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If you want to look like a master mixologist magician, this galaxy cotton candy lemonade cocktail is for you. I served this as the welcome cocktail for my Wonderland party, and I think it might be my favorite drink I’ve made to date. You scoop your bright blue butterfly pea granita into each glass, and when you pour the gin cotton candy grape lemonade inside, everyone expects it to turn green. The second it swirls into a vivid purple, you have reached Wonderland.
Table of Contents
- The Magic Ingredient: Butterfly Pea Flowers
- What Are Butterfly Pea Flowers?
- What Do They Taste Like?
- The Science: Why Does the Cocktail Change Color?
- The Butterfly Pea Granita
- The Cotton Candy Grape Lemonade
- How to Serve: Wonderland Edition
- Make it a Mocktail
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Printable Drink Me Tags
- Galaxy Cotton Candy Lemonade Cocktail (Color-Changing Magic) Recipe
The Magic Ingredient: Butterfly Pea Flowers
What Are Butterfly Pea Flowers?
Butterfly pea flowers come from a plant native to Southeast Asia, where the petals are usually steeped to make herbal tea. When you brew them, the water turns into this gorgeous, deep cobalt blue liquid.
What Do They Taste Like?
With a color that bright, you might expect it to taste like blue raspberry candy, but it isn’t sweet or fruity at all. It has a mild, earthy, and slightly woody flavor that is really close to a light green tea or chamomile.
The Science: Why Does the Cocktail Change Color?
What color do you get when you mix a bright blue granita with pale yellow lemon and grape juice? If you guessed green, you’re totally wrong. We aren’t just mixing colors here. The flowers are packed with anthocyanins that act as a natural pH indicator. The granita starts out deep blue, but the second the fresh lemon juice hits it, the pH drops and the drink instantly shifts into a vibrant purple. It looks like a magic trick, but it’s really just basic food chemistry.
The Butterfly Pea Granita
Granita is just a traditional Sicilian frozen dessert made from water, sugar, and a flavored liquid. For this recipe, the steeped flowers are the flavor.
After simmering the water, sugar, and flowers, strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer straight into a quarter sheet pan or a standard 9×13 baking dish. You don’t even need to cover it. Just set it flat on a freezer shelf. It takes about 4 to 6 hours to freeze completely solid.
Once it’s frozen, grab a fork and shred the whole pan. If you’re prepping ahead for a party, you can transfer all that shaved ice into an airtight container and keep it in the freezer until you need it. It holds up great. If it clumps slightly while sitting, just give it a quick fluff with your fork before scooping it into the glasses.
The Cotton Candy Grape Lemonade
A lot of people wonder if cotton candy grapes actually taste like cotton candy, and yes, they really do. There’s no artificial flavoring – they were just cross-bred for years to bring out a natural vanilla flavor. That heavy sweetness pairs nicely with the sour lemon, meaning you don’t even need to make simple syrup for this cocktail.
Just throw the washed grapes, fresh lemon juice, and a half cup of water into your blender. Even when the liquid looks completely smooth, the grape skins won’t fully break down. You have to run the batch through a fine mesh strainer, or your lemonade will end up with a gritty, pulpy texture.
What if I can’t find them? Regular green seedless grapes work fine (Autumn Crisp is a great option). Just remember they aren’t nearly as sweet. Taste the juice after you blend it and add a splash of simple syrup or agave if it’s too sour. And remember the butterfly pea granita will add some sweetness too.
How to Serve: Wonderland Edition
This is the perfect welcome cocktail to hand people when they arrive. Serve it right alongside my Wonderland bluefin tapioca crisps and cheese rosettes with whipped fig brie so your guests get a bright, fresh seafood crunch and a creamy, nutty bite right off the bat.
How to Batch for a Party
The granita and lemonade recipes make a large batch, but the actual cocktail assembly is written for one drink. You don’t want to measure individual shots all night, so here is the easiest way to scale it up for six people at once.
• Make the butterfly pea granita and the cotton candy lemonade ahead of time.
• Grab a pitcher and multiply the cocktail liquids by 6 (9 oz gin, 3 oz elderflower liqueur, 12 oz cotton candy lemon juice). Stir and keep it chilled.
