When Starbucks announced that they are coming up with Unicorn Frappuccino, it was hard not to get excited. Who would want to miss the magical purplish or pinkish sprinkles on top of whip cream that sits on a cold purple and blue treat from the coffee giant?
When the kids saw the pictures online, they could not hide their delight for the brightly colored limited edition drink. Unfortunately, it was only intended for selected Starbucks stores in the US, Canada and Mexico. Oh, boy! the Unicorn Frappuccino is merely a dream for those who are living in the Philippines.
So what would a mom do to make the kiddo's happy? No, taking them to those regions is not my answer. I cannot afford to do that. My answer is to make my own "Unicorn Frappuccino" at home--or at least come up with something similar.
Okay, before Starbucks lawyers come knocking at my door for copying their creation, let me say, I did try to copy the drink but I failed. The good side is that my failed attempt to imitate the Unicorn Frappe resulted to a nice cold treat for the kids. It was scorching hot that day so anything cold was a lifesaver.
Before I proceed with my story, I must tell you that I did a little research on what the famous drink is made of. According to abc.com, the ingredients are:
- Ice
- Milk
- Cream Frappuccino Syrup (a concoction of sugar, preservatives, thickeners and artificial sweetener)
- Mango Syrup-they say the Unicorn Frappuccino has a mango base
- Blue Drizzle (More sweets! It is white mocha sauce that can be created by mixing condensed milk, cocoa butter and coconut oil--with blue food color)
- Pink powder (long story short--I don't know where to find it here.)
- Sour Blue Powder (Can't find this one here, either)
- Whipped Cream
- Vanilla Syrup
Eeek! That is a hell lot of sugar, food color, preservatives and artificial sweetener. It feels kind of scary. Okay, there probably is a good side to not being able to give the kids the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino. But, it still looks so interesting, right?
I, someone with no professional experience in making smoothies, shakes more so frappuccinos, tried to improvise. I made use of ingredients that are found in most groceries here in the country.
First and foremost, ice is obviously the ingredient you cannot replace in this recipe. So i made icecubes hours ahead.
For the milk, I used a local brand of powdered full cream milk. To be exact, I used a glass of milk with the usual formula. Then, I bought a dozen "litro packs" of guyabano flavored juice. This instant guyabano juice has a sweet-sour flavor that kids can tolerate. By the way, Guyabano is called soursop in other countries.
For the milk, I used a local brand of powdered full cream milk. To be exact, I used a glass of milk with the usual formula. Then, I bought a dozen "litro packs" of guyabano flavored juice. This instant guyabano juice has a sweet-sour flavor that kids can tolerate. By the way, Guyabano is called soursop in other countries.
Next, I bought Clara Ole's Truly Fruity blueberry flavored syrup, hoping that it would be a good shortcut for the blue syrup that you put on the side of the glass before you pour in the blended mixture. Later on, I realized I should have made syrup out of condensed milk, cocoa butter and blue food color instead. I got lazy on this one.
Then for the whip cream, I bought the boxed kind from Elle and Vire with no idea how to use it.
Luckily, I already have the necessary food colors at home so I did not have to buy them.
And to have something to sprinkle on top, I took out 2 packets of sugar from my cupboard. I got them from Seven Eleven. They give this to you whenever you buy their City Blends Coffee. I never use them on their coffee so I have a stash of these sugar packets.
I opened a sachet, and poured the sugar on a bowl. Then I added a drop of red food color. I mixed it well and voila! I got myself red sugar sprinkles.
Lastly, to give my smoothie or fake frappe a restaurant feel I used mason jars.
Okay, so now the bloody part. Pardon me, I mean the procedure.
Steps:
I tossed a lot of ice cubs into my blender, added a glass of milk and emptied 2 sachets of Tang "litro pack" Guyabano. I blended them on high setting until smooth. No need to add sugar.
Because it was white, I added a few drops of violet color--add more for intensity. Blended again until the mixture became a nice deep shade of purple.
Because it was white, I added a few drops of violet color--add more for intensity. Blended again until the mixture became a nice deep shade of purple.
I squeezed the blue berry syrup around the inner side of each the mason jar. The syrup was too runny that it all settled at the bottom. Sigh! I knew I should have made the mocha syrup instead.
Moving on, I divided the blended mixture into four mason jars, topped them with whip cream, sprinkled the colored sugar over and then added straws.
One mason jar for each kid and one for me. The hubby passed on this one, he is not a big fan of sweet drinks.
And although, it was not even close to how Starbucks' Unicorn Frappuccino looked like, my creation tasted delicious anyway. We may not get the chance to experience the Unicorn Frappuccino but we got ourselves something delicious and cold that very hot day.
I made something different. Well, hey, a different kind of unicorn inspired my homemade iced concoction. And what is important is that the kids were happy.
Got a tip to share? Comment below. Until next blog. :)
