Arts
Homely seasonal flavours
As the sound of carols fill the air and the green, red and white decor start springing up, you know that Christmas is upon us.
It’s a time of joy, festivities, family and also indulging. This month in ‘Bite-size’ we’ll be featuring several home bakers and new establishments that offer a mix of traditional and modern seasonal delights.
Anzy’s Bake Station
Run by a young home baker Annie Johanna Ligory, Anzy’s Bake Station, opened up just a year ago. Though not professionally trained, her creations are visually appealing, and have a wholesome homely feel.
Her Christmas menu includes a traditional Yule log which features a brandy chocolate butter cream exterior and chocolate cream icing in the centre. The infusion of Christmassy spices of nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon, counter the sweetness of the moist cake.
Also featured are Christmas themed cupcakes, essentially vanilla or chocolate cupcakes with buttercream and fondant decor. So if you have a particularly sweet tooth, we recommend Anzy’s Bake Station.
Based in Ratmalana, she offers both a pick up or charged delivery option and typically requires a two day advance for smaller orders and four for larger quantities. Pre-ordering is available till December 22.
Pix by Amila Gamage
Contact no :
0759933821 (Call/ SMS/Whatsapp)
Social Media:
*Instagram : @anzysbakestation
*Facebook : Anzy’s Bake Station
Advance : 2 – 4 days
Delivery /Pick up ( Ratmalana) available
Melie’s Bakery
Melie’s Bakery is run by fulltime home-baker, Melieza Silva from her home in Mahabage. Having studied at hotel school and trained at Cinnamon Lakeside, Melieza started Melie’s Bakery just last year. Her Christmas menu features the more traditional rich cake, gingerbread houses, sugar cookies as well as Christmas themed cupcakes, and chocolate chip cookies in the festive colours of red and green.
Pix by Sameera Weerasekera
Her formal training comes out especially in her detailed and beautifully decorated sugar cookies. The cookies which come in the shape of snowflakes, Christmas trees and angels, are topped with royal icing and fondant. Tasting very much like soft buttery danish cookies, they are sweet without being achingly so. If you are ordering her cupcakes, we do recommend going for those decorated with chocolate ganache, though the buttercream and fondant decor is more visually appealing. The red and green chocolate chip cookies which on first glance remind us of Dr. Seuss’ ‘green eggs and ham’, deliver the same chewy sweetness you’d expect from a cookie.
However her specialty is her rich cake. Improving on her family recipe, Melieza takes a delicate and traditional approach to it. By opting out of machine cut ingredients and adding ingredients like cherries after the stewing process, it’s resulted in her rich cake being more colourful, as well as improving its texture. “It comes in nice chunks , so you can see and taste the individual ingredients,” she explains. Each piece also comes with a homemade marzipan coating. We highly recommend her rich cake, which we found to be delicious and wonderfully textured.
Melie’s Bakery takes only pre-orders and requires a five day advance for most items. They offer both a pick up option from Mahabage/ Kandana , as well as a taxied delivery option.
Contact no : 0718642831 (Call/SMS/Whatsapp)
Social Media:
*Instagram : @meliesbakery
*Facebook : Facebook: Melie’s Bakery
Advance : 5 days
Delivery /Pick up ( Mahabage) available
Little Miss Shortcake
Growing up Ashmita Wijesinghe was inspired to cook watching chef Nigella Lawson on TV. At just 19 years old, she started up her own part-time homebake business in 2015. Little Miss Shortcake, as her business is called, is offering an extensive menu for the season, from traditional mince pies and yule logs to rich cake and gingerbread cookies. If all this sounds like it involves way too much sugar, she also offers a sugarfree cake as well, made using candied fruit and artificial sweetener.
While also able to do the typical brandy chocolate buttercream yule log, Ashmita does offer an interesting tweak to the yule log. One is the use of a peppermint chocolate cream inside the cake.
Her ginger cookies come in a variety of sizes and shapes including little gingerbread men. Decorated with royal icing, the cookies have a sweet yet spiced taste, with the ginger being subtle instead of overpowering, and the cookies surprisingly soft. Her mince pies have a chewy texture that goes well with the sweetened and spiced fruit filling.
But what she specializes in is her love cake. Putting a twist to a family recipe, her love cakes unlike most love cakes are moist instead of dry and though densely packed, quite soft. In addition to the usual brandy, she also adds a little arrack, plus a ‘special ingredient’. The result is a subtle kick which just elevates its taste. Coming in 450 grams, it is perfect for gifting too.
Though currently working in the food and beverage industry, Ashmita still manages to find time to meet last minute orders, requiring only one or two days notice. She offers both a pick up option from Dehiwala or a charged delivery option.
Contact no : 0773123644 (Call/SMS/Whatsapp)
Social Media:
*Instagram : @little.miss.shortcake
*Facebook : Little Miss Shortcake
Advance : 1-2days
Delivery /Pick up ( Dehiwala) available