It’s the fragrance that hits me first. I follow it like Yogi Bear to the first floor of Writer’s Cafe, Taramani, where all the ingredients for a Christmas plum cake are laid out on a table.
Cut pieces of dates, cherries, sultanas, cashew nuts, candied oranges, tutti frutti, black currant, candied ginger are laid out grandly in 10 neat stacks. Standing guard beside them are 10 bottles of rum and a boxful of cinnamon powder. A raisin or two rolls temptingly away from the herd and I fight the temptation to pick and gobble them up. We are at Writer’s Cafe’s first cake-mixing ceremony.
Traditionally, cake-mixing has been a family affair in Europe. Here too, the entire ‘family’ — burn survivors and survivors of domestic abuse — from both the Peters Road and Taramani branches have gotten together for the ceremony.
“The earlier you soak the ingredients in rum, the better it is. It’s like wine: the more mature, the richer the taste,” explains Tarun Mahadevan, the Business Development Manager. It’s October, and the staff are clearly already in a festive mood. They have a reason to celebrate. “This is the first time we have the resources needed to make so many plum cakes that we’d require a cake mixing to be done,” says Tarun, pointing to the confectionery room behind him, their ‘mini factory’.
It’s time for the cake mixing to begin. Chef P Bhupesh opens the box of cinnamon powder and sprinkles it, along with other homemade spices (nutmeg, bayleaf and cardamom) on to the top of the dry fruits. One half of the staff pour down the bottles of rum onto the sea of fruits, even as the other squish the mix together, squealing with joy as they get their hands dirty.
In a burst of technicolour, 10 pairs of hands push the mix around until it is a mountain of orange, peppered with green, red and white, which is then scooped up into blue crates, where it will be left to soak for the next 45 days.
“That was 100 kilograms of fruits and dry fruits in total, and should be enough to make 240 kilograms of plum cakes,” informs Chef P Bhupesh, “We will start making the cakes in December.”
“The sales from the cakes sold will be forwarded to PCVC, Spastic Society of India, and the other NGOs that Writer’s Cafe supports,” adds Tarun.
You can also buy the cafe’s Diwali gift box of homemade chocolates. Available in two sizes for Rs 399 and Rs 599. Sales go to charity. Call 48611604.