The very best cooking classes London has to offer

Hone your baking skills at Bread Ahead

Artisan bakery Bread Ahead made a name for itself serving some of the best-loved loaves in the city. But what those in the know won’t tell you is that the bakery also runs masterclasses in several of its branches. From a Scandinavian baking workshop focusing on sticky cinnamon buns and all things hygge, to sessions in Japanese breads or eastern European sweet treats, classes here cover dough-fuelled delicacies from all over the world.

Fancy impressing the relatives with homemade Christmas pressies this year? Book onto a special session on gingerbread decorations, or go the whole hog with the full-day Ultimate Christmas class: here, you’ll learn how to make Bread Ahead’s coveted mince pies, ginger cake, stollen and savoury snacks.

PRICE varies depending on class

Learn the ropes from a Michelin-starred chef at the Langham

As part of the Langham hotel’s Sauce cookery programme, you can spend the day in the kitchen with two Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr of Le Gavroche, learning to make his favourite seasonal dishes. The day begins with a welcome breakfast and chance to get to know your fellow attendees. Then it’s time to get to work, making a three-course feast designed for the occasion by Roux Jr. The experience ends with a chance to eat your (hopefully) delicious meal, paired with wine, in the hotel’s pantry dining room. The masterclass with Roux himself is pricy, but there are also plenty of other courses at Sauce, including The Building Blocks, Pastry Foundation and a helpful selection of Christmas-themed classes.

Guests walk away with a signed copy of Roux Jr’s cookbook as well as a recipe pack from the day.

PRICE £995 for the Michel Roux masterclass, approx. £200 for other classes

Roll, stuff or fry Japanese delicacies at Atsuko’s Kitchen

At Atsuko’s Kitchen, you can learn to make the likes of sushi, gyoza or okonomiyaki (Japan’s famed savoury pancakes) under the watchful eye of an established chef. Atsuko Ikeda is a Japanese chef, writer and food photographer who has been running cookery workshops since 2008, guiding small groups through family recipes she holds dear and recommends for being delicious, delicate and well balanced in equal measure.

Lessons here are a hands-on chance to learn how to make authentic Japanese food from scratch. All classes are held in Atsuko’s kitchen in Shoreditch and attendees can choose between a single two-hour session or five-week course.

PRICE £69 - £150

Get a proper qualification at Leiths Cookery School

For a serious cooking course, look to Leiths Cookery School, which offers both one-off classes and longer courses that come with a qualification. Whether you’re looking to master a particular cuisine, brush up on cooking for specific dietary requirements or master a speciality – such as making the perfect hollandaise, pesto or jus – chances are you can cover it in an evening at Leiths.

Longer courses, meanwhile, cover everything from food writing (led by columnist Andy Lynes) to becoming a certified wine taster. Oh, and did we mention the school boasts Kate Middleton among its former alumni?

PRICE £95 - £220 depending on class

Make pasta from scratch at Pasta Remoli

If pasta is one of your go-to meals, but you frequently find yourself reaching for the dried kind and smothering it with a jar of sauce, why not learn to roll and cut it from scratch on one of Simone Remoli’s masterclasses?

Held at the Ealing branch of his restaurant Pasta Remoli, there are four weekly classes to choose from: tagliatelle and penne with Roman sauces; ravioli and tortellini; vegan Sardinian gnocchi; or traditional pasta bakes. Whichever you choose, you’ll be working with Roman recipes which Remoli has given a playfully modern twist. Yes, you may still find yourself reaching for ready-made pasta and sauces on a weeknight, but classes here will arm you with the techniques you need to serve authentic homemade pasta at a dinner party.

PRICE £275 for a four-week course / £75 for an individual class

Have fun in the kitchen at Food at 52 Cookery School

It’s all about cooking in a fun and relaxed environment at Food at 52. Take your place around the handmade oak table, throw on a denim apron and take part in an expert-led class – while wine flows freely and music plays softly in the background. There are lots of courses on offer here; classes specialising in fish, pasta or Indian street food are just some of the highlights, and you can choose between a half or full day's training.

PRICE £115 - £160 depending on class

Eat more than you cook at Pied à Terre

One of the fanciest cooking classes in town is held in the Michelin-starred kitchen of high-end French restaurant Pied à Terre. Every Friday morning, a group of five is given access to the kitchen where the experience begins with a chance to witness the precise choreography of the resident chefs. You’ll experiment with making the three different types of bread for the day’s service and be given a demonstration of creating three current dishes on the menu. The best bit? This cooking class places as much emphasis on eating as it does cooking: once you’ve had a go at putting it all together, you’ll be served an exquisite four-course, wine-paired lunch in the dining room.

Want to give your kids an early start in the kitchen? You can do that here, too, thanks to the restaurant’s Junior Chefs programme. Classes take place during the school holidays and are a chance for little chefs aged 12 to 17 to learn their way around the kitchen, making and tasting a feast of dreams.

PRICE £195 - £230 / £115 for kids

Shuck oysters like a pro at Wright Brothers

Fanatical about oysters? The Wright Brothers are too. And they run a two-hour masterclass where the agenda is all things oyster. The session begins with a welcome glass of champagne followed by a bit of oyster geekery: dispelling myths, understanding health benefits and learning fun facts about the little molluscs. Then comes the fun bit, where you'll taste your way around the British Isles and France, slurping 10 oysters in total: six natural, two dressed and two cooked. With class sizes of just eight to 12, you’ll have plenty of time to ask questions along the way.

PRICE £65

Be spoilt for choice at the Avenue Cookery School

When it comes to variety, few places offer quite as much choice as the Avenue Cookery School in Wandsworth. Want to make pasta like a pro? They can teach you. Become a master of compiling intricately filled, perfectly fluffy bao? Sure, you can learn that here, too. You can also learn to roll sushi, make exquisite vegan dishes or properly pukka puddings.

PRICE £60 - £190 depending on class

Master butchery at the Ginger Pig

If you’re passionate about cooking with decent-quality meat but the closest you get to its source is pointing at your preferred joint behind the counter in the local butchers, we have the course for you. The Ginger Pig runs hands-on butchery classes where guests can learn all about different cuts and where your meat comes from. Decide whether you want to work with pork, beef, lamb, poultry, game or sausages. And choose wisely: the meat you pick is what you’ll be sitting down to eat with your fellow guests at the end of the class, and the joint (or sausages) you’ll be taking home in substantial quantities at the end of the session.

PRICE £165