Claire Standish for Prom Queen

Claire Standish for Prom Queen!

February is for lovers, or so they say. (I just think it was the first month to ask for ‘em.) In any event, I figured we’d help celebrate this Valentines Day week, one full of pinkish righteousness, with a drink that commemorates my first true love. Long before I became enamored with this lady, I was furiously infatuated with that young, misunderstood, perfectly pouty icon of the 80′s; Pretty in Pink herself, Molly Ringwald. While Sixteen Candles and the aforementioned PIP were standout roles for Molly, it was her role as Claire Standish in The Breakfast Club that did it for me. Watching her transformation from elitist suburban snob to conciliatory “I may just give you a chance to make out and let you under-the-shirt-over-the-bra-me beneath the bleachers after school as long as nobody is around” kind of girl. For every young John Bender (like myself, or so I’d like to think) out there that rode a skateboard and listened to Megadeth, it was a revelation. The destruction of the schoolyard hierarchy, one that might allow the likes of me to rise to the top and kiss the prom queen (while no one was looking, under the bleachers).

Here she is (and deliciously pink) , the…

Claire Standish for Prom Queen

3/4 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqeuer

3/4 oz Aperol

Combine over ice in a tumbler and stir for 30 seconds, strain into a champagne flute

Top with Chandon Sparkling Brut and enjoy, with a fist in the air, because you deserve it.

Garnish:

For this drink I made some candied carambola (starfruit!)

Here’s how to do it!

Slice your carambolas into 1/2 inch stars and throw ‘em in your food dehydrator at 110 degrees for 6-8 hours. They should look/feel like, well, dehydrated starfruit (dry, a bit gummy to chew)

Next, make a batch of simple syrup and lightly coat each piece. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them for 10 minutes at 150 degrees. Next, pull ‘em out and let them cool. When cool, place your candied carambola in a container and fill it with sugar. These should keep for months in your pantry. Just shake em off and drop them in as a garnish in whatever you’d like!

Candied Carambola Claire!