This premium Kolkata bakery launches its Christmas menu

The giant gingerbread house greeted us the moment we entered The Bakery at The LaLit Great Eastern. Surrounded by Christmas ornaments, mini trees, and rows of delicious cakes, chocolates, and savouries, we started getting the feel of Christmas arriving in the air. We sat down admiring the vibrancy and variety of the new Christmas menu and here’s what we recommend.

Starting with the savouries the Smoked salmon croissant open sandwich won our hearts. These mini croissants were perfectly crispy and flaky and the slice of salmon with a handful of rocket and lettuce leaves made for the perfect quick bite for your meal. Irresistible in nature, we quickly gobbled a few of them ourselves. The hard tarts with the soft cheese and mushroom filling of the Mediterranean baby quiche were well balanced and the Cajun chicken pithiviers slice stole the show with its soft-tart base and a mildly spiced up chicken filling inside. The Pesto cheese and roasted veggie focaccia sandwich was equally praiseworthy. The freshly baked soft and fluffy focaccia bread along with crunchy vegetables and loads of seasoning on top was quite delectable.

After completing the savoury course, we moved on to the star of the season – the desserts. One has ample options to choose from- Fruit cake, Plum pudding, Dundee cake, Double choco-chip muffin, Vegan Travel Cake, Macarons, Liquor chocolates, a variety of cookies - gingerbread gooey butter, cinnamon and duo choco-chip, banana oatmeal; Yule log and Santa; but we headed over straight to the heritage signature desserts.

The delicious Plum Cake which has a recipe carried on for 180 years was fruity, spongy and moist. Executive Chef Sunayan Pramanik, points out, “Basically it’s the maceration of the fruit. What we do is use last year’s macerated fruit along with fresh fruits mixed this year. It gives a matured flavour to the plum cake. The recipe has a natural yeast activity as well. Since the inception of The Bakery here in Lalit, this cake has been made.”

The Stollen Bread from Germany almost resembled a sliced croissant in its looks. Said chef, “It’s a matured bread. The outside texture is very crispy and inside has a slice of marzipan.” The compact marzipan changed the texture of the bread and made it sweeter.  The Panetonne from Italy had a glazed look from the outside and was fruity from the inside. Lastly, Orange Marmalade Cupcakes made with the season’s fresh oranges derived its mild sweetness and colour from the fruit, making it perfect for those who love mildly sweet desserts.

At 1, 2, 3 Old Court House Street, Dalhousie Square

Available till end January 2025, 8 am – 8 pm 

Price for two (approx.):Rs 1500+