Tiramisu Bakery managing director Harveeen Jandu with a rich fruit cake. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU
What you need to know:
The traditional Christmas cake has its origins in Britain and is full of nuts as well as dried fruits including currants, sultanas and raisins. It also contains some rum or brandy in it.
The Christmas cake is a tradition that is picking up around the country. The rich fruit cake is the perfect dessert to finish off your party or just as a delicious alternative to bread at the breakfast table.
At the Tiramisu Bakery at the Village Market, orders for the traditional Christmas cake have been averaging four every week since the beginning of December. Ms Harveen Jandu says the orders will increase as the holiday week approaches among both Kenyans and expatriates.
The traditional Christmas cake has its origins in Britain and is full of nuts as well as dried fruits including currants, sultanas and raisins. It also contains some rum or brandy in it.
It can be decorated with marzipan, coral icing or white fondant depending on individual tastes. The cake can be pre-baked up to a week earlier and decorated a day before or on the morning it will be served to guests.
While the dried fruits need to be soaked overnight in brandy or rum, the whole mixture preparation process and actual baking could take about three hours. Basically a kilo of cake can serve chunky pieces for up to 10 people and if the whole aspect of baking is a bother, it is possible to buy the cake from a bakery if this is the option you want, then please make sure you order in advance.
By virtue of the amount of ingredients that go into making the traditional Christmas cake, the cost is a bit expensive.
“The cake can cost between Sh3,000 and Sh4,000 per kilo depending on what the client wants it to contain. It can stay for as long as half a day out in the open without losing moisture when you are about to serve it ,” says Ms Jandu.
For this festive season, the bakery is also stocking the Yule cake and ginger bread cookies. You could also order a themed Christmas cake and have it in the shape of Santa’s Grotto. If you are looking for a rum-free cake then Cake City Bake House is the perfect place to order your cake.
Philippa Lenemiria says the demand for both the rich plum cake and the Yule log cake, has been on the increase since the last week of November.
Cake City’s rich plum cake contains tutti fruity, cherries, orange peel, almonds, cashew nuts, raisins, currants, figs, orange juice, apple juice topped while the Yule log cake comes in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and pineapple flavour variations.
The plum cake is priced at Sh3,500 per kilo while the log cake’s pricing starts at Sh2,500. The bakery is also offering ginger bread houses whose pricing starts at Sh3,500 per kilo.
“The plum cake does not require refrigeration and can last up to 14 days while yule cake needs refrigeration and has a shelf life of just three days,” she explains.