• When guests arrive, scoop about 1/2 cup of the blue granita into each glass.
• Pour the batched gin mixture over the granita right in front of them so they can watch the color change.
If you want to keep the theme going, here are a few more whimsical recipes to round out your magical night:
Dips and Butters
Cheese Rosettes in Whipped Fig Brie
Appetizers
Wonderland Bluefin Tapioca Crisps
Dips and Butters
Layered Herb Butter Cake
Make it a Mocktail
You do not need to change the granita, just adjust the lemonade. The alcohol isn’t what causes the color change, the acid in the lemon juice reacting with the alkaline butterfly pea flower is what causes the change.
The Swap: Replace the 1.5 oz gin and 0.5 oz elderflower liqueur with 2 oz sparkling water and a splash of elderflower syrup. The color-changing trick will still work perfectly. Or just use lemonade!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can swap the whole dried flowers for the powder. The powder is so concentrated that you only need about 1/2 teaspoon for the 2 cups of water to get that deep blue color. You don’t need to strain the water before freezing since it dissolves right in.
Yes. Once it’s frozen and shredded, just transfer the shaved ice to an airtight container and stash it in the freezer. It holds up great for a few weeks. Give it a quick fluff with a fork right before you scoop it.
Absolutely. The color change is just a chemical reaction between the butterfly pea flower and the citric acid in the lemon juice. The gin doesn’t actually trigger the shift, so you can totally skip it and still get the exact same trick.
Yes. You can blend and strain the juice, then keep it covered in the fridge for a few days. Fresh juice separates as it sits, so just give it a really good stir right before mixing the drinks.
Printable Drink Me Tags
To get the full Wonderland aesthetic, you need the tags. I designed these specifically for this cocktail to tie the whole theme together.
- Print: Use a heavy cardstock so they don’t curl or warp when they get near the condensation on the cold glass.
- Cut: Punch or cut them out along the edges.
- Attach: Clip or tie them right to the rim of your glasses using mini wooden clothespins before you pour the batched cocktail.
Download the printable JPG here:
Equipment
- saucepan
- blender
- fine mesh strainer
- fork
- cocktail shaker, or pitcher
- Printable Drink Me Tags, optional
Ingredients
Butterfly Pea Granita
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp butterfly pea flowers
- 1/3 cup sugar
Cotton Candy Lemon Juice
- 1 lb cotton candy grapes, cleaned
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 lemons, juiced
Galaxy Cocktail (Makes 1)
- 1.5 oz gin
- 0.5 oz elderflower liqueur
- 2 oz cotton candy lemon juice
- butterfly pea granita
- ice
Instructions
- Butterfly Pea Granita: Add water, butterfly pea flowers, and sugar to a saucepan. Simmer until the sugar is fully dissolved. Turn off heat and cool. Strain liquid into a shallow pan and freeze until solid.2 cups water, 1 tbsp butterfly pea flowers, 1/3 cup sugar
- Cotton Candy Lemon Juice: Add grapes, water, and lemon juice to a blender. Blend until smooth. Strain the grape juice with a fine mesh strainer.1 lb cotton candy grapes, 1/2 cup water, 2 lemons
- Shred the Granita: Shred frozen granita with a fork until fluffy.
- The Galaxy Cocktail: To a cocktail shaker or a pitcher, add gin, elderflower liqueur, cotton candy lemon juice and ice. Shake or mix. To serve, spoon about 1/2 cup of the butterfly pea granita into the bottom of a glass and pour in the cocktail mix over top to see the magic.1.5 oz gin, 0.5 oz elderflower liqueur, 2 oz cotton candy lemon juice, butterfly pea granita
- If you want to have all 6 cocktails ready at the same time:• Grab a pitcher and multiply the single cocktail liquids by 6 – 9 oz gin, 3 oz elderflower liqueur, 12 oz cotton candy lemon juice. Stir and keep it chilled.• When guests arrive, add ice to the pitcher and stir again. scoop about 1/2 cup of the blue granita into each glass.• Pour the batched gin mixture over the granita right in front of them so they can watch the magical color change.
Kitchen Cam
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
