Eat your cake, and have your health too

KOCHI: It’s almost Christmas time, and bake houses in  the city have started stocking different varieties of cakes, ranging from the classic fruitcake to the heavily iced sponge cakes to plum pudding to Christmas fruit pie to cashew and almond rocks. But what about the fat, sugar and calories that go with it? Is it healthy to eat cakes?CGH Earth, popular as Casino Hotel at Willingdon Island is introducing ‘healthier’ cakes this Christmas. They have come up with ‘zero transfat matured plum cake’ which uses pure butter instead of transfat in the form of vanaspati, the content that usually goes into cakes. Says, Erin Louis, the general manager of the hotel, “We always stood for healthier, eco-friendly aspect of life. Our basic motto itself is clean, green and healthier earth which we try to adapt in the food production as well. So we thought about an alternate way of baking cakes.”Erin says the reason why bakers and households opt less for butter cakes could be because they have lesser shelf life compared to ordinary trans fat cakes. Chef Kumar of Casino says cakes baked in the hotel are a healthier substitute to classic matured plum. According to him, the zero transfat version has all the goodness and none of the transfat. Of course all the customary ingredients remain the same -  raisins soaked in honey, candied ginger flakes and caramelised orange, accented with a hint of vanilla and nutmeg for a smooth flavor and plush texture along with butter.Using palm sugar instead of ordinary sugar during the baking process of cake is another health tip the hotel group shares with us.Erin describes the process of making cakes in the ‘Casino’ kitchen. “Our Christmas cakes are always made in advance. Dried fruits of the best quality are procured in the beginning of the year from Northern parts of the country. They are cleaned, washed and dried. The fruits are then cooked for 15 - 20 minutes with honey, sugar, salt, lemon juice, lemon rind, candied lemon peel, and candied ginger peel. This mix is left to cool off for a day. After cooling the fruit soaking is carried out, nutmeg is sprinkled generously over the fruit mix. Once the entire mix is sprinkled with nutmeg, bottles of rum are poured onto the fruit mix. The mix is then stored in barrels and left to mature for four months. Upon maturing, the fruit mix is added to the cake batter, consisting of flour, sugar, butter, ghee, eggs, caramel syrup and vanilla essence. After baking, the cakes are left in ‘temperature and humidity controlled’ settings for another three months to further mature, after which, they are ready for packing and distributing.”Casino is also introducing native flavours to cakes. Jackfruit powder cake , cookies made of whole jackfruit are the two varieties.