Its time to make merry!

It is that time of the year when Christmas is round-the-corner. Enthusiastic celebrations and cake mixing ceremonies being held across the city have already ushered in the spirit of the festive season. Usually organised a month before Christmas,  cake mixing ceremonies have grown in stature over the years. They often feature  some of the best plum puddings for Christmas. Plum puddings’ association with Christmas goes way back to Medieval England, with the Roman Catholic Church’s decree that the “pudding should be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity and that it be prepared with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and the 12 apostles, and that every family member stir it in turn from east to west to honour the Magi and their supposed journey in that direction.” However, far from being a traditional exercise, now the practice of cake mixing has become a celebration in itself, thanks to the hospitality sector, which makes the process bigger and better than each preceding year. Even the receipes over the years have undergone a sea of change. Some of the ingredients that are used to add taste and colour to the puddings are red cherries, black currants, dry and gold raisins, dates, apricots, figs, tutti fruttis and candied oranges. And what's Christmas without some good old alcohol, which is also generously used in the cake mixture. The ceremony usually is full of fun.  And when there is fun, can the celebs be kept out of it? No wonder then that there has been a rise in participation of various celebrities in cake mixing ceremonies.Fun at Comfort Inn MarinaAt Comfort Inn Marina Towers, the cake mixing ceremony saw actor and director M Nasser lead a group of guests and staff in stirring the ingredients for the Christmas plum pudding. Prakash Chandran, General Manager, Comfort Inn Marina Towers, said, “It is always fun to share this experience with our loyal customers. And this year, it was our pleasure to have Nasser to be a part of our festivities.” The hotel has plans to organise a special treat for guests during Christmas.A pleasant experience at the Meridien A number of smiling faces were witnessed at the Hotel Le Royal Meridien, Guindy, recently, as people began gathering around a big spread of dry fruits, nuts and bottles of liquor which were waiting to be mixed. Actor Uma Riaz Khan, also the chief guest, intiated the cake-mixing ceremony by pouring a bottle of wine on dry fruits spread on a table. She was joined by other celebrities and chefs, whose glove-clad hands helped the mix blend with the liquor. “Fifteen varieties of fruits including red cherries, black currants, dry and gold raisins, dates, apricot, figs, lemon zest, and nuts, weighing about 200 kgs have been put together to make the plume,” said Chef Vairamani. The ingredients were mixed with rum, brandy, vodka, whisky and wine. “We will keep adding more liquor everyday and mix it to make the fermentation uniform. From the second of week of December, we will start baking the cake,” he informed. Hotel Le Meridien has been organising cake mixing ceremonies right from the inception of the hotel. Ambica Empire’s treatThe seven-year-old Ambica Empire at Vadapalani organised a grand cake mixing ceremony recently. Eminent persons from various fields participated in the event. Bike racer R Chitra Priya, playback singer Ujjayinee Roy, film stars Oviya, Kavya and Uday, and director Karu Palaniappan participated in the event. They wore chef’s hats to get into the groove and began by mixing various spirits such as brandy, whisky and beer with the ingredients of the plum pudding. The ingredients used included almonds, pistachios, apricots, walnuts, cashews, and fruits such as dates, plums, figs, oranges and  dry grapes.“Once the mixing is done, it will be stored for at least a month to get the flavour. And then, additional ingredients will be added to prepare the plum pudding for Christmas,” said T Saravana Babu, executive chef, Ambica Empire.  “We have already started getting orders for the plum pudding,” he enthusiastically added. A grand spectacle! It was even more a bigger spread of fruits and nuts at GRT Grand, T Nagar, with the mixture weighing about 400 kgs, with Mohiniyattam exponent Gopika Varma setting-off the festive spirits. “The actual process begins before two months, starting with the selection of the right ingredients,” said the hotel's executive chef Balachandar. GRT Grand has been solemnising the cake mixing ceremony for past 13 years. “We send these cakes to our corporate clients for Christmas, gift them to our regular customers and even sell through the special Christmas outlet at the hotel,” he said. When the cake is finally ready, it will weigh about 700 kgs. “The older it is, the better it tastes,” said the chef, explaing the reason of delaying the process of taking the cake out of the kitchen.