with 15 to 20 litres of alcohol that will be marinated for 40 days before preparing the Christmas cake,” said Tamizh Selvan, Food and Beverages Manager, Accord Hotel.
The Sunway Manor Hotel is celebrating the traditional cake-mixing ceremony on Saturday evening. The Sunway Manor’s team spearheaded by Vice-President Lawrence, Executive Chef Maruthi Kumar and other department heads have invited their guests to mix different kinds of nuts, fruits with wine and liquor and that will be soaked to prepare the Christmas cake.
