It is almost December and we are officially allowed to plan and discuss Christmas. Christmas is a never ending fascination with its glittering stars, cribs, decorated Christmas trees, and above all, the yummy cakes. Even though the Christmas season is quite a few days away, the remote preparations have already kicked off. In fact, Christmas cakes and wine are prepared long before Christmas season.
Cake mixing is one of the most awaited traditional rituals of Christian households and hotels or cafes that marks the onset Christmas season. Apart from the fact that mixing dry fruits ahead of time brings richness to the cake, is a great opportunity for a family get together.
When we go back into the history of cake-mixing, it says it marked the arrival of the harvest season. During that time a lot of fruits and nuts were harvested before the winter season and these seasonal fruits & nuts used to go into the preparation of the traditional Christmas fruit cake. They used to save up the mix for the coming year as well hoping that it would bring another abundant year.
This ceremony later became a family affair for everyone where the whole family sits together and soaks the harvested fruits in wine or rum that are dried and stored soon after the harvest. This is the same practice that we see today in all the hotels, restaurants and bakeries where all the kitchen staff members come together regardless of their designations for the cake mixing creating a festive mood.
Although the cake mixing ceremony is warming up to the festive holiday season, it does much more than just that. Today, the age-old ceremony of cake mixing is seen more of an occasion for social gathering and pre-celebrations to Christmas which starts a few months before Christmas and the winter festivities.
For some, it is some quality time to spend with family, and for others, it’s a bonding time with their friends and relatives. Even the kids find it a fun job to help their mommies and to feel they have also contributed to the preparations. In the pastry industry, this ritual marks the beginning of a very busy season for the bakers.
Preparing for a celebration is truly an event where people bond with each other especially in a commercial kitchen where the staff enjoys the ritual of pouring and mixing with much enthusiasm and fun.
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