Today’s menu inspiration is brought to you by “C” for “Color.” It’s what I’ve noticed most about recent innovative limited time offers and new menu items in general. Using color, you can hit on all the culinary trends your operation and your guests crave. I’ll show you.
Cyclical considerations. There’s nothing like the revolving seasons to display the colors that strike that “gotta have it now” urge. Spring exudes light pastels like pink, sky blue, mint green, yellow and lavender alongside bolder colors like marigold orange. In fact, in April, Marigold Dreamsicle was the flavor of the month at Baskin-Robbins. That was a mix of vanilla bean ice cream and marigold ice cream made with real marigold blossoms, along with an orange swirl.
Crafted from nature: As in Baskin-Robbins’ example, nowadays, if you’re going to make a bold colorful statement, you likely won’t be using food coloring. That’s so “last century.” The main color is going to have to come from nature, from whence comes our food. If you’re making white coconut cupcakes and you want red/pink frosting, turn to pomegranate juice. Not only does the color pop, you’ve added an interesting call-out second flavor to name the cupcake. For lemon yellow cupcakes—make a color-complimenting purple/blue frosting with pureed blueberries blended with cream cheese. Challenge yourself by eliminating food coloring from the kitchen.
Cultural moorings: How about global cuisines with color? In that case, seasonality takes a back seat to the ingredients common around the globe. I can think of no better example than ube, the purple yam that is native to the Philippines and thus is common in Filipino cuisine. Fast food Filipino chain Jollibee is in the middle of an extended Ube Pie LTO, which is a flaky hand pie filled with the vibrant purple filling. The mashed purple yam certainly works in fusion applications. I recently ordered an Ube Cannoli dessert of three purple puree filled cannoli’s at Tidepools restaurant at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu, Kauai.
Dragon fruit is the current darling of color showing up in pink/red beverages to exude the tropics. In a trio of three Aqua Frescas at a California test location, Taco Bell included dragon fruit berry, a green tea-based drink with pieces of dragon fruit for color and flavoring. On a more widespread basis, the chain ran a Dragon Fruit Freeze LTO—a slush drink with dragon berry fruit flavor and color.
Clean consumption: For the health and sustainable conscious, colorful plant-based edibles provide guilt-free pleasures. Consider a Golden Turmeric Smoothie. Give it a sunny yellow hue with turmeric, banana and mango. It’s a healthy offering with a springy color. Or perhaps offer bright orange fresh-pressed carrot ginger juice with sweet carrots and spicy ginger, ideal for a morning or midday energizer.
Creative choreography: Color, and especially spring colors, are sexy and photogenic. Your social media-engaged guests become your brand ambassadors. Who could resist snapping a selfie holding an edible flower gelato—a mix of vanilla gelato with swirls of colorful edible flower petals like calendula (orange), cornflower (blue) and rose (pink)? Or, if that sounds too difficult to source, you might do like Dave & Buster’s and crack open a box of Froot Loops. The chain recently added Cereal Cake: Cereal-flavored cake topped with marshmallow cream icing and cotton candy, surrounded by sweet vanilla cream sauce and Jumbo Froot Loops cereal. Hopefully guests can refrain from diving into it until they’ve taken and posted a proper photo of it!
No matter if you aim for seasonal, natural, indulgent, global or artistic LTO fare, do it in living color to grab maximum attention.
Jody Shee
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