At work on the 18th, I had a bit of time on my hands after all of my duties were discharged, and fell to ruminating upon the twin glories of having fashioned a holiday drink enjoyed by customers and co-workers alike, and having succeeded in winning a place for that drink in immortality via "The Secret Menu". I determined to do what I could to formulate an equally relevant cold holiday drink to complement the hot one already created. "But what flavor?" I asked myself. "Ah, peppermint is popular," I thought, "but alas, always combined with mocha...hmmm...what about by itself, like a candy cane? Yes, that's the ticket! A Candy Cane Frappuccino!" So, like a mad scientist, I commenced to concocting. Woo-hoo-hoo-ha-ha-ha!
Luckily I've received the genes of talented cooks from both sides of the family tree, so with two tries, and some valuable feedback from co-worker Angie, I developed my one-of-a-kind Candy Cane Frappuccino Recipe, then went home all fired up to check starbuckssecretmenu.net to see if there was a precedent for my frap; and if there wasn't, to go back to work Thursday the 21st and try it out on a longer list of receptive co-workers.
Unfortunately, the very next day, I was felled by a stomach flu gifted to me by my mother, and between it and my scheduled days off, did not work again until Saturday the 23rd, when I eagerly went to work and began recruiting lab rats among thirsty Plaza inmates.
Voila! Success! My Candy Cane Frap was well-received, so I came home dying to put my new drink on The Secret Menu. Can you imagine my astonished disappointment when I went on that website and found that a mere 5 days from the advent of my version, there was now a Candy Cane Frappuccino on The Secret Menu? Oh no! Had someone come up with my recipe already and beat me to the punch? But when I looked, the recipe printed was different from mine. "Well," I thought, "I'll send them my recipe and document my timeline a bit, and I'm sure they'll see that there's room for more than one Candy Cane Frap. After all, you go on recipe sites and see multiple versions of the same dish, submitted by different people, and no one thinks that's strange. People just try them until they find the one they like best. Heck, dueling versions might even bring more interest to The Secret Menu!" So, with that I submitted my version and prepared to wait the approximately 10 days it takes to receive a positive response from the website. Alas, two weeks later, none has been forthcoming.
Why? Who knows? Although I couldn't find anything on The Secret Menu site that indicates it, maybe they only accept one recipe per entrant. Perhaps they figured they had received their Candy Cane Frap recipe and were concerned about engendering confusion with another one. But here's the deal: I believe in my creation, and although hardly scientific, I have conducted three blind taste tests, with 70% of my subjects affirming their preference for my version. And even one who liked the Secret Menu-endorsed version better did volunteer his opinion that mine tasted more like a candy cane. Hmmm...so could be what we need is a grass-roots campaign. So how about I publish my recipe here and you all can go to your local Starbucks and try it (or both), and if you like it, let me know, and we'll give starbuckssecretmenu.net a little prod, whaddaya say?
Claudia's Ultimate Candy Cane Frappuccino
Milk to the first line (your barista will know what this means)
Tall - 1 scoop vanilla bean powder
Grande - 1 1/2 scoops vanilla bean powder
Venti - 2 scoops vanilla bean powder
Tall - 3 pumps peppermint syrup
Grande - 4 pumps peppermint syrup
Venti - 5 pumps peppermint syrup
Tall - 2 pumps crème base
Grande - 3 pumps crème base
Venti - 4 pumps crème base
Appropriate size scoop of ice, blend, top with whipped cream, and here's the awesome Claudia secret touch: one pump of raspberry syrup on top -- I use a sample cup, squirt that one pump in there and then very gently drizzle it over the whipped cream and down the sides -- and done that way, my creation definitely looks like a candy cane. Have a look! (Thanks, Matt, for helping me with the picture
when I forgot my digicam like a ninny):
Look yummy? Well, go get you one, and let me know what you think, and maybe starbuckssecretmenu.net as well, OK?
And thank you for your support!
Good vibes to all of you,
Claudia
