“As we waited for the tins to cool my mother would share anecdotes about her childhood and culinary journeys. In her sense of accomplishment of this seasonal rite, there would be a quiet reflection, thanking the Almighty... ”
By Kavita Peter
A cake that conjures up to view
The early scenes, when life was new;
When memory knew no sorrows past,
And hope believed in joys that last! —
(From-To Mrs K, On Her Sending Me an English Christmas Plum-Cake at Paris by Helena Maria Williams)
The 18th century British poet and abolitionist Helena Williams, summed the Christmas spirit brilliantly in this excerpt. Where else can the confluence of taste and memory of joyous times come true but in the baking of Christmas cake? We can all agree the “Cake” that Williams calls “Life’s calendar of bliss and pain” is a good and sweet way to round up the year. Culinary historians attribute its origins to the plum porridge in medieval Europe. After a day of fasting, this warm and nourishing meal was what people ate on Christmas Eve. In time this lowly porridge evolved in composition and complexity as it entrenched itself into Christmas traditions. The porridge mixture had dried fruit, spices, honey, butter, wheat flour and eggs which eventually evolved into the Christmas pudding. Eventually addition of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, caraway seeds, cardamom became evocative of the visit by the three wise men from the East. The addition of the spice mix takes this seasonal marvel to the pinnacle of baking creations. Today Christmas cakes are made in many different ways at home as well as commercially. Nonetheless, they are all variations on the classic fruitcake.
As the popular adage goes the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The Christmas Cake is one baked item that requires patience on part of the baker as well as the consumer. Some of the assiduous bakers start their prep work for Christmas cakes well in advance. As early as November dried fruits and nuts are mixed and allowed to steep in the flavours of the brandy or rum for two or three weeks. After the ingredients are mixed, additional sherry or brandy is added to the cake to ensure a moist texture. It is cooled and stored in airtight containers or wrapped in butter paper parcels. Not many Christmas revellers these days want to go the distance with these elaborate stages of confectionary making. But hurrah for Google, YouTube and the likes of Nigella Lawson. Those who claim to have no time or patience to do all this prep work have been redeemed by numerous shortcut methods for that last-minute Christmas baking. Good for you I say! It is the attempt to continue a tradition that counts. Patience always pays off on Christmas Day. The cake is carefully unwrapped and placed on a platter, each slice and crumbly morsel celebrating its dense, flavourful glory. But I am getting ahead of myself. To reach this stage of culinary epiphany is a long journey of precision, finest of ingredients, observation, timing and sense of taste.
Baking Day was special in our home. In my family, children were roped in early as foot soldiers in this culinary battlefield. They had to take on beating egg whites, mixing the butter and caster sugar or getting the numerous baking tins lined with parchment paper. As a child, I remember my aching arms after the exertions of baking day. This was before we acquired the electric eggbeater to relieve the tedium of manual whisking. Meanwhile, the kitchen had to be free from other cooking operations and cleared for all the baking paraphernalia. My mother was the final authority on assembling the batter. She presided over the array of ingredients of the best quality, sourced and prepped over days. The jars of candied dried fruits, chopped nuts were opened and mixed with flour and she would carefully prepare the caramel that would enhance the colour and flavour of the batter. The final touch would be a secret combination of spices and a dash of wine sourced from Bethlehem.
The first tin was always meant for the cake to be given to the Church before Christmas mass. There were the cakes to be sent to family friends, the maid and finally for the household. The experience was always atmospheric, the long vigil to see every loaf baked to perfection and the air redolent with the aroma of the spices and caramel, hours after we were done. As we waited for the tins to cool my mother would share anecdotes about her childhood and culinary journeys. In her sense of accomplishment of this seasonal rite, there would be a quiet reflection, thanking the Almighty for witnessing another Christmas season in our lives and for the resources to share our joy as cakes. In hindsight, I see these as profound moments of love, wisdom and generosity.
My mother celebrated her last Christmas in 2014. Today Baking Day before Christmas for me marks the culinary traditions that make us what we are. It is a time that I feel my mother’s presence the most, as I negotiate my own culinary journeys. Most importantly it is a legacy I cherish from my resourceful and inspiring foremothers - the extraordinary memory of taste.
Kavita Peter is an Associate Professor at the Department of English, KC College, Churchgate, Mumbai and has been teaching literature for over two decades. She is an inveterate flaneuse, aficionado of gardens, books and culinary history.
Banner image by Prachi Palwe and has been downloaded from unsplash.com