It took just five minutes for Kane to open his account for the afternoon, calmly slotting into the bottom corner from the edge of the area after being picked out by Dejan Kulusevski.
The hosts responded well, yet despite some promising build-up play they created only a couple of chances, with Lewis O’Brien forcing a save out of Huge Lloris and Neco Williams skewing wide.
With the one-goal lead, Spurs were sitting back in an attempt to soak up the pressure and hit Forest on the counter-attack.
That tactic nearly came back to bite them when Morgan Gibbs-White, making his first start since moving to the City Ground this month, was played in by Jesse Lingard but he smashed his effort over the bar.
The second half was frantic, with Ryan Yates heading a glorious chance wide, before Henderson stopped Spurs from doubling their lead, superbly saving Kane’s penalty by diving low to his right to palm away after Steve Cook had handled a cross.
Williams then sent another Forest effort off target, before the visitors squandered two further chances as Henderson denied Son Heung-Min before Kulusevski dragged a shot wide.
Spurs eventually put the game to bed in the 81st minute when Kane headed home his second of the afternoon.
The striker could not miss as he nodded Richarlison’s expert cross into an empty net to move on to 187 Premier League goals, joint third with Andy Cole in the list of all time scorers.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Harry Kane (Tottenham)
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