Two things I love in the world are now together as one: birthday cake and Starbucks Frappuccinos. For the Frappuccino’s 20th birthday, Starbucks is offering a limited-time only Birthday Cake Frappuccino from March 26 to March 30. It’s not an original “birthday cake flavor,” but rather a combination of vanilla bean and hazelnut topped with raspberry-infused whipped cream.
Now for the question on everyone’s mind: how many calories in this puppy?
Well, the caloric content for standard Frappuccino flavors is significantly less horrible that I had thought. (As in, I breathed an audible sigh of relief.) A tall (small, 8 oz.) Mocha Frappuccino without whipped cream is 190 calories and 2 grams of fat. A tall Double Chocolaty Chip Creme Frappuccino without whipped cream is 200 calories and 4.5 grams of fat, and a Cinnamon Dolce Frappucino without whipped cream is 260 calories, with 3.5 grams fat.
If we assume a tall Birthday Cake Frappucinno is one of the less-healthy options, with whipped cream we are looking at roughly 360 calories, 12 of them from fat. A venti (large, 24 oz.) would clock in around 580 calories, and 18 grams of fat.
In other words, you might as well just eat a slice of birthday cake. Or two,
Starbucks’ web site has many helpful suggestions on their Tips From Starbucks Baristas to Lighten Up Beverages page to ease your caloric burden: You can request sugar-free syrup and non-fat milk, as well as ask for less of that raspberry-infused whipped cream.
Meanwhile, I sent off an email to Starbucks corporate headquarters asking about the specific calories in a Birthday Cake Frappuccuno. I will update when I hear a response.
UPDATE: Via an email from a Starbucks spokesperson:
- A tall (12 oz) Birthday Cake Frappuccino standard build, which is made with whole milk and is topped with whipped cream, is 280 calories.
- A tall (12 oz) Birthday Cake Frappuccino made with nonfat milk and no whipped cream is 180 calories.
- A tall (12 oz) Birthday Cake Frappuccino made with coconut milk and no whipped cream is 170 calories.
“There are various ways to lighten up the Birthday Cake Frappuccino including choosing nonfat milk or coconut milk, or asking for light or less whipped cream or no whipped cream,” the spokesperson added.
