Season two of Netflix’s Arcane drops tomorrow, so I’m swooping in with an Arcane watch party menu to really level up your snack game. Read on for recipes, tips and a free printable menu graphic! Are we all emotionally ready? I’m certainly not. Let’s make some food, cupcake.

Contents

• Arcane (2021 – 2024)
• Arcane Watch Party Menu
• Arcane Watch Party (Video)
• Act One
• Act Two
• Act Three
• Hextech Crystal Truffles Recipe
• Jinx’s Cupcakes Recipe
• Bonus Features
• Season Finale
• Printable Menu Graphic

Arcane (2021 – 2024)

Netflix’s adaptation is based on the popular Riot Games competitive MOBA, League of Legends. It’s an origin story of two of the most well-known champions in the game: sisters Vi and Jinx (formerly known as Powder) and their struggle to not only stay together, but also against the power threatening to destroy everything.

The first season was released in 2021, bringing an essence of the incredibly popular game to the small screen. Created by Alex Yee and Christian Linke, this visually impressive show scored high ratings across the board.

Yee and Linke had a whole team of writers alongside them by the names Mollie Bickley St. John; Ben St. John, Ash Brannon, Amanda Overton, David Dunne, Nick Luddington and Conor Sheehy. Wearing the directors hats were Pascal Charrue and Arnaud Delord.

Honestly, what blew me away the most were the visuals.

I don’t know enough about League of Legends to comment on the story in relation to aspects like character and plot accuracy, but WOW, the look of the entire series is sublime.

This painted-look style of animation is seriously next level. 

Believe me when I say that I want to list every name responsible for the artistry of Arcane, but the art department that worked on it is HUGE. Monumental, even. The talent goes way beyond, clearly. Props to them.

To help bring the characters to life, the show hosted a highly talented voice cast including the likes of Hailee Steinfeld; Ella Purnell, Katie Leung, JB Blanc, Jason Spisak, Remy Hii, Harry Lloyd, Kevin Alejandro, Reed Shannon, Toks Olagundoye and more.

Three years in the making and I still don’t think I’m ready for Arcane to be wrapped up. Nevertheless, let’s throw a watch party.

Arcane Watch Party Menu

Arcane Watch Party (Video)

Here is the menu in text form, in case you prefer to see it outside of an image:

Act One

Top side canapés

Act Two

Vi’s freedom slop

Under city spiced broccoli

Act Three

Hextech crystal truffles

Jinx’s dinner party cupcakes

Bonus Features

The Last Drop tankard of your choice

Shimmer shots

You can find the free printable graphic of this menu at the end of the post!

Act One

Early on in this adaptation, both Piltover and Zaun are established as the main settings for the story. Also known as “top side” and “the under city”, these starkly distinctive and overtly separate settings show the disparity so vividly between the economic classes of people essentially living in the same area.

This inspired me to create dishes for my Arcane watch party menu based around Piltover and Zaun in particular. These settings are, arguably, characters in their own right.

To kick things off are my top side canapés.

I think canapés are brilliant because they are so versatile and entirely customisable. You can choose your favourite flavours: fresh, salty, sweet, spicy, mild and so on, and put together bitesize combinations. 

All you need is to pick your favourite crackers, bread or blinis. Then, top with classic or quirky combinations. I chose a mild cheese cracker then topped it with Boursin cheese (bougie, I know), a spiced plum chutney and some fresh chives. 

You can literally top your canapés with anything. Examples I can give you are mini bruschetta slices with fresh chopped tomato and balsamic vinegar; blinis with cream cheese, smoked salmon and chopped dill; lightly toasted bread with cranberry sauce and turkey. 

I dropped that last one in because I’m feeling festive. 

There are so many combinations and essentially no rules when it comes to canapés. As long as you have a stable base (meaning you can pick up the canapé and it holds the toppings) and flavour combinations that you love, you can’t go wrong.

Act Two

There are two parts to the next segment of my Arcane watch party menu. A little cooking is involved here but I have deliberately chosen food that you do not need to make from scratch if you don’t want to.

Food for movie nights and watch parties should be accessible. Making food from scratch is worth the effort, but isn’t always necessary. I wanted to demonstrate that with this menu in particular.

As Prue Leith once said:

“There is nothing wrong with pulling something off a supermarket shelf if it tastes good.”

Which leads me to the first dish. 

Vi seeks out some proper food following her release, which Caitlyn calls “slop”.

The dish is a combination of an orange sauce with blue and green striped pieces of – what I’m assuming are – meat.

I did consider making a stuffed pasta myself and tinting it blue and green to achieve a really accurate (visual) representation of this dish, but honestly, I didn’t feel excited by it.

