Simon Wittenberg visits the five-star Grand Dame hotel in London’s Marylebone to try out the Afternoon Tea designed by this year’s winners of the Bake Off: The Professionals.
Launched in 2016, the yearly Bake Off: The Professionals TV show is always a tightly-fought contest and an exciting watch. Some of the finest pastry chefs from bakeries and hotels across the country take part in a series of intricate and challenging tasks over a series of ten episodes, with their eye-catching and magical creations judged by Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden.
The final seven-hour challenge in the 2023 series was to create a 1920s-style banquet display, enough to feed 80 people.
After impressing throughout the series, the nationally-recognised Head Pastry Chef, Mauro Di Lieto, and Pastry Sous Chef, Daniel Schevenels (above), from the iconic luxury five-star hotel, The Landmark London, triumphed to emerge victorious in this year’s grand final, after being up against some stiff competition from other famed five-star establishments, such as The Dorchester in Mayfair, Glenapp Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, and St James’ Court, A Taj Hotel.
To mark this special occasion, the winning duo Mauro and Daniel unveiled a new show-inspired Afternoon Tea, priced from £70 to £93 per person (with the latter including a glass of Taittinger champagne) at the beginning of September, which guests can enjoy in the lavish surroundings of the 100-seater Winter Garden Restaurant.
This eatery takes centre stage within the hotel’s famed open atrium (main image) – a space dating back to the 1920s that rises eight floors above guests and culminates with a spectacular glass roof.
Sitting amongst the palms in the light and spacious setting, dressed with velvet-covered seating and pristine white linen, the menu, which can also be adjusted to accommodate any dietary requirements, is centred around autumnal flavours for the pastries, desserts and scones.
Instead of a chilled glass of bubbly, we opted for a couple of refreshing Virgin Wild Berry Mojito mocktails (£13 each) made with berries, lime, mint, and lemonade, which certainly hit the mark on a warm Friday afternoon.
When it comes to tea, there are plenty of varieties on offer, as you would expect from an establishment of this kind, spanning house blends to black teas.
We decided on The Landmark Blend, a fragrant combination of Assam and Ceylon tea with an added hint of real Bourbon vanilla, and a traditional English breakfast – filled with flowery and spicy aromas, thanks to the leaves being grown at high altitude in Sri Lanka, and in India’s Darjeeling region.
With stomachs rumbling, the first “course” was an individual plate of four sandwiches made with beautifully light and fluffy brown, white and granary bread, lined with generous and quintessentially British fillings of organic egg mayonnaise with black truffle and chives, smooth Lapsang Souchong smoked Scottish salmon, tomato and mozzarella, and thinly-sliced cucumber.
For my other half, she had the dairy-free options of chicken, egg, and classic cucumber.
The other bonus of this Afternoon Tea is that the very attentive staff will bring top-ups of sandwiches elegantly arranged on large trays, so there is little chance of going hungry, and the trick here is not to fill yourself up before indulging in the pièces de resistance that make this Afternoon Tea so memorable.
After a short pause, where you can enjoy the splendour of the atrium, which is bathed in sunlight and where guests are serenaded by the classical pianist, our cake stand arrived filled with four different desserts on the summit – an illustration of the skill both in terms of presentation, composition, and flavour that made Mauro and Daniel deserving winners in this year’s contest.
The small cakes were, namely, a chocolate and salted caramel Swiss roll with banana crémeux and peanut butter, which was utterly divine. Second up was the equally sumptuous white chocolate and ginger cheesecake, served with pears and yuzu. This was followed by a vanilla custard, almond choux, with passion fruit and coriander – made with iconic singer Elvis Presley in mind.
My favourite out of the four delicacies was undoubtedly the light and fluffy raspberry and lemon pavlova with crème fraiche, a re-imagination of the traditional pavlova, with a fresh raspberry as the garnish.
The dairy-free desserts were similarly an all-round success and were masterpieces for those who have other dietary requirements. Served in chocolate cases, my other half sampled raspberry and nectarine tarts, as well as a chocolate mousse decorated with gold leaf and a mango cream swirl on a biscuit base.
The scones on the bottom layer of the cake stand were served with three large pots filled with clotted cream, strawberry jam, and a rich and velvety chocolate spreadable ganache with hints of hazelnut chocolate cream. A tasty coconut cream was the dairy-free alternative.
The first glazed scone to hand was of a classic recipe, whereas the other was a sweeter candied apricot and marzipan scone, which was just as enjoyable – shown by a fully clean plate.
In summary…
It is easy to see why the Landmark London pair were crowned the stars of the show and rightly deserve a place in the Bake Off Hall of Fame.
Set in special surroundings, this Afternoon Tea is the perfect tribute to the exceptional skill displayed by Mauro and Daniel throughout the very popular competition and is the ideal way to celebrate a special occasion or catch up with friends and family to enjoy a taste of victory in its truest sense.
The Landmark London – Where and How?
The Landmark London is located at 222 Marylebone Road, London NW1 6JQ, United Kingdom. To make a booking, call 0207 631 8000 or e-mail [email protected].
The Afternoon Tea is served between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
See a video and photos of our Bake Off: The Professionals-inspired Afternoon Tea at The Landmark London on the Luxurious Magazine Instagram page.
Read more dining reviews, guides and features here.
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