Lava flow

Method

1. Blend the strawberry swirl first. Combine the frozen strawberries, 15 ml rum, sugar if using, and 60 g ice in a blender. Blend until completely smooth and thick, scraping down the sides if needed. Pour into a jug and rinse out the blender.
2. Blend the piña colada base. Combine the crushed pineapple, sweetened coconut cream, 60 ml rum, and 150 g ice in the blender. Blend until smooth and thick, aiming for roughly the same consistency as the strawberry mixture.
3. Layer for the lava effect. Pour the strawberry mixture into the bottom of two hurricane glasses. Hold a spoon upside down just above the surface and slowly pour the piña colada base over the back of it; this breaks the fall so the white base spreads evenly over the top instead of drilling straight through the red layer.
4. Swirl and serve. For a more dramatic marbled look, run a straw or skewer once around the inside of the glass from bottom to top, dragging a few streaks of strawberry up through the white base without fully mixing them. Serve immediately with a straw.

Notes

• Match the thickness of both blends. If one mixture is noticeably thinner than the other, they will not hold separate layers and will simply combine into a uniform pink drink instead of showing red lava streaks through a white base. Use a similar ice-to-liquid ratio in both blends and check the consistency of each before pouring.
• Non-alcoholic version. Leave the rum out of both blends for a family-friendly virgin lava flow. Add a small splash of extra pineapple juice to the base and a small splash of water to the strawberry mixture to keep the proportions and texture right.

Ingredient substitutions

• Sweetened coconut cream (labeled “cream of coconut,” the thick canned product sold under brands like Coco Lopez) is the traditional base here, and it is not the same product as canned coconut milk. Coconut milk is unsweetened and much thinner, so swapping it in one-for-one gives a thin, under-sweet drink that will not blend to the same body. In Germany and Canada, sweetened coconut cream is usually found in larger supermarkets’ cocktail-mixer aisles, at Latin American or Asian grocers, or can be ordered online. If it is genuinely unavailable, simmering full-fat coconut milk with sugar until it reduces and thickens gives a rough approximation, though it will not get quite as thick as the canned product.
• Frozen vs fresh strawberries. Frozen strawberries are actually preferred here, since they blend to a thicker, colder purée without extra ice. Fresh strawberries work too; add a little more ice to the strawberry blend to compensate for the lost chill and thickness.
• Canned crushed pineapple vs fresh. Either works. Fresh pineapple should be blitzed on its own until fully broken down before adding the other ingredients, since raw chunks do not always fully liquefy once the rum and sweetened coconut cream are in the blender.

Sources consulted

• Wine Enthusiast: Lava Flow Cocktail Recipe
• HAWAIʻI Magazine: How to Make a Lava Flow Cocktail Like the Ones in Hawaii
• The Kitchn: Lava Flow Cocktail
• Food Network: Lava Flows, Piña Coladas with Rivers of Strawberry

From Christoph Mayer

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