Must have goodies for the festival pudding

Chennai

The idea of Christmas pudding is very British. It is made of dried fruits held together by egg, suet (some animal fat), moistened by molasses and flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and other spices. Many households have their own recipe for pudding, handed down through families for generations. The pudding is aged for a months; the high alcohol content of the pudding prevents it from spoiling during this time.

ROSE COOKIES: The mildly sweet and extremely crunchy rose cookies are X’mas favourite in Kerala.  They are also referred to as achu murukku . Needless to say, it has many takers in Chennai as well. They are deep fried pastry made with the help of designed cast iron mould. Some are dipped in icing sugar post frying and some are made with sugar. To make perfect rose cookies is an art, which is mastered only after making it many times.

YULE LOG: The custom of burning the Yule log on the hearth around Christmas goes back to the medieval times. As a result, the Yule log cake is prepared at homes and bakeries around the world. Made of sponge cake to resemble a miniature actual Yule log, it is a form of sweet roulade. It is generally baked in a large, shallow Swiss roll pan, iced, rolled to form a cylinder, and iced again on the outside. The most common combination is basic yellow sponge cake and chocolate buttercream.

PLUM CAKE: No Christmas is complete without a delicious and rich plum cake. It is fruity and nutty cake with the goodness of dried cherries, almonds, raisins and lots of dried fruits. They originated in England in 1700. It is called to as ‘plum cake’ because raisins and currants used in the cake were referred to as ‘plum’ in England in 1660. It is a tradition to prepare plum cakes at home and distribute among friends and family.

GINGERBREAD: Gingerbread houses and cookies shaped like men are associated with Christmas world over. Made with flour, sugar and ginger, the house and cookies are loved by kids. Gingerbread varieties range from a soft, moist loaf cake to ginger biscuits. It is believed gingerbread was first baked in Europe at the end of the 11th century when returning crusaders brought back the custom of spicy bread from the Middle East.