Christmas is just ‘round the corner with New Year’s pacing up. It’s that time of the year to eat, drink and be merry!
And when it comes to eating, there cannot be a better way than kickstarting the festive spirit with an abundance of sweet-somethings.
Bakers across the country are working round-the-clock to give you the extra-sweet experience, exclusively to make your Christmas and New Year’s merrier than ever. To meet all your dessert cravings, these bakers have introduced unique flavours that don’t just taste heavenly, but look irresistible as well.
While customised cakes have been catching up in India, many bakers still maintain the tradition of good-old plum cakes and this year, many say they want to outdo their previous creations.
The News Minute spoke to a few bakeries in the southern states to scoop out more information about what sinful creations you should look forward to.
Itsy Bitsy Bytes, Bengaluru
Owner of Itsy Bitsy Bytes, Divya Haldipur, says, "Cute customized cupcakes with figurines is in this year, but Christmas is incomplete without plum cakes. Last year I had introduced fondant plum cakes with edible dolls of Santa Claus, snowmen, penguins, Rudolph and so on. That is in great demand now."
While the normal plum cake is Rs 1200 per kg, the customized ones are priced at Rs 1500 onwards and vary as per designs needed. And, the cupcakes with figurines on top range from Rs 100 to Rs 200 each.
Aubree, Bengaluru
Kishore Kumar of Aubree proudly claims to have 35 to 40 unique varieties of desserts on display this Christmas.
"We maintain the quality and taste, despite serving 100% vegetarian desserts. All our items are eggless, gelatin free and veg with a green dot."
This year Aubree is introducing their signature pastries: OMG Santa, Framboise Terrine and Fudgees. While these three are exclusively Christmas and New Year’s specials and will be discontinued later, Kumar assures that he will continue another addition to this delectable list: The Mason Jar collection.
"Although plum cakes are always high on demand during Christmas, our ginger cookies are among all time favourites”. These cookies come for Rs 149 for a pack of 10.
Oh My Cake.in, Kochi
Online bakery Oh My Cake boasts of presenting exclusive plum cakes, every year.
This year’s exclusive includes Magic plum, Plum Rich, English Plum and Grandiose.
Owner Rijin John further adds , "We also make pastries and customized 3D cakes and for Christmas it will come with designs like Santa Claus, snowflakes, etc on top." The plum cakes are Rs 270 onwards for 800 gm and customized cakes begin from Rs 2000.
Incredible Art- Artisan Cake Boutique, Kochi
"We specialise in French pastries and our pastries are of international standards," says owner and baker Rumana Jaseel.
This year, for Christmas and New Year, they have added special flavours to their French Entremets- Mango Cheese Cake Mousse, Coconut and Black sesame nougat,Cardamom Creme Brule, Mango Prelude and Pistachio Dacquoise.
"Mango Prelude is this year’s special bestseller. And we also have Christmas and News Year's special Gift hampers which has an assortment of 9 items, including Plum cake, Speculose cookies, Mendiant, coconut truffles, nougat, Peanut caramel bars, Rasberry macarons and panned chocolates.”
The French pastries at Incredible Art are Rs 1000 onwards and the mango prelude is Rs 2000 for a gateaux.
Lava, Hyderabad
"We believe in our traditional recipes and follow them strictly," says head chef Kathir Terumal adding that this is what sets Lava cakes apart from the rest.
"Our choco-vanilla and choco blueberry cakes are on high demand. And this year pre-order began quite early, much more than last year," he adds. 12 pieces of cupcakes come for Rs 1030, while boxes of 6 pieces are priced at Rs 550.
Kavanah, Hyderabad
Director of Kavanah Trinath Babu introduces his bakery as a place where they "don’t sell just cupcakes and croissants, but also a wholesome experience".
He says, all their cakes tell a story. And during this festive month, they are ready to tell the tale of their famous Christmas-themed ginger cookies and the special Marble Tea cake.
Customized fondant cakes start from Rs 2500.
Sinful Temptations, Chennai
"My Plum cakes are heavenly with a dark and moist texture. The secret is that I follow the traditional way of soaking the dry fruits for almost a year. And as I am a home-baker, I use no preservatives," guarantees Sinful Temptations owner Uthra Ravikanth.
These special plum cakes come in three sizes: 1 Kg, ½ kg, and 250 gm- which cost Rs 1200, Rs 600 and Rs 300 respectively.
"We also have special white chocolate fudge cake with cranberries and salted pistachios. But the star items are the Plum cakes and our Fudgy chocolate brownies."
You can get their Fudgy chocolate brownies for Rs 500 for a box of 6 pieces, and their special Christmas cup cakes are Rs 100 each.
Choc of the Town, Chennai
As the name suggests, this place fulfils all chocolate desires. Specialized in customised chocolates, Choc of the Town has Christmas themed chocolates with 3D Santa Claus, Christmas tree and reindeers.
Owner, Subhadra Priyadarshani mentions, "This year, we have a special 3-inch Santa Claus chocolate to celebrate the festive month."
These Christmas-themed chocolaty wonders come in boxes of 5 and 12 for Rs 90 and Rs 250 respectively. And their special 3-inch Santa chocolate is Rs 50 a piece.
Trivandrum Cake House, Thiruvananthpuram
Owner of Trivandrum Cake House Althaf S began TCH in support of his wife Sabila’s baking wonders and after "4 years of dedicated service", they have made their own space among the city's home-bakers.
"We are getting orders for plum cakes for Christmas. We mostly make customised cakes, from Angry Birds to Minions to elegant laced cakes. You name it, and we will make it".