To get into the Yuletide spirit and start off its bakery preparations for the Christmas season, Ibiza The Fern Resort & Spa organised a cake-mixing ceremony on November 30. Celebrities including actress Mumtaz Sorcar, singer Soumitra Ray and actress Sayantani Guhathakurta joined in the fun-filled activity at the hotel. The cake-mixing began with handing over aprons, gloves and Santa caps to guests and celebrities. It was initiated by general manager of Ibiza The Fern Resort & Spa, Subhadip Basu, and executive assistant manager (F&B) of Ibiza The Fern Resort & Spa, Zaffar Rahman. Other chefs, resort staff, resident and non-resident guests rolled up their sleeves and donned Christmas hats to plunge into a hearty mixing of dry fruits, nuts, raisins and syrups galore. At first, fruits and nuts were put inside a large container and sprits were poured on them and mixed well. The mixture was then tossed and turned till the fruits and nuts were completely drenched in the spirit. Almost 35kg of assorted fruits and nuts were added to 12litres of wine, whiskey, beer, brandy, vodka and rum during the mixing. The prepared mix will be allowed to steep for a month before they are baked into Christmas cakes, Christmas puddings and Dundee cakes, ready to come out of the oven. Christmas decor and live crooning added a festive mood to the event. Christmas spirit and cheer was spread by chefs of the hotel who laid out a scrumptious lunch to celebrate the festivities. “Cake-mixing is a ritual performed to welcome happiness and prosperity. This tradition is followed all across the globe and heralds the Christmas season, which is incomplete without the rich and sumptuous Christmas cake. The more hands that go into it the better the flavour of the cake. We at Ibiza The Fern Resort & Spa have a full-fledged bakery and churn out cakes of all sorts of flavours. We celebrate the ritutal every year; however Covid played a dampener. This year we are celebrating with much enthusiasm and fanfare . We hope to make it a bigger celebration next year,” said general manager of Ibiza the Fern Resort & Spa, Subhadip Basu.