City bakers are spreading the season’s cheer with a range of treats that aren’t your run-of-the-mill traditional Christmas fruitcake. From seasonal macarons to reindeer cakesicles and 3D Christmas tree cupcakes, these desserts are sure to put you in a jolly good mood.
Here’s our pick of some of the most decadent festive desserts this Christmas.
Oh, snap!
Nothing screams Christmas like gingerbread men in gingerbread houses, and Pradeepa Ramachandran takes this up a notch by offering a healthy version. Using honey and brown sugar to ensure that these cookies have a snap to them, Pradeepa’s treats from her brand Nilas give you a hint of ginger right from the first bite. Decorated with Christmas-themed royal icing, the gingerbread houses use sugar pearls, candy, vanilla wafers and chocolate as part of the additional trimmings. Rs 2,000 for a large gingerbread house.
Pop art
Cake pops are so yesterday. Tipping the scales in favour of something more millennial, Ashwini Bala’s Christmas-themed cakesicles follow Instagram cake artist Raymond Tan’s trend. Popsicle-shaped cake pops dipped in chocolate and then decorated into the cutest reindeers, Santas and Christmas trees, The Sugar Jar offers a range of flavours on this newfangled trend. From red velvet to truffle chocolate and Oreo flavoured bites that are available in stock, Ashwini extends customised flavours on order. Also, look out for Christmas cake rolls. Rs 100 per piece.
Loco for cocoa
From rich chocolate banana crinkle cookies or Baileys Irish Cream brownies, Flutterby run by Ashita Sheth has something for everyone. Specialising in creating kid-friendly recipes. Flutterby’s Christmas menu puts on offer custard, multigrain butter, cranberry vanilla and glass-stained cookies besides her signature dark chocolate brownies. Rs 100 onwards for 250 grams.
A piece of cupcake
The solution to the age-old disagreement of who gets the last piece of cake comes in the form of Arti Shroff’s pull-apart cupcake Christmas tree that is available in a range of flavours like chocolate, red velvet or vanilla. The home baker, who previously worked as a sous chef at Taj Krishna, Hyderabad is also creating a range of fondant cake toppers of reindeer, snowmen, Santa’s and Christmas trees. The lemon pound and orange cranberry cake alongside a traditional mince pie are also must-tries from her brand Dolcie. Rs 1,500 onwards for the pull-apart tree.
Meringue madness
On the healthier spectrum of desserts, the pavlova is a perfect gluten-free one. A decadent eat that is topped with a rich vanilla-infused creme Chantilly and juicy seasonal berries, Anusha Jaganath’s dessert is for those opting to stick to a non-traditional bill of fare. With three different toppings on offer including a chocolate ganache with pear and lemon curd with candied orange, this rustic-looking meringue is as easy on the palate as it is on the eyes. Up for grabs is also her brand, Seventh Heaven’s signature biscotti— double chocolate, lemon white chocolate and orange cranberry. Rs 450 onwards.
In the middle
Christmas flavours are generously used in these minced pie macarons from Sanjna Raguraman’s Sweet Cravings. Sandwiched with soaked dry fruits used in a fruitcake or filled with a gulab jamun or red velvet cheesecake cream, these macarons are a spin on traditional festival sweetmeats. Among her range of brownies are the red velvet cheesecake, blondies dark chocolate variants. Rs 300 for a box of 5 macarons.
Pump up the jam
For a twist to the traditional Linzer cookies, OMG’s version is refined-flour and white sugar-free. Affording a healthy option, homebaker Karishma Kalro’s alternatives are almond or millet flour. Her signature Almond and Jowar Millet Linzer cookies make use of coconut or palm sugar and are sandwiched between homemade Scottish raspberry jam. While these buttery shortbread treats make for a lovely holiday eat, Karishma’s ABC (Almond Banana Chocolate) cake and dark chocolate walnut oat pudding find many takers. Rs 750 for a dozen Linzer cookies.
