When freakshakes made an appearance on Pinterest, Instagram, and eventually on our tables, everyone lapped it up. And, why not? It is has everything in it to become a favourite. There’s chocolate ganache, marshmallows, whipped cream, pretzels, waffle and every ‘90’s kids favourite, even Gems! So it is not a surprise when mixologists decided to make freakshakes interesting by adding a little boozy surprise to it.
It may look complicated and cumbersome, but it is exactly the opposite. In fact, your inspiration could come from whatever’s available in the kitchen. All it needs is to have a creative mind and experienced taste buds, by which I mean everyone, can make it. Making a freak shake at home is really simple. All that you need to do is get a mason jar, chocolates, and whatever toppings are available in your kitchen. Think marshmallow, Oreo, colorful gems, wafer sticks, edible sugar sprinklers and any other toppings that you’d like to garnish your freak shake with. There are no wrong ways to make a boozy freakshake. Leftover brownies? Add it to your shake. A bar of Twix? Plough it into your drink.
What makes this different from your regular milkshake is the spirit. Experiment with brandy, whisky and dark rum. These spirits mix well with your chocolate mish-mash. The infusion of dark rum and chocolate tastes spectacular. If you like Oreos, mix your freak shake with white rum or Baileys.
If you chose to pair this with food, I recommend you choose starts like wafers, cheeselings or even masala papad. While you can use starters too, this drink can be best had post your meals or it’s a perfect substitute to an alcoholic dessert.
A personal favourite is adding bourbon biscuits, fresh cream, chocolate sauce and Old Monk to the mix. Garnish with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, gems, chocolates sparkles and roasted marshmallows. One tip would be to freeze the mason jar after you’ve garnished the jar with the toppings of your choice.
While freakshakes tend to be cloyingly sweet for someone who doesn’t have a sweet tooth, there is a worry that this boozy choice may disappoint. But I think the alcohol does a good job of reducing the sweetness. Adding alcohol cuts off the sweetness completely while balancing your desire to have dessert along with the alcohol at the same time. If you think you do not need as many garnishes, keep it simple. Remember, the only thing that is stopping you from experimenting with this drink is your apprehension. Cheers!
Sonali Mullick is the regional manager at Hitchki, Mumbai
