If you are looking for edible Christmas gifts to share with friends and family this season, here are a few bakeries in Chennai, Bengaluru and Mysore dolling out stollen, gourmet kul kuls, and pies with a long shelf life.
Gourmet kul kuls @ Lamara, Bengaluru
The traditional kul kuls get a gourmet makeover at this classic French bakery. Co-founder and chef Rajat Braganza says the inspiration to give them a makeover came from his days studying culinary art in Switzerland. “One of my favourite indulgences were freshly fried churros served with chocolate sauce, and dusted with cinnamon sugar. They were typically found at the Christmas street markets, and made for a perfect snack during the cold and snowy winters” he says, adding how he elevated the simple kul kul by coating it with dark chocolate on one side and white chocolate on the other and then “adding a generous dusting of cinnamon and orange-scented sugar to mimic the flavour of a churro”.
The preparation, he explains, consists of forming the dough into balls and then shaping and curling the dough on the back of a fork. “The smell of freshly frying kul kulsis a sign that Christmas is just around the corner!” says Rajat, who also has chocolate truffles, a sticky toffee Christmas pudding, and hampers to choose from.
Kul kuls at ₹975 for 500 gms.For orders, visit lamara.in or call 9606020090
The stollen at Sapa Bakery | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Iron ore stollen @ Sapa Bakery, Mysore
The classic German Christmas bread is back at Sapa for Christmas. While gourmet versions now include marzipan, candied fruits, spices, among other ingredients, they are known for the Ironore Mountain Stollen. “The recipe is specifically different from a classic Dresden stollen in terms of its richness and moisture that we achieve by adding more butter. Making a roux of milk and flour which again binds more moisture into the dough and adding a lot of almond flour to the mix, which adds fat and moisture again,” says founder-head baker Dina Weber who lets the butter, almond flour and in-house spice mix soak for 24 hours before making the dough.
Over 900 of these delicious stollens have been shipped this year, and Dina believes they make for a great gift, not just because of their shelf-life (upto two months), but the tin packaging that “makes it exciting to open”. “We have designed the packaging in a way that the history of the stollen is described on a card and also storage instructions,” says Dina.
Priced at ₹1,750, @sapabakery on Instagram
The panettone at Pumpkin Tales | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Panettone @Pumpkin Tales, Chennai
As Chindi Varadarajulu expands the virtual presence of her Chennai-based restaurant/bakery Pumpkin Tales to cities across India, it is time to savour her classic panettone. It is created in collaboration with Italian pastry chef Mirko Tognetti, who is now in the city to personally oversee the preparation. “Made using candied orange, raisins, and chocolate, the panettones undergo a 36-hour nurturing process, including delicate hand-shaping, precise baking, and a unique inverted cooling method. The starter has been brought from Italy and the panettone doesn’t have commercial yeast,” says Chindi, who says they have a shelf life of two months.
Other long-lasting treats include butter tarts that come in three festive flavours — white chocolate and raisin, white chocolate and coconut, dark chocolate and cranberry; the popular Bounty bar made with toasted coconut, walnuts, chocolate chunks over a base of crushed digestive biscuits; and monsoon crisps featuring raisins and maple syrup.
Panettone at ₹2,200 (classic), and ₹2,400 (chocolate) on amazon.in
An assorted hamper at Sowl | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Dragees @ Sowl, Chennai
The idea behind Sowl’s Christmas offerings this year was to “create a blend between the classic and modern”. Which is why their menu features the likes of dragees, chocolate bon bons and “classics like a mince pie and of course our rich and boozy plum cake,” says chef Akram Ali, corporate pastry chef at Pricol Gourmet, that runs Sowl, and dessert studio, Delish.
Their new launches this year include the spiced granola, almond spread, German cookies, variants of dragees: cranberry dark chocolate, pistachio white chocolate, and cinnamon raisin, and mince pies.
₹1,500 for an assorted box of dragees. To order, call 99445 03703
