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Come Christmas, the chefs across the country's hotels become busy preparing something unique and special for the occasion. Numerous iconic dishes are associated with this festive spread. As custodians of such delicacies, many chefs want to stick to the traditional grubs advocating that the essence of Christmas lies in these recipes in their purest or authentic forms. Whether several new sweet and savoury dishes might enter the food scene, nothing can beat the classic charm of traditional delicacies. These foods remain unaltered for centuries and often work as an anchor to happy memories around this celebratory period. We spoke to two renowned chefs of the country, and they agree in unison that the festive time-tested culinary fares are their go-to preference.
Chef Rahul Chahar, Executive Pastry Chef, Taj City Centre Gurugram, and Executive Pastry Chef, Vivanta New Delhi Dwarka, has been helming many key positions across several hotels and has been a seasoned chef when it comes to baked sweet something. How does he relate to Christmas? Answering it, he says:
"Christmas is my favourite time of the year. Due to its strong association with cakes and desserts, this festive period inspires me to fuel my inner creativity to prepare some of the most sumptuous offerings for our patrons."
True to his sentiments and feelings for this festival, Rahul shares two classic Christmas desserts and tries to make it simple for someone to follow the process.
Yule Log
Christmas special yule log
Ingredients
For the cake
Ingredient
- 6 nos eggs, separated
- 50 gms cocoa powder
- 150 gm caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tsp icing sugar
For the icing
Ingredient
- 175 gms chopped dark chocolate
- 250 gms Icing sugar
- 220 gms softened butter
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Method
Preparing the cake
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until thick and peaking, and while whisking, sprinkle 50 gms caster sugar.
- Whisk the egg yolks and the remaining caster sugar in another bowl until the mixture is thick.
- Add the vanilla extract, sieve the cocoa powder over and fold both in
- Lighten the yolk mixture with a couple of dollops of egg white folded in. Fold in the remaining whites.
- Line a Swiss roll tin with butter paper
- Pour in the cake batter and bake for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool
Icing
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and let it cool.
- Put the icing sugar into a processor and blitz to remove lumps
- Add the butter and process until smooth
- Add the cooled, melted chocolate and the tablespoon of vanilla extract and pulse again to make a smooth icing.
Assembling the Yule Log
- On a large sheet of butter paper, place the chocolate cake. Trim the edges.
- Spread some of the icings thinly, going right out to the edges. Roll tightly to form the log.
- Spread the icing all over the Yule logo and create a wood-like texture.
- Serve.
Banana & Chocolate Cake (By Chef Rahul)
Traditional banana and chocolate cake
Ingredients
- 250 gm banana
- 250 gm brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 250 ml refined oil
- 40 gm corn flour
- 175 gm refined flour
- 5 gm baking soda
- 20gm cocoa powder
- 40 gm choco chip
- Cream cheese for the frosting
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
- Grease the mini muffin mould or mini loaf pan with little oil.
- Take ripe banana and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and mix it well.
- Add egg to a banana mixture.
- Add flour, baking soda, choco-chip and cocoa powder and fold gently.
- Spoon it into the baking pan, top it with walnut pieces and bake it for 30 mins.
- Demould the cake from a muffin mould or loaf pan and top it with cream cheese frosting.
- Serve it with tea or coffee.
Executive Chef Abhijeet Thakre, Taj City Centre Gurugram, with a demonstrated career in the hospitality industry, has been a pro in catering, menu engineering, food & beverage, Mediterranean cuisine, and hospitality management. When asked how he relates to Christmas and its unique festive spread, he says:
"Christmas food, to me, means celebration. Having been educated in a convent school, the spirit of Christmas got ingrained in me early on. The festive food takes me back to these joyous childhood days, and these sweet memories make me crave the Christmas puddings and turkeys all year round."
He tries to refresh his nostalgic memories and shares the recipe for the iconic roasted turkey, which has been a part of many cultures.
Roast Turkey
Scrumptious roasted turkey
Ingredient
- 1 turkey
- 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1 quartered onion
- Celery 1 bunch
- 2 carrots (chopped)
- 1 bunch parsley
- A few sprigs of chopped rosemary
- ¼ cup melted butter
Method
- Rinse the turkey inside and out with water. Pat with a kitchen towel to dry.
- Mix lemon juice, carrots, onions, rosemary and seasoning in a bowl. Marinate the turkey well and set aside for 3 hrs in the refrigerator.
- Stuff the turkey with onion, parsley, carrots and celery and tie using a kitchen string. Place the turkey in a baking pan and cover it with foil
- Cover with aluminium foil.
- Cook the turkey on medium in a preheated oven for about 2 hrs at 350 degrees.
- Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and cook for another 30 mins.
- Once cooked, remove the foil and cook for 15 mins at 500 degrees. Baste the turkey with its own fat during this time.
- Allow the turkey to rest for an hour.
Making Turkey Gravy
- Scrape off the drippings from the baking pan and put them into a saute pan.
- Adjust seasoning, blend it inside a blender, strain & serve hot with turkey.
