Coffee News

Dallas-Fort Worth Starbucks embrace holidays with polarizing Frappuccino flavor

Starbucks is going all-out kitsch with its new limited-edition flavor.

Photo courtesy of Starbucks

Starbucks has a gimmicky new drink flavor available for a very limited time: It's a Fruitcake Frappuccino blended beverage, and it's available only through December 19.

The inspiration is holiday fruitcake, "with its colorful candied fruits, nuts, and spices." The drink is a hazelnut crème Frappuccino, to which Starbucks adds dried fruit and cinnamon, before then topping it with whipped cream, caramel dots, and a sprinkle of matcha.

Fruitcake seems like an odd inspiration, given the mixed reaction that fruitcake earns. An employee at Casa Linda Plaza Starbucks said that no one has asked for the drink, and that he would have to print out the recipe card in order to make it.

But there are fruitcake fans out there. The stores at Mockingbird Commons and near Baylor were already in full fruitcake mode. "It's so goooood," said an employee at the Baylor store.

The drink is an easy spin-off since it uses ingredients already in-house; the dried fruit is the same as what's sprinkled on top of the chain's breakfast oatmeal. But hazelnut crème Frappuccinos have no coffee, so if you're looking for a caffeine kick, you're out of luck.

Ratcheting up the kitsch level, Starbucks will be doing a cross-promotion with a holiday sweater theme. December 16 is National Ugly Sweater Day, so Starbucks Rewards members can get an ugly sweater knitted beverage cozy as a gift with the purchase of a Fruitcake Frappuccino.

coffee holidays

Scones News

Fort Worth baker pops up around town with fresh baked scones

Sunrise Scones

Scones from Sunrise Scones

Fort Worth has a pop-up baker dedicated entirely to the wonderful world of scones: Called Sunrise Scones, it's a mobile bakery that pops up twice a week, selling scones ready to eat or take home and bake.

Sunrise is from baker Gretchen Seegel, who has been baking and selling scones since 2021. Fans seek her out every Saturday at Clearfork Farmers Market at 4801 Edwards Ranch Rd. And during September, she's popping-up every Wednesday from 10 am-2 pm at Sweet Lucy’s Pies, inside Bluebonnet Circle Park at 3520 Blue Bonnet Cir.

Sunrise's signature item is the blueberry lemon scone, a golden-brown pastry featuring whole blueberries and lemon zest. Other scone flavors include double chocolate, vanilla cream, and s’mores topped with graham cracker crumbles and a chocolate square.

Seegel also does savory flavors such as parmesan pesto that almost resembles focaccia, with its topping of dusted herbs and melted cheese.

Single scones look like a pie-shaped wedge, a couple inches high. Most of her flavors come with icing or sprinkled toppings, which add to their visual appeal. A single scone is $5, although the more popular order is a four-pack for $20. Orders can be made during markets or through preorder on the site.

In addition to already baked, she also offers a take-and-bake — "so people can buy frozen scones, bring them home, and bake them when they want a fresh scone," she says.

Seegel began baking scones because she could never find ones she liked.

“I love bakeries but more often than not, I was disappointed in the scone,” Seegel says. “They were either overworked, over-mixed, or super sweet.”

Scones were a fun pivot for Seegel, a creative soul who previously designed and sewed children's clothes under her brand called Beatrice Tuley, which she closed when she launched her baking business.

The biggest challenges in the scones operation have been finding quality ingredients while keeping prices reasonable, but she loves the process of creating flavors, with an eye towards seasonality. She's already working on apples and pumpkin for the fall.

"I just think about what would pair well with other flavors and try to find some unique pairings," she says.