Cake Mixing & Champagne Tower @ The Sonnet, Kolkata-Terrace 🙂

Event: Cake Mixing Ceremony

Date: 30 Nov 2019

“History of the cake-mixing ceremony dates back to the 17th century, when it marked the arrival of the harvest season. During this time lots of fruits and nuts were harvested and prepared to go into the making of the traditional plum cake.”

In the current age, cake mixing is the mixing of dried and candied fruits and nuts, and soaking the same in assorted wines. This mixing is done strategically, a few months or weeks before Christmas, so that the aforesaid fruit and nut mixture is soaked and fermented enough till Christmas, when they would be required for the making of the traditional plum cakes aka Christmas Cakes.

Cake mixing is also considered to be an usher for good tidings and happiness.

The Sonnet, a classified 4 star hotel, located in the heart of the new business IT hub, Salt Lake City and adjacent to Kolkata’s ever growing modern business nerve centre, Rajarhat, celebrated the onset of the ongoing winters by organising the traditional Cake Mixing Ceremony on 30 Nov 2019 at it’s third floor based Kolkata-Terrace, an open terrace area with wonderful view.

For the cake mixing, a big rectangular but shallow steel basin was laden with cashews, almonds, raisins, black currants, figs, candied red cherries, candied peels, candied ginger and assorted colored tutti frutti. The aforesaid ingredients were beautifully arranged in the look and shape of a christmas tree, Santa Claus’ face, stars and the likes.

A stack of flasks and bottles containing rum and brandy were placed neatly at one end of the aforesaid steel basin.

The ceremony was a close gathering of The Sonnet’s management, staff, food bloggers and few other guests.

It started with the welcome note and speech by their General Manager, Mr. Rajesh Ishai, followed by the actual cake mixing, for which all the attendees duly wore the required Santa caps and disposable aprons and gloves. Dressed in the aforesaid hygiene garb, we lined up both sides of the steel basin and poured off all the available liquor into it, while mixing it thoroughly with the decorative ingredients.

Thereafter, to my utter surprise, along with other guests of honor, I was called upon by the management to fill the Champagne Tower, an act which I had always found fascinating on celluloid and TV, but never actually dreamed of performing!

Promptly and neatly, two chilled Champagne bottles were opened by Mr. Rajesh Ishai and Avishek Dutta, their F&B Manager and we poured the champagne into the carefully built pyramid of coupe and martini glasses.

Even though some things and actions are not in your to-do-list, you end up feeling equally happy and content, once you get the opportunity to do them! Pouring into the Champagne Tower at The Sonnet was one such action for which I will always be thankful to their management.

A video (courtesy: The Sonnet) of this act can be viewed at –

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1052778261722659&id=162164160784078

Lastly, we enjoyed the high tea amidst the free flowing supply of Sangria and Champagne.

At the high tea, the vegetarian and the ‘hidden egg’ (cookies, breads etc.) options comprised of –

– Hot beverages like – assorted teas, coffees and 3 types of cookies.

– Starters like – herb garlic bread with cheese, veg cutlet, spring roll and a spicy paneer preparation.

– Aloo sabji-kachori, the quintessential comfort food, for the main course.

– Desserts like – jol bhora sandesh, nutty pie and tiramisu.

We enjoyed the high tea amidst prolonged foodie chatter and peals of laughter. Open air ambiance, good skyline view, early winter chill and beautiful surrounding greenery, added an altogether different zest to the atmosphere.