Arts
Baking up good cheer with seasonal favourites
Christmas is always a special time of the year. This year, we are all aware of the challenging circumstances with the prevailing pandemic. Nevertheless, the season is special because of that spirit of giving and the love and fellowship shared.
Like many traditions, making Christmas cake or Love cake is a time-honoured practice in many homes. However, making these cakes can be quite a process so here’s a list of home bakers who are stepping in to supply these much awaited cakes for the season.
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- The trapped foodie. Pic by Angelo De Silva
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- Flour Power. Pic by Trudy Pompeus
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- D’s Cakes and Desserts. Pic courtesy Dhanushya and Dhaneshka Chandrasekera
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- Dilani Fernando’s goodies. Pic courtesy Bake me a wish
As a home baker, Menaka Mayadunne bakes through the year. But, when the love cake tins come out of storage, that’s when she gets that proper Christmas feeling. It’s these little traditions which are lovingly dusted out each year that makes things so special, she explains.
This season her venture ‘The Trapped Foodie’ will be supplying Love cake and Panetonne. The Love cake recipe she uses is over 60 years old and Menaka enjoys its perfection in terms of simplicity and simultaneous decadence.
She recalls counting out cashews and chopping them by hand as a kid. Beating the batter with a wooden spoon, coupled with muscle power, always made it a “labour of love.”
Menaka firmly believes quality ingredients make up the perfect Love cake and Panettone. “Especially Christmas traditional recipes are made that way for a reason; if you can’t taste the years of tradition in it, well that’s a bit sad,” she says.
Menaka always sticks to her trusted wholesalers and distributors. The products are then prepared by her in a spotless and sanitised kitchen. She also works with a safe food delivery partner and ensures the proper protocols are followed when the products are delivered.
For orders contact her on 0777009181.
Shanika Chandrasekera believes the Christmas season is a time to spread love and joy. However, being able to provide products made with the best ingredients and love during a time like this with peace of mind, is a new experience she says.
Shanika is a banker by profession, who tried her hand at baking after she had three daughters. She soon found more pleasure seeing her family enjoy her food and wanting to spend more time with her daughters, she started her own venture, D’s cakes and Desserts.
Her Love cake was the first product of her home bakery and is still her signature cake. She tells us the recipe was passed down by her late mother, who was an amazing baker and Shanika follows it to the last detail.
She believes in consistency and uses the best quality ingredients. No preservatives are added into any of her products. Adhering to the highest safety standards, she also vacuum seals the product to ensure its freshness.
Her Love cake is priced at Rs. 1500 for 500 grams. For orders call her on 0773953992 or 0773514363.
Dilani Fernando’s favourite time to bake is the Christmas season.
Baking has always been her passion and after years of experience, she began her own online outlet, “Bake me a wish”.
Her Christmas cake recipe has been passed down for generations, she tells us. Dilani always uses fresh ingredients – and of course the secret ingredient, love.
Dilani is adamant that she never uses dates in her Christmas cake as she believes it has a negative impact on both the taste and colour of the cake.
Following the health protocols while baking she also makes sure the ingredients always come in sealed packs at the point of purchase.
For orders contact her on 0775822496.
December is one of the busiest months in the airline industry. Typically Amanda Pompeus would be away from home. But since the industry was affected by the pandemic, she has had to stay at home for most of the year.
However, she feels “grateful, happy and blessed” to spend time with her loved ones, especially during this season.
This will also be her first Christmas as a home baker with her venture ‘Flour Power’. Amanda hopes to start things off with a personal favourite, namely Love Cake. She will be selling a kilogram at the rate of Rs.2100.
She will also be undertaking orders for brownies (Mint, Cheesecake, and Cookiedough), Mini Doughnuts, Cheesecake Tarts etc.
Her love for baking started at a very young age and being a perfectionist, she pays close attention to detail, ensuring her workspace is super clean and working with a pair of gloves.
For orders and delivery contact her on 0766366544