Traditional Cake Mixing Ceremony

It is almost Christmas season once again and the year is coming towards an end.Le Cordon Bleu School of Hospitality, G D Goenka University celebrated its annual Cake Mixing Ceremony on 29th Nov 2016 to usher in the vibrant and festive Christmas season. The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and happiness. It is all about counting all your blessings and looking forward to another great New Year.

The event this year was attended by Honorable Vice Chancellor, Prof.(Dr.) Deependra Kumar Jha; and all the Respected Deans and HoDs. It was an honour that Mrs. Radhika Goenka too graced the occasion and made the event even more joyous.

The traditional cake mixing ceremony usually starts a few months ahead of Christmas and the winter festivities. It is an age old custom that started in Biblical times and was primarily celebrated in large family gatherings. The traditional Christmas Cake or Christmas Pudding as it is called, is composed of many dried fruits held together by egg and flour, sometimes moistened by molasses and flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and other spices. The dry fruits, cherries, tutti fruiti, cranberries, dates, sultanas etc comprise of over 70 ingredients that have to be macerated in spirits such as brandy, whiskey and rum to mature them and soften them.

Over the years this ritual has been adopted by many corporate and institutions all over the world. Especially all five star hotels have this annual ritual of bonhomie wherein typically the General Manager invites all in-house guests and special invitees, enthusiastic children and the staff of Hotel who together gear up with aprons, caps and gloves and take part in the fun-filled ceremony. Students of hospitality who would soon be organising such events in the near future got an exposure to this wonderful tradition.

The fine mix of Sultanas, Raisins, Dry figs, Tutti Fruiti, Candied Orange Peel, Candied Lemon Peel, Dry Apple, Cranberry, Dry Dates were decorated in the form of the beautiful GDGU logo. The Dean, Dr. Y G Tharakan along with all the faculty and students of SOH welcomed all the guests. Hon’ble Vice Chancellor and Radhika Goenka Ma’am initiated the first measure of spirit in to the mix. Soon all the Deans and HoDs joined in as they enthusiastically looked for the coins that are added to the mixture. As per tradition whoever finds the coin gets married that year. Otherwise finding the coin denotes good fortune in the coming year. These macerated fruits will be used for baking Christmas Cakes at Le Cordon Bleu School of Hospitality before Christmas!