Plus, the idea is to make this easy prep for a watch party! If you fancy making the pasta yourself, there are loads of recipes out there like this one by Jamie Oliver. Simply add a touch of blue food colouring or blue spirulina powder to change the colour.

Otherwise, do what I did and get yourself some fresh spinach pasta from your local supermarket. The pasta I bought was stuffed with pine nuts and basil, but fillings will vary.

Tomato and mascarpone sauce is what I used to recreate the orange sauce element of the dish. This was also shop bought. 

I wouldn’t necessarily eat this with your hands like Vi does, but you do you.

The second part of Act Two pays homage to the tree in the haven that Ekko helps to create in the under city.

Broccoli looks like a tree. Fact. (Any Mob Psycho fans here?)

I like to get some veg in where I can because I know that I’m usually going to include some sweet treats in my menus. It’s all about balance, friends.

Broccoli is incredibly good for you and one of the tastier vegetables in my opinion – despite common representations in varying media formats.

Add a little spice and seasoning of your choice, roast it for good measure (20 minutes at 180°C [325°F] should be plenty) and you’ve got yourself a delicious side dish. Dipping sauce is optional.

I personally love some roasted broccoli florets with a little dusting of smoked paprika and seasoned with salt and pepper. Simple but effective. Pair with a sweet chilli dipping sauce and you have a winner.

Act Three

Things are getting sweet now in my Arcane themed watch party menu, friends. 

A running theme in Arcane is the power that comes from Jayce and Viktor’s Hextech crystals. These little blue gems shift everything and are the inspiration for the first sweet treat in my Arcane watch party menu.

Now, I opted to make my own purely because I enjoy making truffles. If preferred, you can absolutely just buy truffles or chocolates that are wrapped in blue wrappers. No stress.

Otherwise, you can use my simple recipe below that is adapted from my Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix prophecy orb truffles. 

The centres of my Hextech crystal truffles are milk chocolate with a biscuit crunch, so they are even more indulgent. You can choose any biscuit that you like paired with chocolate; I went for Nice biscuits for a hint of coconut.

Don’t stress about the tint of blue. It doesn’t need to be perfect!

Note: make these first as they need at least 5 hours to set before shaping and decorating. If preferred, make the mix the day before and leave to chill in the fridge overnight.

Hextech Crystal Truffles Recipe

Makes: around 25 (dependent on size, can be halved or doubled for smaller or larger yield)

Ingredients

Truffle mix:

• 150g [5.25 oz] milk or dark chocolate  in chunks or chips
• 150ml [5.5 oz] double [heavy] cream
• 100g [roughly ½ pack] biscuits [cookies]

Decoration:

• 250g [8.75 oz] white chocolate
• Blue liquid food colouring

Method

Truffles:

1. Line a small cake tin (shape does not matter) with greaseproof paper. Set aside.
2. In a heatproof bowl, melt together the chocolate and cream in 20 second bursts, stirring in between until melted. Alternatively, heat the cream in a small saucepan just until you can see steam rising from the surface (do not let it boil), then pour over the chocolate chunks and leave to soften for around 5 minutes before stirring.
3. Roughly break the biscuits into small pieces and fold through the chocolate mix.
4. Pour your truffle mix into your lined tray and chill in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.

Decoration:

5. When your truffle mix is set, use a melon baller or two teaspoons to shape into jaggedy balls. Dip your melon baller or teaspoons in hot water to help with this process. If you want your Hextech crystals to be like the unrefined version, don’t focus on making the truffles smooth. If you are wanting to recreate the Hextech gemstones, briefly roll each ball between your palms to smoothen out. Place your truffles on a lined tray or plate.
6. In a heatproof bowl, melt ⅔ of the white chocolate in 20 second bursts in the microwave, stirring in between until melted. Add the remaining ⅓ of the chocolate and stir in until mostly or completely melted in the already melted chocolate. Put back in the microwave for 10 seconds, then stir again.
7. Add a few drops of blue food colouring and stir into the chocolate.
8. Using a couple of spoons, dip each truffle in the blue chocolate, wait a second or two to allow any excess chocolate to drip off, then place back onto the lined tray/plate to set.
9. Keep in the fridge until ready to eat.

The second sweet treat in my Arcane watch party menu is a batch of Jinx’s cupcakes.

These are directly inspired by the cupcake that Jinx (or Powder at this point, depending on how you interpret the scene) reveals to Vi during her dinner party of sorts in the last episode of the first season.

Obviously this is a play on Vi’s nickname for Caitlyn: cupcake.

