Mysore/Mysuru: The Christmas plum cake, across the globe, is a celebrated symbol of joy, mirth and the coming together of people. Here in Mysuru too, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel began their preparations by organising an exclusive cake-mixing ceremony, along with a social gathering of the who’s who of the city on Nov. 18.

Gloves, tissue aprons and Santa caps were distributed to all present, and the myriad ingredients for the celebratory cake — chopped, grated and sliced dried fruits, cherries, dates and plums — were unveiled on a 24-foot long table.

The fun-filled session saw guests mixing the ingredients with liberal doses of spirit, which will be fermented for a month, before the cake is baked and readied for distribution during the Christmas season.

The event was meticulously arranged to be suggestive of the customs of this tradition. Held at the sprawling Mehfil Lawns of the hotel, it was inaugurated by Most Rev. Dr. K.A. William, Bishop of Mysore.  “The tradition calls for doing the cake-mixing at least a month before Christmas, for the textures, flavours, and aromas to get ample time to soak in and mature,” said B. Harikumar, General Manager of the hotel.

“We wanted to share the joy of cake-mixing tradition with our key guests from the city and beyond and give them the joy of meeting up and getting introduced to each other,” he added.