At Fredericka D'Souza's Bandra West home on Mount Carmel Road, the festive season has arrived early. Though still a month away from Christmas, her home is already wafting with the smell of freshly-baked date rolls. She goes through the process of kneading the dough, rolling it flat and cutting it into thin strips, before placing a date with walnut stuffing inside each strip. She rolls it to seal the date, delicately dropping it on a baking tray. Her first Christmas order is almost ready.

Not far from D'Souza's home is Valerie Bahuguna's residence. Bahuguna, 57, who runs a home-baking enterprise, Treacles and Treats, is in the middle of a laborious cooking process, stirring her guava mix over medium heat, to prepare another popular Christmas delicacy, guava cheese. At least today, she has time to spare for a hearty lunch.