Special color that got its just desserts

The festive season offers a good excuse to spoil yourself with an outing at the Waldorf Astoria in Beijing that will delight both the taste buds and the eyes. It is an afternoon tea set with the theme of red. It includes classic cranberry scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream, beetroot crepes with roast-ed Peking duck and crispy spring roll skin with red caviar, mayonnaise and strawberry. The desserts on offer take inspiration from the Katherine dress of the fashion designer Vera Wang. Among the desserts are variations on classic red velvet cake, including red lipstick velvet cake, mini raspberry macaroons, raspberry chocolate truffle and bride-in-red-dress cookies that draw heavily on Vera Wang's gown designs. Waldorf Astoria is the hotel brand that invented the red velvet cake in 1959 in its establishment in New York.

The festive red afternoon tea set is available in the hotel's Peacock Lounge from Dec 9 to March 11 priced at 468 yuan per set for two; 010-8520-8989; 5-15 Jinyu Hutong, Dongcheng district, Beijing.