Again, if preferred, you can grab a tray of cupcakes from your local bakery or shop. All good.

But, if like me, you wanted to go for a more accurate recreation of this particular cupcake, you can follow my recipe below.

It’s a super simple one that I used for my Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End menu, my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 cupcakes and my Avatar: The Last Airbender cupcakes recipes.

The ingredient amounts just vary!

As far as flavours go, the choice is entirely yours. I went for a vanilla sponge (to match the colour in the episode) with a standard American buttercream. I then topped with a splash of royal icing mix and a Hextech crystal truffle each. Easy.

Jinx’s Cupcakes Recipe

Makes: 12 (can be halved or doubled for smaller or larger yield)

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 150g [5.25 oz] unsalted butter  softened or room temperature
• 150g [¾ cup] caster sugar
• 150g eggs (around 3 medium or 2 large)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g [¾ cup + 3 tbsp] self-raising flour

Decoration:

• 150g [5.25 oz] unsalted butter  room temperature
• 300g [2 cups + 1 tbsp] icing [confectioners] sugar
• Purple food colouring
• Extract of your choice if using
• 75g [½ cup] royal icing [confectioners] sugar 
• 1½  tbsp water
• 12 Hextech crystal truffles

Method

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C [350°F] or 160°C fan. Line a baking tray (if using sturdy ones) or 12 hole tray with your chosen cupcake cases.
2. Measure out your eggs in their shells and get as close to 150g as you can. Allow for around 15g each way. Whatever number you settle on, weigh the rest of your ingredients out to that exact number.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in between each egg until fully incorporated. Spoon in the vanilla extract and beat in.
5. Sieve in the flour. Beat gently just until you can no longer see any flour. Be careful not to overmix!
6. Spoon the mixture into each cupcake case. Fill each one half way and no more.
7. Bake your cupcakes for 15 – 20 minutes. This will depend on how hot your oven runs. Mine took 20 minutes, but check them after 15. 
8. Your cakes will be done when a skewer/cocktail stick comes out clean, the surface of them spring back when gently pressed on, and you hear little to no crackling/bubbling sound when you listen to them.
9. Once baked, leave to cool in or on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Decoration:

1. While your cakes are cooling, make your buttercream.
2. Beat the butter to loosen it. 
3. Add the icing sugar in ⅓ at a time and beat in after each ⅓ has been added.
4. Add the extract
5. Add a few drops of the purple food colouring in and beat in until an even colour is achieved. Adjust the colour by adding more if needed.
6. Fill a piping bag or sandwich bag with a 2D closed star piping tip attached with the buttercream.
7. Pipe swirls of buttercream onto the top of each cake.
8. In a small bowl, mix together the royal icing sugar and water to create a thick icing. Spoon a little over each cupcake so that it drips down the purple frosting swirls.
9. Top each cupcake with a Hextech crystal truffle.

Bonus Features

The food is all ready, so now we just need some beverages.

These ones are nice and simple. The Last Drop is the hub of the under city – and the home of Vi and Powder for a while. As it’s a bar, it seemed perfectly suitable to name a drink in my Arcane watch party menu after it.

All you need is a tankard for each person attending your watch party and options as to what drink they can fill them with. This can be whatever your favourite drinks are.

As always, if you are indulging in alcohol, please be drink aware and only do so if you are the legal age in your country of residence.

The last drink on my Arcane themed watch party menu is inspired by shimmer.

AKA the liquid substance that circulates the under city and is used by Silco to control the population. Don’t worry, my shimmer shots have none of the addictive qualities or side effects that shimmer in Arcane does. 

I was searching all through the shop for a drink that emanated a similar pink-purple colour to shimmer. Nothing natural could be so vibrant and near-radioactive looking.

Or so I thought… 

I found a fruit juice by Innocent that fit the image near perfectly. If you want to go hunting for it, the drink itself is called the “Inner Winner” and has pink dragon fruit, lychee, apple and baobab in it.

Of course, you can absolutely choose a drink that you like and is a similar colour to shimmer. It doesn’t need to be spot on as long as you enjoy it. Nothing wrong with doing shots of fruit juice, though.

To finish, I added a touch of edible silver glitter.

Season Finale

There you have it, friends. My Arcane watch party menu full of delicious food inspired by the hit Netflix adaptation of the incredibly popular video game, League of Legends.

This menu works to give you Arcane inspired food that would work for any Arcane themed party. If you’re throwing a party, let me know in the comments!

I am super excited to watch the next and last season of Arcane. I hope it hits the mark.

You can find the free printable menu graphic below – by all means print it and display it at your own Arcane themed watch party.

See you in the next post!

Printable Menu Graphic