I have made quite a few enemies after writing a blog on Baking Christmas Cakes in Kolkata, my friends are now demanding that I treat them with homemade Christmas Cakes. Since it will be extremely difficult to call everyone home for a treat thus I have decided to write a blog on traditional cake shops from where you can buy Christmas cakes this season. Now there are many cake shops and bakeries in the town that sell cakes during Christmas but I feel a shop and its environment also matters much and adds a certain visual flavor to the cakes that it sell.
“Can you please tell me which shop sells authentic homemade Christmas Cakes?” this is one question that many ask me and I keep repeating that homemade Christmas cakes are always different from the ones that you get in the shops. The shops always need to make the cake a bit economical so that selling them brings some profit whereas homemade cakes are created out of love and no price can be put on them. The quality and quantity of dry fruits and nuts are always better for homemade ones. However, there are few shops in the town which comes the closest.
So without wasting much space let me begin the list. Let me put a disclaimer here that the choice is based on my personal preference and many may argue but since this is my blog thus would like to tell the world my perspective.
Saldanha Bakery
This shop is subjected to a series or myths and legends when it comes to bakery products. Due to its limited presence which is just a single outlet in an obscure corner of the city, it’s not frequented by many but only a select few swear by the quality and taste of Christmas Cakes from this shop. You can either buy ready-made ones which are sold as per measurement by weight or you need to pre-order your share much in advance. The demand is such great that there are chances you won’t get any if you wait till the Christmas Eve.
Saldanha’s are basically a home baker who have converted their house into a cake shop and a bakery and throughout the year produce finest confectionaries. This is a family run business and you will be surprised to see the baby piano at the corner of the room being used as a table to pack cakes and chocolates.
According to Ms. Debra Alexander, the reason why they are so successful is due to the fact that they use only butter and best of dry fruits and nuts. She insists that there can be only fruit cake and shops selling varieties of fruit cakes with names such as special fruit cake, Dundee cake etc. are all hoodwinking the customers into buying similar products with a different packaging.
Cakes available this year at Saldanha
Fruit Cake
Walnut Cake
Plain Cake
Location of Saldanha Bakery
19, Nawab Abdur Rahman St, Taltala, Kolkata, West Bengal 700016
Click here to open the location on Google Maps
Nahoum Bakery
More than the quality and taste it’s more famous due to its heritage as being the only surviving Jewish bakery in the city. A trip to New Market during Christmas season would for some be incomplete without cakes and pastries from Nahoum. There used to be another Jewish bakery called M X Digama at New Market but that one shut shop decades back.
The sale of Christmas cakes pick up and by the last week, the queue outside the shop extends a good to 100 plus customers. This shop (non-franchisee type) according to me sells the highest in terms of quantity.
Other delicacies that are must from this shops are its Heart Cakes, Marzipan, and Patties. However during Christmas cakes are the items which are stocked the maximum. On the taste front, these are average and cannot be classified as a homemade style. More than the taste its ambiance is what adds the sparkle.
Cakes available this year at Nahoum
Special Fruit Cake
Rich Fruit Cake
Light Plum Cake
Plain Cake
Location of Nahoum
F17 – F20 & F47 -50, New Market (SS Hogg Market)
Click here to open the location on Google Maps
Great Eastern Bakery
It’s no more Great Eastern but The Lalit Great Eastern, however, once this shop used to compete with Nahoums during its heydeys. With the closing of the Great Eastern Hotel this bakery outlet also shut down and remained so for decades. It’s only after the revival of the hotel did this outlet reopen its doors again. Great Eastern Hotel had one of the finest bakeries in British India and if you ever happen to visit the hotel then you can still see the old bakery utensils and equipment being kept on the display.
Cakes available this year at The Lalit Great Eastern
Fruit Cake
Fruit Cake
Plum Cake
Dundee Cake
Location of Great Eastern Bakery
E (N) (134) New Market (SS Hogg Market)
Click here to open the location on Google Maps
Imperial Bakery
Not many know of this shop but for some, this shop sells some of the cheapest Christmas cakes in New Market region. This shop, however, is actually more famous for its traditional vegetable, chicken, and chicken special patties that are sold in metal boxes which are heated by charcoal kept below.
The quality is average and so is the taste but it has its own dedicated clientele who would swear by its taste and it also supplies to many smaller shops across the city.
Cakes available this year at Imperial
Special Fruit Cake
Regular/Normal Fruit Cake
Butter (Plain) Cake
Location of Imperial
E (N) (135-138) New Market (SS Hogg Market)
Click here to open the location on Google Maps
Mullick Bakery
Right opposite to Imperial we have Mullick which just like Imperial caters to its own exclusive clientele. However, I would definitely recommend you to buy the coconut, peanut, dry, chocolate cookies from this shop which are sold as per weight. Also, you can try the rose cookies which if you think are made with rose then it’s not but is definitely is part of Christmas tradition.
Cookies available this year at Mullick
Coconut Cookies
Any Other Cookies
Location of Mullick
E (N) (73-75) New Market (SS Hogg Market)
Click here to open the location on Google Maps
Kathleen
This good old Kolkata-based bakeries which were the first one amongst the big bakeries in Kolkata to try out the franchise model to expand its footprint in the city. Its main and original shop is the one at New Market on Mirza Ghalib Street (Free School Street) in fact its main bakery is right next to it at Cowai Lane.
Due to excessive demand during Christmas season so they tend to outsource its manufacturing thus the quality may differ from batch to batch. The taste I would say would be on the good side and the varieties they sell is quite a few thus making them also a stop on your path of exploration.
Cakes available this year at Kathleen
Dundee Cake
Premium Fruit Cake
Classic Fruit Cake
Rich Plum Cake
Fruit Cake
Plain Cake
Location of Kathleen
12, Mirza Ghalib St, New Market Area, West Bengal 700016
Click here to open the location on Google Maps
Flurys
It’s probably the one name that comes to our mind first but I have deliberately kept it below for the simple reason of being very expensive in terms of quality and quantity. Its prime location on Park Street makes it have its own charm during the festive season. Park Street which gets all decked up for Christmas gives the real feel of Christmas and with a view like that outside the window, the cakes become more festive.
Cakes available this year at Flurys
Plum Cake
Plain Cake
Fruit Cake
Location of Flurys
18A, Park Street, Kolkata, West Bengal 700071
Click here to open the location on Google Maps
Barua Bakery
Once this brand was what we now associate with Nahum, a Christmas without a cake from Baruas was incomplete. During the 40’s till the 70’s its cake was synonymous with taste and quality. This bakery was started in the year 1928 by Manoranjan Barua an immigrant from East Bengal (Bangladesh) who set up this business. However, without any expansion, it fell behind but still caters to a different income group now who keep visiting this shop because of its price advantage.
You can get these caked from counters at the bakery or from Entally market and as a tradition, we buy a couple of kilos which is mainly used for distribution after church service. My mother still swears by its taste which she was well used to as she grew up in that locality.
Cakes available this year at Barua Bakery
Special Fruit Cake
Fruit Cake
Plum Cake
Suruchie
Location of Barua Bakery
23, Lenin Sarani, Kolkata, West Bengal 700014
Click here to open the location on Google Maps
