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Cold foam is THE drink trend of 2021. A ton of Starbucks drinks and maybe even some at your local coffee shop are probably featuring cold foam. In fact, many of your favorite drinks on the Starbucks menu can be customized to include their cold foam! This is of course at an extra cost to you, but it definitely is the perfect way to lift your mood during a workday.
Unfortunately, the ingredients in the Starbucks cold foam aren’t the cleanest. The cream that Starbucks uses in their cold foam is cut with monoglycerides and diglycerides, as well as carrageenan. Mono and diglycerides are commonly used food additives that act as emulsifiers and help to prevent the oil in a product from separating. These additives are usually created by a process that heats and transforms vegetable oil (see why you should avoid vegetable oil here).
Carrageenan is a similar additive that is used as a thickening agent. Carrageenan is actually banned in Europe due to its potential cancer causing abilities.
Knowing all this, you may be wondering how you can make cold foam at home and avoid all the harmful additives. Luckily, making cold foam is a really simple process, which is why it is one of my favorite recipes!
What materials do I need to make cold foam?
All of the ingredients you will need for the cold foam are actually readily available at grocery stores! You can pour it over any kind of coffee, but I personally think it tastes the best over a cold brew. You do not need to have any fancy equipment like a French press or a Nespresso machine to make cold brew. I usually make mine using my handy dandy Keurig, and it works just fine. If you’d like to purchase a premade cold brew, Califa Farms and Wandering Bear are two great options!
I like to use my handheld milk frother that I purchased off Amazon. It is super compact, inexpensive, and perfect for traveling or if you’re stuck in an office all day.
Sweet Cream Cold Foam (Starbucks Copycat Recipe)
Equipment
- milk frother
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl or mason jar, add heavy cream, condensed milk and vanilla extract.
- Using an immersion blender or handheld frother, combine ingredients at high speed until desired consistency is reached.
- To a glass add ice cubes, cold brew coffee and cold milk.
- Pour sweet cream cold foam over iced coffee and enjoy!
Variations:
There are many different ways you can alter this cold foam. Here are some of the best variations!
Decreasing the sweetness:
If you want your foam to be less sweet, you can swap the condensed milk for an alternative milk. This recipe is really flexible and I’ve had success using whole milk, skim milk, non-fat milk, and oat milk!
Increasing the sweetness:
If you like your coffee super sweet, you can increase the sweetness by adding simple syrup. You can make this by adding equal parts sugar and water and heating it over medium heat. I’ve written a more detailed version in my post here.
Adding different flavors:
Flavored syrups add depth to your beverage. Caramel syrup, vanilla, and maple syrup are among the more popular choices. If you want something more subtle, I’ve found that a touch of brown sugar or even a little bit of salt is great with cold coffee drinks!
If you’re looking to level up your coffee game by giving it a fun fall vibe, I highly recommend making a pumpkin cream! To do this, simply add 2-3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree and 1-2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice into the milk mixture and blend it using your electric frother!
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