Best Delhi Bakeries for delicious Christmas Treats

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Ho! Ho! Ho!

Hope the halls are all decked with holly, the mulled wine is on the hob and you are all set to rock around the Christmas tree, Santa hats firmly in place.

However, if you have left arrangements for your Christmas table to the last minute and are worried that you may be moved to Santa’s ‘naughty’ list with your tardiness stealing Christmas, Grinch-like; worry not, help is at hand! Here’s a list of the best spots in New Delhi to purchase a selection of Christmas delicacies from around the world.

Wenger’s

This venerable, much-loved old bakery located in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi has been around for 95 years and can show the young whipper-snapper patisseries a thing or two about how to do Christmas right. Seasonal treats available here include gingerbread, plum puddings, Italian panettone breads and delicious Christmas cookies. However, the pièce de résistance is undoubtedly the plum cake with its rum-soaked dry fruit and rich traditional flavour which would have done any Dickensian yuletide table proud! The best plum cake in the city if not the country (a tall claim I know but one bite and I can guarantee you would be nodding your head in rapturous agreement). Another classic, not-to-be missed treat are the mince pies, the traditional British Christmas treats dating back to the 16 th century. The Wenger’s version is traditional and divinely delicious with the plump, sugar dusted pastry shells enclosing a spiced sweetmeat mixture of dry fruits, sugar, spice and of course just a soupçon of liquor to keep the festive spirits high! The décor is also classic and beautiful with vintage decorations including wreaths and cherubs which look like they have stepped out of the pages of a 19th century Christmas novel!


L’Opéra

Modelled on the French Salon de Thé (tearooms or coffee shops to you and me), L’Opéra was born out of the founding family’s desire for authentic French breads and pastries in India. Their Christmas offerings are more global including everything from Panettone (the traditional Italian Christmas treat of a  sweet loaf made with candied citrus fruits, lemon zest and raisins) to Alpine nut cakes (short crust pastry filled with caramelized nuts), gingerbread houses and the very English Christmas cake and plum pudding. The highlight of the menu however is their take on the Bûche de Noël, the classic log-shaped French Christmas cake. The cake was also representative of the yule log that families would burn in their fireplaces from Christmas eve onwards to bring good fortune in the new year. The L’Opéra version comes in different flavours including praline and (my personal favourite) daiquiri lemon cheese cake. Scrumptious and soul-satisfying!




  Theobroma

Theobroma (Greek for ‘food of the Gods’) is a bakery chain that started with a single outlet in Mumbai and now has a pan-India presence with outlets in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. One of the key reasons for their success has been their commitment to quality and consistency with baked goods across cities tasting the same i.e., uniformly delicious! Their repertoire of yuletide goodies ranges from mince pies and honey ginger walnut tarts to yule logs and Christmas cake. My personal favourites include their wonderful version of the Stollen, the spice, dry fruit and candied citrus peel rich sweet bread without which no German Christmas is complete. I had a disastrous introduction to Stollen in my teens via an extremely flavourless, inauthentic version in a now defunct Delhi bakery but one bite of the Theobroma version turned me into an instant convert and life-long fan. In addition to the spices and the fruits, their Stollen also includes a decadent marzipan filling and comes in two equally divine variants, Classic and Chocolate. Another festive treat is their take on the Linzer Torte, a classic Austrian shortcake pastry layered with raspberry juices. 

If these tasty treats have got your gastric juices flowing, head over to the nearest outlet to stock up and spread some Yuletide cheer. Merry Christmas and in the immortal words of Tiny Tim, ‘God Bless Us Everyone’. 





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