Leftover candy canes? Espresso Dave’s Coffee Catering of Boston offers some fun ideas for spicing up your coffee, cappuccino, chai latte or hot chocolate.
Candy Cane Creative
If you’ve ever bellied-up to one of our espresso bars during the holidays, at a wedding reception or Christmas party, many times our baristas will add seasonal panache to your cappuccinos with mini candy cane stirrers. By placing a candy cane in your favorite hot coffee or cocoa drink and stirring gently, you, too, can create a drink perfect for a cold winter’s day.
Secret Candy Cane Crush
Decorate the rim of your mug with crushed candy canes. It’s simple to do. Dip your inverted mug or cappuccino cup into melted, white chocolate (either candy melts, white chocolate chips or, our favorite, Lindt White Chocolate bars), then onto a dish of crushed candy canes.
Now you’re ready to add hot cocoa or coffee for an elegant, steamy, winter treat!
If you’re in a creative mood, try rimming the mug with Lindt’s Touch of Sea Salt or Chili chocolate before adding the crushed candy. To go full-power with the mint flavor, rim the mug with Lindt’s Intense Mint chocolate.
Add crushed candy canes to frosting; sprinkle it on ice cream, cakes, cookies and cupcakes. How about adding it to cake or cookie batter? And, if you’re feeling fancy, grab some pretzels, dip them into some melted chocolate (see above) and then into the crushed red and white dust!
Melted Marshmallow Madness
If you love the luxurious taste of melted marshmallows in your hot chocolate or coffee drinks, try going one step further: add a candy cane to your marshmallow to create a meltable spoon. With this method, the drink is not only enhanced by the marshmallow, but also by the essence of peppermint.
Be My Valentine?
If you are candy-caned-out from Christmas, but have leftover candy-canes, consider this cute idea for DIY Valentine’s Day treats: Candy Cane Hearts created by nestofposies.com. Kelli does an amazing job describing the steps involved with this project. Check out her blog for other fantastic craft, home decor and party ideas.
Candy Cane Factoid
Wondering about the origin of this time-honored confection? The story goes that in 1670, the choirmaster of Germany’s Cologne Cathedral gave children sweet sticks with bent handles resembling shepherd’s crooks to quiet them during the church’s lengthy Christmas ceremony. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that the sticks were adorned with red stripes and flavored with peppermint.
