Festive afternoon tea and demonstration by 2024 Bake off Professional winners - Intercontinental Hotel O2 North Greenwich

 On Sunday, I took my mum to an amazing afternoon tea buffet and a cooking demonstration hosted by the Bake Off: The Professionals winners of 2024. It was held at the Intercontinental O2 Hotel, and we did a bit of shopping beforehand, which made the day even more special

I thought it was a great price at £65 each for three hours, including a welcome glass of fizz and canapés, a live cooking demonstration, and a wonderful afternoon tea buffet.

The hotel was beautifully decorated for Christmas, with a large Christmas tree in the lobby and an impressive festive scene created by the chefs, which was entirely edible.

The afternoon tea was held in the Kinaara restaurant which had lovely views over the Thames. 

Upon entering, the two chefs, Tanuj and Narayan, were waiting by the door to greet us. We were then seated at a table with our glass of fizz and offered two types of canapés. One was a whole grape coated in goat’s cheese and rolled in a pistachio crumb — it was delicious.

After about half an hour, we were invited into a small room set up with around 20 chairs and a camera crew ready to film the event. I counted just 18 guests in total, which made it feel like a really intimate experience. The chefs guided us through the steps of making a chocolate and cherry yule log, explaining and demonstrating everything clearly. We were able to ask questions throughout, and they even let us taste the chocolate ganache cream and a slice of the finished yule log.

After this, they showed us how to make the perfect scones, and everyone was surprised by how much they mixed the dough and treated it more like bread dough. They explained that it should be allowed to rest before being cut into rounds, and then rested again before baking to help form a crust on the outside.

I must admit, they rose beautifully and had lovely smooth tops. I’ve never been very good at making scones in the past, as I was always told not to handle the dough too much, so this was definitely something new that I learned on the day.

The demonstration and questions  latest about 45 minutes then we went back to our table and helped ourselves to the amazing afternoon tea buffet

Festive Christmas Edition Menu

Pastries

Stollen

Black forest yule log

Baba rum

Clementine tarts

Pistachio and cherry financiers

Bailys and toffee choux

Coffee and passion fruit pavlova

White chocolate and cardamom panna cotta

Christmas spiced maritozzi

Selection of scones

Figs and strawberry jam, clotted cream

Sandwiches

Chicken breast with chestnut and sage cranberries on white bread

Egg mayonnaise with truffle shallots and watercress on brown bread

Scottish salmon with horseradish cream, dill on basil bread

Smoked cheese with sun-blushed tomatoes chives on malted grain bread

Foie gras parfait with quince jelly on mini brioche bread

As you can see, there was a wide choice available, and every item on the table was clearly labelled.

To start with, I chose the chicken sandwich, egg mayonnaise sandwich, smoked cheese sandwich, and an Indian paneer cheese puff pastry parcel, which wasn’t listed on the menu. Everything was very fresh and generously filled.

Whilst enjoying the sandwiches we ordered a cappuccino each plus glass of tap water to wash it all down with.

Next i decided to have just one scone as wanted to leave room for the cakes.

I had the candid fruit scone with the jams and clotted cream.

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I  wanted to try all the nine different cakes but decided to get just four to begin with

Clementine tarts

Pistachio and cherry financiers

Bailys and toffee choux

Coffee and passion fruit pavlova

My favorites from this selection were the pavlova and the pistachio and cherry financier, while my mum enjoyed the choux pastry and pavlova the most.

Next, I tried the rum baba , white chocolate and cardamom panna cotta, and the Christmas-spiced maritozzi. This was the first time I’d tried the Italian maritozzi bun, and it was wonderfully light, filled with soft, fluffy cream. I really loved it and wished I’d had room for another one — sadly, we were both far too full to eat any more.

It was a shame they didn’t offer doggy bags to take leftovers home, as there were still a few cakes left at the end!

While we were enjoying our final few cakes, the two chefs came around the tables and handed each guest a small box signed by both of them. Inside were six lovely chocolates — such a thoughtful gesture and a wonderful keepsake to remember the day by.

It was such a lovely afternoon and my mum really enjoyed it as something a bit different. The food was all delicious and so much of it. We are hoping that they will do it again in the near future. 

Nearest Station : North Greenwich  about  18 minute walk

Best bits : Meeting the chefs and the demonstration plus all the lovely food and service was very good too. They made us feel very welcome.    

Worst bits : Nothing      

Value for money :  Yes definitely considering what it included   

Would I go back? : Yes if they do another demonstration on