Each Monday, I gather my roommates and taste-test two mocktails. Here’s how this week’s went:
Lotus Petal
I discovered a new flavor of applesauce.
1 ripe banana, peeled and cut into chunks
1 ripe peach, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks
1 ripe nectarine, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks
Dash almond extract
2 cans (12 ounces each) of ginger ale, chilled
Combine banana, peach, nectarine, and almond extract in an electric blender container. Blend until smooth. Divide the fruit mixture equally among tall glasses. Fill glasses with ginger ale. Stir gently. Serve immediately. Makes about 5 (1 cup) servings. Recipe Steps. Possible Garnish. Servings.
This recipe comes from “beverages” edited by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann and Jane Baker. I began by cutting my fruits into chunks, throwing them into my blender, and then adding a dash of vanilla extract. I substituted mainly for taste – I’m not a big fan of almond extract. Then I blended! If you find it challenging to start the blend, add some water to help lubricate the process. Then, I poured the mixture into the glasses, with ginger ale on top. I opted for a 1:1 ratio, which seemed to work okay. A little stirring, and voila! About 5 cups, precisely as described.
One of my roommates said, “It tastes like blended pear applesauce.” Truer words have never been spoken. It’s not bad though! The ginger ale adds a little spice, and the banana backs up to what could be the big new applesauce flavor.
Rating: 2/3
Winter Whip
On the edge of glory…
1 can (8 ounces) apricots in heavy syrup
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon apricot preserves
¼ tablespoon vanilla
Cracked or crushed ice
¼ cup plain yogurt
Drain apricots; discard syrup or reserve syrup for future use. Place apricots in an electric blender container; add sugar, apricot preserves, and vanilla. Blend on high speed until the fruit is liquefied. Add the ice to the blender until the apricot mixture is smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Add yogurt; pulse once or twice until yogurt is just combined. Pour into glasses and serve at once. Makes about 2 (1 cup) servings.
Another recipe taken from “beverages” edited by Barbara Gibbs Ostmann and Jane Baker! I drained my apricots (which, for the record, I could only find at Albertson’s) and added them to the blender. In went the sugar, preserves, and vanilla. Blend! Then went in the ice. If you don’t have crushed ice, cubed is fine, but know it takes a bit of a toll on your blender. You’ll also have to pulse a lot more. Once it was smooth and thick, I added my yogurt. I used vanilla and honey Greek yogurt since “plain” yogurt could mean a lot of things. But that seemed to do the trick. I ended up with about 2 (1 cup) servings.
On the edge of glory indeed – this drink came very close to getting my highest rating. Nice, sweet, creamy, fruity, light… all of the quintessential marks of a smoothie. Imagine, in your head, the taste of a sweet smoothie sitting on the porch in the summer when you were 12 – and that’s the taste! My roommates all voted to give this a 3, but I still felt like it hadn’t crossed the threshold for a truly divine mocktail. But really, really darn good? You betchya.
Rating: 2.5/3
