Sugar Rush

Tantalise your senses with season's sweet assortments.

KARACHI: The 16th century English tradition that began as plum porridge has now worked its way through a sorbet of dried fruits, spices and honey to become the annual celebratory Christmas cake.

Christmas cakes are made in many different ways but the variations arise from the classic fruitcake. They can be light, dark, moist, dry, heavy, spongy, leavened, and unleavened and can be assorted to make different shapes, with frosting, glazing or a dusting of confectioner’s sugar or  even served plain.

While foreign traditions call for preparing the dessert in advance and preserving it by feeding the cake with brandy a month before serving, Pakistan too has made traditional leaps to follow the annual trend  with mainstream bakeries , confectionery shops and home based sellers using local adaptations of the fruit cake for this time of the year.

Zarnak Sidhwa a private seller who invests heavily in trying to conserve the original tradition of the Christmas cake says, “I have been into this business for the past six years, this is my second year as one who would bake Christmas cakes on a larger scale. It takes almost two to three months for the fruits to mature, because one needs to marinate the fruits in orange juice, for a complete English fruit cake to culminate.”

Basma Azfar is one of the pioneering home made cupcake business’ that took Karachi by storm with her creative work and scrumptious mini desserts. Azfar launched Cookie in August, 2009 and has introduced Christmas cupcakes by order for the special holidays. “Cupcake(s) by Cookie is primarily a cupcake business. For Christmas, I have four separate options available to celebrate the festivities which include Christmas themed sugar cookies, snicker doodle, gingerbread and peppermint hot chocolate.”

Cookie has been a trend setter amongst confectionery assortments available domestically, and now with Azfar’s latest launch to cater for seasonal desserts in elaborately decorated gift wrap, the business has spun high demand.

On the other hand, Chef Muhammad Mehdi, an expert in French cuisine has vested heavily in Christmas designs as a staple creation for his bakery, Desserts. Mehdi marvels at the idea that he “Bakes Christmas Cakes, Christmas Logs and Christmas Pies. The cake is originally made up of plum or dry fruits; whereas the signature logs are made from vanilla or chocolate icing and sometimes even swiss rolls. The pie is crusty and all kinds of dry fruits and apples are used in its making.”

Another mainstream bakery that spun a spell on the city with its launch was Pie in the Sky. Zia-ur-Rehman, Operations Manager for Pie in the Sky says, “Every year, we bake Christmas cakes, Christmas logs, Christmas cupcakes, rich fruit pudding and cookies for this season. Orders get placed prior to Christmas.” Rahman takes this opportunity to quote affordable price ranges of the desserts in demand this season, “At Pie in the Sky, a three pound cake costs Rs795 while a two pound cake costs somewhere around Rs645.”

Off late Karachi, has witnessed a sugar rush but Reema’s has taken desserts up a notch.

Her famous Chocolate Gateau Cake has become the talk of the town. Her chocolate oozing delight is considered food for the soul.

The cupcake brigade

An offshore trend seems to have plugged Karachi with new home based designer cupcakes taking to the streets.

Cookies offers a range of personalized gourmet cupcakes, that cost anywhere between Rs150 to 200 each, depending on the personal themes and flavours chosen.

MavMade is an affair with your senses that has locally revolutionized fondue topping on desserts.  Although expensive with cakes pricing Rs4000 onwards, the cupcakes and desserts have assortments that titillate your taste buds.

Goodsies: Quoting prices at the lower end of the brigade, with Rs100 each — Goodsies offers a large variety of cakes but falls short in comparison to her other home based competitors.

Old school

These bakeries were mainly responsible for introducing foreign desserts to Pakistan

Bombay Bakery: From their famous Macaroon cake to their moist Coffee cake, Bombay Bakery is the nexus of sweet in Sindh.

Armeen’s: The shop reveled in dessert couture with exquisite delicacies like Sierra Noir, Blueberry cheesecake, Peach pavlova and Lemon mousse.

Cillie’s: Famous for their Apple pies, Chocolate mousse and Black forest desserts, Cillie’s desserts are known for their originality.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2010.