SMOKE dramatically billowing from the cake stand, you could be forgiven for thinking one of my children had accidentally set their menu on fire during our afternoon tea at the Ampersand Hotel in London.
But luckily for us, this was all part of the thrilling theatrical experience that is the Science Afternoon Tea.
Brilliant for kids, and an ideal treat for the school holidays, it is a tea like no other, where cake stands arrive festooned in smoke, courtesy of a clever dry-ice science trick.
My three children aged five, eight and 12 were captivated from the very first moment.
Even before tea arrives, a collection of scientific-looking glass beakers are brought to the table and everyone is invited to mix their own lemonade using sachets of fixing powder, syringes of sugar syrups and pipettes of delicious raspberry and blackcurrant flavourings.
The fun science lesson continues with the arrival of rocket-shaped cake stands for the kids.
Dainty jam sandwiches were cut in the shape of dinosaurs, the delicious cheese straw was a rocket and the tasty blackberry mousse cake was shaped like Saturn.
But my daughter’s favourite was the out-of-this-world planet-shaped cake pop, covered in sprinkles.
Grown-ups get to enjoy the fun too, with their adult cake stands also doused in dry-ice and featuring the same delicate blackberry cake.
But we also got a sophisticated mango, pistachio and almond moon cake topped with a coffee-and-chocolate astronaut – a very cute touch.
There was a lighter-than-air macaroon, too, into which we were invited to inject our own raspberry filling via a syringe.
Then, both kids and adults alike are treated to a refreshing mandarin-and-redcurrant jelly served, of course, in a petri dish.
Kids are also invited to become palaeontologists by “excavating” a dino cookie buried in a tin of chocolate dust using a brush.
While adults can choose from a menu of teas – with the option to upgrade to champagne – children are brought steaming mugs of milk and asked to create their own hot chocolate using solid-chocolate lollies, marshmallows and crunchy chocolate pearls.
The whole experience is so playful.
It is the kind of culinary magic you might expect to find at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant – but with young guests also in mind.
The unusual experience has been inspired by the hotel’s location next-door to London’s Science Museum – which is free to visit.
Fuelled by our rocket tea, we combined our visit with a trip to the museum’s fascinating galleries where we saw real-life astronaut suits, spacecraft and moon rock . . . not the edible kind.
GO: The Science Afternoon Tea is from £39.50 per child and £64.50 per adult.
See ampersandhotel.com.