Color-Changing Butterfly Pea Lemonade

Name: Color-Changing Butterfly Pea Lemonade
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 24 h 80 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers (or butterfly pea tea); 340 ml (1½ cups) water, just boiled; 70 g (⅓ cup) caster or granulated sugar; 70 ml (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) fresh lemon juice, about 2 lemons; 1 tsp dried butterfly pea flowers (or butterfly pea tea); 60 ml (¼ cup) water, just boiled

Deep blue flower tea frozen into a sweet slush that turns violet-pink the moment the lemon juice goes in. Sweet, tart and fun to watch.

Hands-on: 15 min
Cooling: 1 h
Freeze: 24 h
Program: Slushi
Makes: 4 glasses6 glasses

Low calorie Vegan

Good forSummer Birthday & party Kids’ favorites Wild flavors

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Nutrition

Per 100 g, estimatedPer serving (¼ of a 473 ml16 oz tubpint, about 121 g), estimated

59kcal

0.1 gProtein

0 gFat

16 gCarbs

15 gSugar

72kcal

0 gProtein

0 gFat

19 gCarbs

18 gSugar

Whole tubpint: 287 kcal, 0 g protein431 kcal, 0 g protein (709 ml24 oz). No common allergens in the ingredients. Toppings are not included in these numbers.

Ingredients

6 ingredients

Measure in

TubPint size

Tap an ingredient when it is in the bowl

454 of 473 ml681 of 709 ml

In the tubpintScale reads

2 tbsp2 tbsp2 tbsp3 tbsp3 tbsp3 tbspdried butterfly pea flowers (or butterfly pea tea)dried butterfly pea flowers (or butterfly pea tea)dried butterfly pea flowers (or butterfly pea tea)
340 ml (1½ cups)340 ml1½ cups (340 ml)510 ml (2¼ cups)510 ml2¼ cups (510 ml)waterwaterwaterjust boiled
70 g (⅓ cup)85 ml (70 g)⅓ cup (70 g)105 g (½ cup)120 ml (105 g)½ cup (105 g)caster or granulated sugarcaster or granulated sugargranulated sugar

Add right before spinning

70 ml (¼ cup + 1 tbsp)70 ml¼ cup + 1 tbsp (70 ml)105 ml (¼ cup + 3 tbsp)110 ml (105 ml)¼ cup + 3 tbsp (105 ml)fresh lemon juicefresh lemon juicefresh lemon juiceabout 2 lemons (for one 473 ml16 oz tubpint)

To finish

1 tsp1 tsp1 tsp1½ tsp1½ tsp1½ tspdried butterfly pea flowers (or butterfly pea tea)dried butterfly pea flowers (or butterfly pea tea)dried butterfly pea flowers (or butterfly pea tea)
60 ml (¼ cup)60 ml¼ cup (60 ml)90 ml (¼ cup + 2 tbsp)90 ml¼ cup + 2 tbsp (90 ml)waterwaterwaterjust boiled

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Steps

Pour 340 ml water340 ml water1½ cups water510 ml water510 ml water2¼ cups water, just boiled, over 2 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers2 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers2 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers3 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers3 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers3 tbsp dried butterfly pea flowers in a heatproof jug. Steep for 10 minutes, until deep blue, then strain, pressing on the flowers.
Stir in 70 g caster or granulated sugar85 ml caster or granulated sugar⅓ cup granulated sugar105 g caster or granulated sugar120 ml caster or granulated sugar½ cup granulated sugar until it dissolves. Pour into the tubpint, cool to room temperature, then put the lid on.
For the blue layer, steep 1 tsp dried butterfly pea flowers1 tsp dried butterfly pea flowers1 tsp dried butterfly pea flowers1½ tsp dried butterfly pea flowers1½ tsp dried butterfly pea flowers1½ tsp dried butterfly pea flowers in 60 ml water60 ml water¼ cup water90 ml water90 ml water¼ cup + 2 tbsp water, just boiled, for 10 minutes. Strain and keep it in the fridge.
Once it is completely cool, freeze the tubpint on a level shelf for 24 hours.
Dig a hole about 4 cm1½ in wide down to the bottom of the frozen tubpint. Pour in 70 ml fresh lemon juice70 ml fresh lemon juice¼ cup + 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice105 ml fresh lemon juice110 ml fresh lemon juice¼ cup + 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, then lock it into the machine and run Slushi.

To serve: Pour a spoonful of the blue tea into each tall glass, spoon the slush on top and add a lemon slice.

My notes

Tips

Look for dried butterfly pea flowers or butterfly pea tea in Asian grocery stores, tea shops and online. Lime juice turns it pink too.
Too thick to sip? Add 2–4 tbsp cold water and run Re-spin. A splash more lemon juice makes it pinker and more tart.
Keep the lemon out of the base until you process it. If it goes in before freezing, the tubpint turns purple in the freezer and the color change is gone.

Texture not right?

Too soft or melts fast Icy or crunchy Soupy middle, crumbly edges

Check this recipe’s balance · All texture fixes

Why it works

Butterfly pea flowers are full of anthocyanins, natural pigments that are blue in plain water and turn violet, then pink, as acid lowers the pH. About 17% sugar keeps the frozen tea soft enough to shave into a smooth slush.

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