E-Paper
Freakshake: Cheers to an overdose of toppings
If you let a child draw his dream milkshake, you would end up with Freakshake! Your regular milkshake loaded with as many joyous teats as your creativity (and the mason jar) can afford to hold.
Don’t mistake the monstrously huge shakes, which have become a rage all around the world, as any ordinary milkshake. These are Freakshakes!
With the basic idea of piling up as much as you can in one tall jar, these willy wonka-ish adaptations of any regular shakes have found many takers. For anyone who hasn’t seen one yet, just imagine a cold coffee topped with ice cream, then loaded with syrup, then sprinkled with chocolates, and then topped with a pretzel or a cookie, and then added with more such things till there’s no scope for the jar to hold onto anything more. Many places are also known to add a mini burger or even a chunk of cheese ball on the top.
Apparently the craze of Freakshakes grew from Australia, as people started creating some mega-milkshakes that are overloaded and overindulgent. As the story goes, according to news reports, in July 2015, Patissez, an Australian bistro, introduced Freakshakes on their menu, and they went on to get such positive response that the place got flooded with orders.
These tall, fantastical drinks are a hit on Instagram, which is the home of everything eclectic and fun. People are all the time seen uploading images of their own takes of the Freakshake. So much so that these have also become a go-to experimental fulfilling drink for some home bakers. Quite a few cafes across India categorise freakshakes as their USP.
The easiest bit about Freakshakes, however, is that no matter how daunting they may appear, they are deceptively uncomplicated for anyone who wants to try their hands at concocting them at home. The basics remain the same as a milkshake — A mason jar filled with as much milkshake/coffee as the human body can bear, and then topped with whatever you can lay your hands on.
If you are new to the Freakshake world, must read what Aditi Sahdev, a Delhi-based home baker says, “Freakshakes aren’t just a drink, they’re a meal in a glass. Adding a variety of textures helps to balance their sweetness and you can enhance a freakshake by adding gooey brownies, and crunchy stroopwaffles at the same time.”
Shailesh Mehta, founder and owner of Morellos, which makes some amazing Freakshakes, has a few logical tips up his sleeve. “Maintain the sanity of the shake. Just because it’s a freakshake it doesn’t mean you will put gummy bears in chocolate shake. If it’s a brownie freakshake then it should have a brownie in the shake and brownie on the top,” he says.
As the base of any Freakshake is liquid, be careful to ace the art of layering. Otherwise, all you’ll end up with is a jar of coffee dipped sweets. Mehta adds, “Make sure the shake is thick. After all the toppings, if the shake is thin then it’s disappointing. Make sure there os a minimum 180 ml ice cream for a 500 ml shake. And no ice in the shake, please!” A layer of whipped cream ideally holds the toppings in place.
Another quick tip is to blend the coffee, ice cream and biscuits to get a thicker base. But the main trick is to make it look pretty, and tasty. So prop as many scoops of ice cream and licorice and sprinkles and cookies as you can and let the camera do its job!
