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The First Taste of Christmas: Cake Mixing at Studio 8 There are certain rituals that mark the passage of seasons in Delhi. The first nip in the air. The evening fog that descends on Ridge Road. And for those of us who take our festive traditions seriously, the annual cake mixing ceremony. This year, I found myself at Studio 8, a meeting and event space at Andaz Delhi, for what the hotel calls the official start of the holiday season. Now, I must confess, I've attended more cake mixing ceremonies than I care to count—some memorable, many forgettable, a few that seemed more interested in Instagram moments than in actual tradition. But there was something quietly confident about the Andaz approach that caught my attention. The Ritual The cake mixing ceremony, for those unfamiliar with it, is an Anglo-Indian tradition borrowed from old British Christmas customs. Dried fruits—raisins, currants, candied peel, cherries—are soaked in spirits (rum, brandy, or sometimes both), mixed with warm spices, and then left to macerate for weeks before being folded into cake batter. The ceremony itself involves everyone rolling up their sleeves and plunging their hands into large bowls, mixing the fruits with an almost childlike enthusiasm. At Studio 8, they've understood something essential: this isn't meant to be a stuffy, formal affair. The space itself—modern, unpretentious, with that signature Andaz informality—set the right tone. There were bowls of dried fruits glistening with alcohol, the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg hanging heavy in the air, and none of that awkward corporate stiffness that can sometimes plague hotel events. Winter on a Plate What impressed me more than the ceremony itself was what followed. Studio 8 had clearly put thought into their festive menu, and it showed. There were freshly baked treats emerging from the kitchen with that irresistible warmth that only comes from a properly heated oven. The winter specials leaned into the season—hearty, comforting, the sort of food that makes sense when Delhi's temperature finally drops below 20 degrees.

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This post was published on 01st November, 2025 by Rahul on his Instagram handle "@rahulprabhakar (Rahul Prabhakar)". Rahul has total 68.1K followers on Instagram and has a total of 2.4K post.This post has received 67 Likes which are lower than the average likes that Rahul gets. Rahul receives an average engagement rate of 0.31% per post on Instagram. This post has received 70 comments which are lower than the average comments that Rahul gets. Overall the engagement rate for this post was lower than the average for the profile.