Have yourself a sweet holiday!
View(s):We celebrate Christmas with moments spent in Church and with family around a tree, with carols sung, gifts given…and food eaten. This week on Take 3, we go out looking for goodies, from the 28-year-old cake shop to one of the newest outlets in town. Here’s what you need to know.
Gerard Mendis Chocolatier 58A Horton Place, Colombo 7. Tel: 011 523 8588 Website: www.gerardmendis.com
We arrive to find Gerard Mendis packing his gift hampers. They’re beautiful boxes filled with promising things. In this case they cost Rs.9000 but you can upgrade or downgrade based on your budget. If you’re willing to stay in the same grade though you get 11 items, including stollen, macarons, marzipan fruit, and breudher. Some of these items, such as the macarons, have a short shelf life, so you will want to ensure they’re consumed quickly.The hamper makes for a generous gift, but if I were you I’d go with what Gerard does best – his chocolates.
They’re expensive – some costing Rs.120 a piece – but the largest, most tempting box is 6,500. There are the usual liquor flavoured wonders, crunchy chocolate-coated nuts, chocolates with marzipan and mint, but if you’re looking for adventure, you’ll likely find it in the likes of the gleaming white chocolate ganache infused with crushed peppercorns and a hint of salt. There are other delicacies we haven’t seen anywhere else such as marzipan with figs, plums and almonds – but with the marzipan a little drier than it should be and the whole thing sprinkled with sugar these might prove too sweet for some tastes. If you’re a fan of European style bread you will also want to check them out – their dark brown Bavarian bread loaves look particularly promising, if rather expensive at Rs.300.
A&M Cupcakes 469 C, Galle Rd, Colombo 3. Tel: 072 244 2244 Website: www.facebook.com/anmcupcakes
At A&M cupcakes come in two varieties, the classic range (think vanilla, chocolate and strawberry but also almond roast, orange and mint) and the star range (oreo, red velvet, mocha.) There are more options in each category and the pricing varies from Rs.100 for one from the classic to Rs.150 for a star range cupcake. They have a sweet selection of Christmas themed cupcakes, notable among which is a Christmas tree cupcake that costs Rs.300 and represents a minor feat of pastry engineering.
Our favourite cupcake at A&M is their red velvet whose cream cheese-heavy frosting makes for happy eating. They also have a nice ‘lemon lemon’- essentially a lemon meringue cupcake, that’s a special this Christmas season. These cupcakes are baked fresh everyday and made from preservative-free ingredients but can sometimes be a little dry. Talking about why they began this business, the owners say: “when we looked for inspiration, we found cupcakes,” adding that they have cupcakes for weddings, birthdays and festivals “or simply for happiness!”
Sponge 347, Galle Road, Colombo 3 Tel: 011 2573321 Website: www.sponge.lk
Sponge has only a few Christmas goodies out for sale, most will come closer to Christmas, likely after the 20th. Currently, there are a whole bunch of small marzipan figures – including penguins – wearing Santa hats and good looking Yule logs. The former priced a little steeply at Rs.240 a figure and the latter, at Rs.3, 300 are their best sellers. In the days ahead to follow, they’ll debut breudhers (Rs 1,600), Christmas pudding (Rs.1, 200), Christmas cake (Rs.195 a slice) and Christmas cookies Rs.280 a pack.
Owner Akantha Pandithasekera comes out to meet us – he says he and his wife Aloma celebrate 28 years of owning and running Sponge this year. In a match made in heaven, the two are pastry chefs (Akantha was the first pastry chef of the Intercon back in the day) now his son is also a qualified chef with a kitchen of his own. They started preparing for the Christmas spread they’re about to roll out from October and say they’re working with a mix of signature family recipes and rigorously tested commercial varieties. Drop in to see if something catches your fancy.