Thiruvananthapuram:

In a first, the Kerala Bakers Association (KBA) is planning to bake a 600-feet-long cake to mark the 131st anniversary of cake-making in the country.

The association is planning to bake the cake at a convention centre in Thrissur on October 30 to showcase the legacy of ‘plum cakes’ in the country.

According to local historians, the first cake in the country was baked by an Indian in the historic town of Thalassery in north Kerala over a century ago.

Taking cue from the European settlers in the Malabar region of Kerala, Mampally Bappu, a local entrepreneur, is said to have baked the first cake using local ingredients in the coastal town in 1883, they said.

To mark the occasion, the KBA has roped in scores of its members to prepare and exhibit the massive cake.

The event is being organised not just to commemorate the legacy of bakers in Kerala but to create awareness about the significance of baking industry in the economy, the association said.

“Kerala may be the only place in the world which has such a large number of bakeries. So we thought it is our responsibility to create awareness about its glorious past,” P M Sankaran, state president of KBA told PTI.

Mampally Bappu, who lived in Thalassery, was a visionary who introduced the exclusive taste of cakes to Indian foodies, he said. “Though there was a bakery set up in Bengal in 1880 to cater exclusively to the British, Indians could not savour the delicacies prepared there. Bappu made the first cake in his Royal Biscuit Factory in 1883,” he said.

Bappu had made the cake based on a sample brought by a European planter who lived in Thalassery then, he said.

Though Bappu’s descendants have been celebrating the legacy of cake-making as a family affair for many decades, the association decided to mark the occasion on a larger scale this year.

M P Ramesh, the owner of Cochin Bakery and a fourth generation member of Bappu’s family, is taking the initiative of making the giant cake, weighing over 3000 kilograms.

“The eggless cake will be prepared by a team of 30 cake experts on October 30. It will be exhibited for the next two days,” Ramesh told PTI. A 353.5 feet-long cake, showcasing significant features of Thalassery, was prepared by the association to mark the 129th anniversary of cake making in 2012, which gained entry into the Limca Book of Records, he said.

Besides the display of the giant cake, several other programmes and cultural events have been planned as part of anniversary this year, association members said.

source: http://www.english.manoramaonline.com / On Manorama /  Home> News> Kerala /  by Agencies  / Saturday – October 18th, 2014