Remember last year's molten chocolate lava drinks from Starbucks? They were introduced around Valentine's Day and were a major hit. Due to their popularity, Starbucks has decided to bring them back again this year!
Delish reports that the drinks will be available from Feb. 7 to Feb. 14, 2017, and will be available in latte, hot chocolate and frozen Frappuccino versions. The drinks debuted during Valentine's week of 2016, and it's no wonder they were such a hit. The actual dessert became a classic after its own debut in 1991. My only question is, why can't we have this drink all year 'round? Just make it red and sprinkle some red sugar crystals or something on top for V-Day, so that we can enjoy the taste of molten chocolate lava cake in drink form any time we'd like!
In case you'd like to make it at home, the Molten Chocolate Latte is made by melting chocolate chips, then stirring them with espresso and pouring steamed milk on top. Add a chocolate mocha drizzle to finish the dessert-in-drink-form.
The hot chocolate is similar; just remove the espresso, basically. Melt the mocha sauce along with the chocolate chips and mix that with steamed milk and you'll get the result you're after. Be warned though, you can only get that amazing espresso-mocha whipped cream on your drink at Starbucks. That is, unless you want to put forth a lot of extra effort to try and make that yourself. You're on your own in that venture, I'm afraid.
Finally, the Molten Chocolate Frappuccino is made by mixing coffee with the mocha sauce and chocolate chips and then blending that combination with milk ice. Pretty straightforward for a Frappuccino.
If you don't think you can make it to Starbucks during the week of the Molten Chocolate promotion, or if you aren't a big fan of chocolate, there are a couple of other seasonal treats you can try. For example, Starbucks reports that its first new drink of 2017 is the Cascara Latte. It's made with the taste of the coffee cherry, a sort of fruit that acts as the husk of the coffee bean as we know it. The latte is made with cascara syrup and topped with cascara extract and cane sugar.
You can also try the Smoked Butterscotch latte, also available as a Frappuccino. It's very sweet and extra delicious (I know, I tried it!). Both drinks are available while supplies last, so go and try them out!