Each traditional plum cake is different with a secret ingredient or ten. Join us as you line up to try a slice at the city’s oldest bakery
The traditional bakery in Chennai that dates back decades, tells its story through dishes that have stood the test of time, changing tastes and a pandemic. Join us as we explore some of the city’s most iconic bakeries, all of which sell out serpentine lines each year. (These grow longer around the second week of December, and stay that way until Christmas Eve, so fast forward if you plan on eating plum cakes this week.
Opening its doors in 1932, Whitefield Bakery has been turning out rich plum cakes every Christmas for more than 40 years.
SMK Ishaq Basha, the grandson of Syed Sibgatullah who started the bakery with AS Loksah, is carrying on the legacy of fresh, light cakes, thick dollops of cream and fondant toppers. Basha, who runs the operations with the manager, VM Mohideen, says the current recipe for his cake was given to him by founder AS Loksa.
He explains, “For us all our cakes – almond, plum, chai or milk – have to have the perfect texture. It has to melt in your mouth. We don’t overdo the embellishments. We like the recipe to speak for itself. ,
Plum Cakes uses flower honey to soak its fruit mix of black raisins, figs, cherries, cashews and multi-colored tutti frutti (nuggets soaked in raw papaya sugar) for over a month. The brisk sale starts around the halfway point in December.
“We usually sell 400-500 cakes a day, even though sales have come down slightly during the pandemic last year. This year we are looking forward to a pleasant season when our favorite customers place orders to send to friends and family,” says Basha. A pound cake costs ₹200 and a kilo costs ₹400 per piece .
If you’re looking for a sweet and savory hamper this Christmas, Whitefield Bakery also makes egg, cheese, chicken and vegetarian puffs, sweet and salt butter cookies, and baby and milk rusks.
Contact: 9790760126
Started in Perambur, Chennai’s Anglo-Indian community hub, Ajanta Bakery makes its own plum cake throughout the year. Satish Kumar, manager of multiple locations in the city, explains why: “Our longtime customers pick up thousands of plum cake slices for weddings and special occasions.” However, most of their sales happen in December.
Satheesh says, “On Christmas, churches in North Chennai order their congregations to be delivered after midnight. Some schools and colleges also order from us. We usually make 2,000 to 3,000 cakes, slices, Sell between kilo size (₹375) and one kilogram size (₹700) on a daily basis.
The Anglo-Indian recipe, given to bakers, uses plums, dried red cherries, raisins, candied orange peel, pieces of ginger and tutti frutti. The fruit, he says, “is soaked in honey syrup in October, and the cakes have been finding happy hearths for more than 40 years.”
Kumar concluded, “What started out as an English recipe incorporates Anglo-Indian sensibilities and now we have a distinctly Indian Christmas speciality.” The bakery sells cookies, puffs and takes custom orders for gifting, accepting orders online as well as through aggregator platforms.
Contact: 950093531
Located on West Circular Road, Mandavelipakkam, Varghese Bakery has been making its traditional Christmas cakes since 1958. Alex Varghese says that a family recipe with a unique blend of exotic dry fruits is what really makes his Christmas cake stand out. Crowd.
“We use apricots, figs, sultanas, and cranberries, and they’re all soaked with hot spices for over a month. It really helps to bring out the depth of the fruit’s flavor. Add any ingredients to our recipe.” Nuts have not been used.”
The bakery was started by CI Varghese when his family moved from Kerala to Madras about 70 years ago. While the bakery has a loyal following of over five decades, the place has the casual atmosphere of a family bakery, where familiar faces and tastes make for a memorable experience. Verghese says that customers place special orders for Christmas throughout the festive season from December 13. A quarter-kilogram cake sells for ₹225 and a half-kg version for ₹450.
The bakery has decorated cakes ready for gifting with a bouquet of their other baked goods, as well as puffs, cookies, and their best-selling Butter Cake.
Contact: 42101991
Smithfield Bakery, Purasvikam and Maduravoyal
Started in 1885 by Ponnuswamy N of Sadarsapattinam, Smithfield Bakery continues to attract loyal customers every year in December.
Venkatesh Shankar says his idea for the Christmas cake borrows from the Indian spice blend for garam masala: whole cloves, star anise, nutmeg.
“Ours is not the typical English Christmas cake,” he says, “We started making this version about 70 years ago and our customers keep coming back for more. We have two iterations – a no-soak cake that we Sell year round, and that cake that needs soaking.”
This is not the typical soak. Smithfield begins soaking a fruit mix of sultanas, plums and mixed dried fruits for the rich plum cake between July and September. When it’s time to bake, the fruit is delightful with spicy spices, and infused with that festive aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg that wraps you around like a warm hug.
“We do sizes from a quarter kilogram to 300 grams, 1 kilogram and also custom sizes. The price ranges between ₹175 and ₹700,” he added.
Smithfield sells its rich plum cakes from 13 December at its outlets on Perambur Barrack Road and Poonamallee High Road. Despite the pandemic, Shankar says there are steady orders for his rich plum cake, and he expects to do brisk business by Christmas.
If you are looking for more than rich plum cakes, they have an assortment of jam and cream buns, shortbread, butter biscuits, coconut drizzles, jam swirls, and seed and nut cakes.
Contact: 9884600232/944 4477262
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