A Lost Boys–Inspired Date Night
I’ve mentioned a few times here, and on the podcast, that I’m originally from the Bay Area. Lately, I’ve been feeling especially homesick, which naturally means The Lost Boys has been on constant rotation.
I used to live about an hour from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, where much of the movie was filmed. One of the coolest things the Boardwalk does each summer is host free movies on the beach, and The Lost Boys is usually one of the first films of the season. Watching it beneath the stars, right where it was filmed, sounds absolutely perfect, but I couldn’t exactly justify spending a few thousand dollars to fly back for movie night.
So, we brought Santa Carla home and created our own haunted Lost Boys date night instead.
The Details
They’re Only Noodles, Michael
We started with Chinese takeout. Probably the most obvious dinner choice for a Lost Boys date night, but you know what, I am really trying not to make things difficult for myself if I don’t have to. Thankfully, our noodles and rice were completely worm- and maggot-free.
A Bottle from Santa Carla
I couldn’t find Vampyre wine anywhere, so I made my own. A vinyl decal inspired by the movie’s iconic bridge scene transformed an ordinary bottle into our very own Lost Boys wine.
Cry Little Sugar - Funnel Cake
We finished the evening with a Santa Cruz Boardwalk classic: warm funnel cake topped with ice cream and a strawberry vampire bite marks. (Recipe below)
Cry Little Sugar - Lost Boys Inspired Funnel Cake
Ingredients
Instructions
- Put the chopped strawberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice into a medium saucepan.
- Place the pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the berries release their natural juices.
- Let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes until the strawberries get super mushy; mash them with a fork or potato masher.
- Turn off the heat, and with your immersion blender, blend until all "bits" look as smooth as possible
- Take the blended mixture and push it through a fine-mesh strainer. Let cool - should be good for a week in your fridge.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well-combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and vanilla bean paste until well-combined.
- While whisking, gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stirring until the mixture is smooth and combined. Set aside.
- Fill a medium-sized saucepan 2-3” deep with vegetable oil. Set the pot on the stovetop over medium-low heat, and place a candy thermometer in the oil (make sure the tip of the thermometer is in the middle of the oil and not touching the bottom, or it will read hotter than the actual temperature of the oil). Heat oil to 370- 375 °F.
- Once oil is heated, portion about ⅓ – ½ cup of batter into a funnel. Slowly drizzle the batter into the oil in a thin stream, swirling and crisscrossing it over itself. Fry on each side until golden brown (about 90 seconds per side), then remove to a paper-towel-lined plate.
- Repeat until done, and dust with powdered sugar
- Once the funnel cakes are dusted, drizzle over strawberry syrup (if you have extra strawberries, slice and add them on top) [Save some syrup for the "bite"]
- Moving quickly through the next few steps due to heat from the funnel cake. Have your chopsticks at the ready; load your syringe with strawberry syrup; and have your whipped cream and ice cream out.
- Scoop ice cream onto the funnel cake. Poke two holes in the ice cream with the chopsticks where you feel a vampire bite would look best. Using your loaded syringe, put the tip into the hole and push out some syrup. Do the same to the other hole
- Top with whipped cream and enjoy!
