It’s the most wonderful time of the year again – and we’re here to help you celebrate! For this month’s review the Cake Katha crew decided do a thorough sweep of Colombo’s bakeries, to find ourselves the all-too-perfect Christmas cake that’ll best fit your holiday shopping list.

That’s right! We’re here to help you sleigh Christmas like a pro! 😉

So, settle down your eggnog, and buckle up as we take you through our collection and try and resolve Colombo’s Christmas cake conflict.

 

Sensaal

 

This little delight offered to us by Sensaal happened to cost Rs.160/- and was really quite something! Even though the texture seemed to be quite bland and dry, the sweetness wasn’t too overpowering. It was packed with diced raisins and cashew nuts and seemed to have retained a fairly decent amount of oiliness. The icing itself was quite hard, and seemingly thick and somewhat lacked the almond flavor all Christmas cakes are famous for. Overall the cake was nicely packaged and had a really wonderful aftertaste. The flavors seemed to be well-balanced, and we do commend the creators for their overwhelming effort!

 

 

 

Perera and Sons

Perera and Sons bakers, being one of the oldest bake shops in Sri Lanka, has been serving up the good old Christmas cake for years. This (seemingly more reasonably priced) rectangular bundle of joy unfortunately didn’t consist of any layers of icing. The fruit and nuts were in very bulky chunks and wasn’t very-well minced. The cake in itself was quite bland and dry in comparison to others. However, the sweetness seemed balanced, and the aftertaste was somewhat desirable! For a Rs.110/- it definitely does come in first place as the most budget-friendly option from our collection!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bread Talk

With one piece of finely decorated Christmas Cake being priced at Rs.350/-, in comparison to the other places we surveyed, Bread Talk seemed to be the most expensive. As we took our first bite into the cake, we were greeted with it’s soft, somewhat mellow texture of freshly ground ingredients. With each bite we relished in the taste of finely minced nut beautifully mixed with fine cut fruit. The cake, even though not as sweet as expected, was perfectly executed in the levels of moisture retained, and topped off with a thin layer of almond flavored icing. The brandy aftertaste was slightly higher than expected, and definitely left us feeling the Christmas “spirit”;) All-in-all safe to say that if anyone made it to Santa’s nice list this year – it’s Breadtalk’s baking team!

 

 

 

 

Fab

This FABulous piece of Christmassy goodness was sold to us at the staggering price of Rs.170/- and was truly quite extraordinary! Even though it seemed to somewhat lack in the cashew nut area, it’s light texture and well-balanced fruity flavor did well to make up for it!

The sweetness wasn’t overpowering and seemed just right! A tinge of ginger was left lingering in our taste buds once we’d been finished with this piece of happiness, and the icing too – though quick hard and thick – was truly delicious!

 

 

 

Divine

This slab of cakey goodness presented to us by Divine bakers, was priced at a fairly reasonable price of Rs.190/-. Although at first glance the cake’s structure did not seem that well executed, with some areas of the icing being slightly messy and cracked in a few places, it definitely managed to make up for its flaws with it’s well maintained moisture and sweetness. The almond taste of the soft layer of icing seemed to be slightly overpowering, and the color was darker compared to the rest, but all-in-all the cake was quite something to be enjoyed! Hat’s off to the team at Divine for creating something sensational!

 

 

 

 

 

Sponge 

If there’s one piece of this Christmas treat that is required to be on everyone’s shopping list, safe to say it’s the Christmas cake offered by Sponge. Though priced at Rs.280/- and presented in a less extravagant manner when compared to the other cakes, this little delight was really quite something! Although we did have to “sponge” up the oil that was seeping out, the cake itself was beautifully cut and neatly arranged. The icing had the perfect tinges of almond and brandy, while the insides were basked in rich, flavorful nuts, plums and juicy-red cherries (arguably even more red than Rudolph’s nose!) Surprisingly enough, in contrary to the outsides, the inner texture wasn’t too oily at all! The quality of the ingredients that had been used was more than apparent, and it’s safe to say that this piece is our absolute favorite!

 

 

 

 

So there you have it, a look at Colombo’s Christmas cake battlefield. Have any questions you want answered? Let us know in the comments below! Merry Christmas!