Waitrose Cookery School Review

I recently attended a course at Waitrose Cookery School* with my colleagues as a seasonal treat and thoroughly enjoyed it. Read on for more info on the Waitrose Cookery School in King’s Cross and for an overview of the Chocolate Yule Log course.

The course & location

The Waitrose Cookery School course which I attended was set in a sleek modern kitchen at Waitrose, King’s Cross. On this particular course we made a Chocolate Yule Log. All the equipment and ingredients needed for this particular recipe were provided for £55 per person and the course was 2 hours long.  

Whilst this course is no longer running, you can find plenty of other courses at Waitrose Cookery School including Indian Street Food, Feast from the Middle East, Vietnamese Street Food, Vegan Kitchen, Italian Breads and Couples Kitchen.

Course overview

Before class began we filled out a health questionnaire and detailed any allergies. I usually don’t have dairy or gluten (though sometimes I do and suffer the consequences later…) so I detailed this on my form. The team did their best to accommodate, however I do wish they asked for this information at the time of booking. Nonetheless, whilst we filled out our questionnaires and waited for class to start, there were welcome drinks - prosecco, soft drinks as well as teas and coffees available and also snacks such as olives and pop chips to nibble on.

We were then briefed on the session, given a Waitrose branded apron, chose our pairs to work in and our stations in the kitchen. At this particular course we made a gluten free, Spiced Nut, Chocolate and Whisky Yule Log. The recipe was meant to have whisky in it but I chose an option without whisky… good substitutes to whisky are vanilla or even rosewater.

Each step of the yule log making was clearly explained and demonstrated by the pastry chef at the front of the classroom and there was a sheet of paper with the recipe on it on each station which was very helpful. Plus, all the ingredients needed to make the caramel cream (I was given a dairy-free substitute), ganache, spiced pecans and chocolate sponge can be found in Waitrose and were measured out for the class beforehand.

The process was fun and really took me back to food tech classes in school (with much fancier equipment). I found it quite therapeutic and loved baking as generally I don’t bake - I tend to do more cooking and smoothie making as you can probably tell from previous posts...

The Bake

The recipe served 20 (but makes 2 yule logs) and took 30 minutes to prepare. The Spiced Nut and Chocolate Yule log tasted delicious! It was light yet chocolatey and the nuts gave it a nice crunch. This really got me into the festive spirit! We were given cake boxes and Waitrose bags to take our bakes away with us. Plus, we were able to keep the recipe cards at the end of the session.

Waitrose Cookery School: Spiced Nut, Chocolate and Whisky Yule Log

The Teacher’s version :)

Spiced Nut and Chocolate Yule Log

This was my version :)

Verdict 

Waitrose Cookery School was a great experience, the course was professionally run and the team were on hand to help if we had any queries. I look forward to trying out some of their other courses and would highly recommend these cooking courses if you are looking for a gift for a foodie.  

Have you tried any cooking or baking courses before? I’d love to know. Let me know your recommendations in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by!

Krista x

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