IAM Institute of Hotel Management in Sector V turned the yearly routine of cake-mixing into a chance to deck up the front courtyard in festive decor. Streamers, string lights, stars, candy canes, pine cones, Christmas stockings etc. hung overhead as students in black coats and Santa caps hurried about their chores. Games had been devised too in keeping with the spirit of the occasion. Some guests thus aimed to throw tennis balls into the open mouth of a cut-out of Santa Claus as a volunteer held a basket behind it to catch the balls.
The ingredients of the cakes had been laid out on the table in shapes of pine trees and Santa caps, interspersed with ornamental balls and bells.
A not-so-plump Santa Claus also made an appearance during the act of mixing.
“We are using about six kg of dry fruits. This is adequate to make 150 to 200 pounds of rich plum Christmas cake. We will leave the mixture to rest and mature for the next three weeks,” said chef Ayan Kundu, a faculty member, who was overseeing the process with chef Charlie D’Cruz.
Three teams of students had been pressed into service. “There are 35 in the team deployed in food production, 25 in food and beverage service and 20 in decoration. The first years are in charge of service and buffet set-up. The third years are playing a supervisory role,” said chef Kundu.
The f&b team had also prepared mulled wine, which proved to be quite popular among guests, being a warm drink for the winter chill.
British deputy high commissioner Andrew Fleming, filmmaker Satrajit Sen and other guests at the cake-mixing ceremony at Taj City Centre. This is the fourth year of the event
“We planned the decor not just in the courtyard but also in the dining hall according to the cake-mixing theme,” said Ankan Ghoshal, a thirdyear student of the food and beverage department. An array of snacks was served in the hall, prepared by a team headed by Shuvam Guha, a thirdyear student who was in charge of the hot kitchen.
“We chose the day as it is International Cake Day, which is dedicated to enjoying, baking and sharing cakes. We will sell the cakes that will be baked at the carnival organised by the Little Sisters of the Poor, an old age home, in December and the proceeds will be donated to them,” said director Maitreyee Chaudhuri.
A mosaic of Santa Claus in a sleigh created with the ingredients
Sudeshna Banerjee
Participants all set to start cakemixing at Calcutta 64 on Sunday. “This is our first year of cake-mixing. We invited our regular patrons as well as those who were present. We mixed enough ingredients to bake 20 pounds of cake,” said Debojit Paul, cofounder of the cafe.
A student of IAM clicks the spread laid out by them