Is international chocolate day a real thing? It’s debatable, but regardless of the day’s authenticity Hotel Windsor is celebrating it with a choco-tastic afternoon tea buffet. On Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7 the old-school elegant hotel is hosting a chocolate-themed twist on its usual fancy afternoon tea offering with cocoa-laden cakes, pastries and sweets.
The chocolate afternoon tea buffet will use solely chocolate from French coverture chocolatiers Weiss. Windsor head pastry chef Jeremie Parmentier has created a menu that showcases different varieties of single-origin chocolates alongside native Australian ingredients. Some of the treats on offer include a desert lime and white chocolate cheesecake; milk chocolate puff pastries; dark chocolate, tonka bean and blackberry entremets (mousse cakes); gianduja (chocolate and hazelnut) tarts; and dark, milk and white chocolate macarons.
The chocolate buffet will also feature a large number of gluten-free sweets. Pastry chef Felix Goodwin (who has been living with coeliac disease since the early 2000s) has created gluten-free chocolate desserts especially for the afternoon tea. Those sensitive to gluten will be able to enjoy wattleseed, chocolate and whiskey naked cakes; dark chocolate and Davidson plum tarts; matcha chocolate delice and white chocolate Russian honey cakes (made with local Beechworth honey).
If you need a break from the sweets the afternoon tea also has a selection of the Windsor’s ribbon sandwiches and savouries. Having said that there will be a chocolate fountain so don’t waste too much stomach space on the itty-bitty sangas.