Making your own sweet cream vanilla cold foam at home is the perfect way to enjoy cold coffee or jazz up your favorite drinks. All you need for this easy recipe is a handful of simple ingredients and your favorite cold brew coffee!
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What is Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam?
Vanilla sweet cream cold foam is a combination of cold milk, heavy cream, and vanilla syrup blended (or frothed) until thickened with a creamy texture. At Starbucks, they use a high powered blender to whip up the mixture into a foam.
The consistency is almost the same as whipped cream, but a little lighter. It tastes delightfully sweet and smooth with a delicate vanilla flavor--kind of like vanilla ice cream.
Equipment Needed:
Handheld Milk Frother: For this recipe, I use an inexpensive hand held frother. It's light, small, and works really well for this purpose. I love using this frother to make a variety of foams for iced coffee and froth milk for my Eggnog Latte during the holidays. FYI-make sure the batteries are fresh when you're frothing the foam, or else the foam won't thicken.
Vanilla Syrup: You can use storebought or I have a homemade vanilla syrup recipe I use all the time for this foam. It's super simple and only calls for sugar, water, and vanilla extract.
How To Make Homemade Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam
Makes enough for 1 16oz iced coffee
What You Need For This Cold Foam Recipe
- 2% milk: this creates a nice texture, helps to cut the richness and it keeps the foam from separating too much after topping the cold brew.
- Heavy whipping cream: this creates the same nice rich and thick foam like at Starbucks, without using a high-powered blender.
- Vanilla syrup, homemade or store-bought:
- Cold brew coffee: choose your favorite brand or make your own!
Instructions
Combine the milk, cream, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup into a mason jar or cup.
Using your handheld frother, whip the cream mixture for about 50-60 seconds until the sweet cream is thick and creamy and has about doubled in volume.
If you're using a countertop frother, you'll combine all the ingredients into the frother, and just whip per the unit's instructions.
Fill a 16 oz glass or mason jar with ice and fill almost to the top with coffee. Remember to leave some room for the foam!
If you like your coffee sweet, add a little extra vanilla simple syrup at this point.
Spoon the creamy foam over the top of the cold brew coffee and enjoy!
I've also read that folks use a french press for frothing! You just need to plunge the sweet cream about 30-40 times for the perfect froth!
If you have a countertop frother you can use that as well. Just add all ingredients to your machine and froth on the cold setting.
Vanilla Sweet Cream Vs Cold Foam
What is Cold foam?
The cold foam that you see at Starbucks is nonfat milk that is put through a special machine and whipped/frothed at high speed. It's whipped cold and is not sweetened or flavored typically.
What is Sweet Cream?
A vanilla sweet cream cold brew is a blend of heavy cream, milk, and vanilla syrup that's just poured into cold brew coffee for sweetness and creaminess. It's not frothed--it's like a coffee creamer essentially.
How is Sweet Cream Cold Foam different?
Vanilla sweet cream cold foam is the best of both worlds. The cream and vanilla sugar syrup from the sweet cream is combined with low fat milk and frothed at high speed, just like the cold foam. This makes a delicious light and airy foam, that is slightly sweet, with a touch of vanilla in every sip.
Sources for the above info are from the Coffee At Three Blog and Starbucks.
Expert Tips
- I really like using 2% milk vs whole milk for this recipe. I find that whole milk causes the foam to separate. It still tastes great, but you lose that velvety texture over time.
- If you're using a countertop milk frother, make sure your machine is set to the "cold" setting.
- For best results, ensure all your ingredients are cold.
- Make sure the batteries in your handheld frother are fresh! If the frother isn't up to speed, the foam won't thicken.
- Experiment with different flavors of syrups! Flavorings like cinnamon, lavender, caramel, and peppermint would all be delicious additions to your cold foam!
FAQs
Yes! I've recently adapted the recipe and the cold foam now works on top of hot drinks.
Try adding this sweet cold foam to your favorite hot coffee drinks like a mid afternoon espresso, a spicy chai tea, or rich hot chocolate!
For this recipe, you're coming out to 105 calories. This is for a generous helping of foam on top of a 16 oz glass of coffee. You can switch to a sugar free vanilla syrup to lower the calories if you'd like!
Yes, I've whipped this sweet cream foam by hand with a whisk. It does take about 5 minutes of vigorous whisking to get enough air into it, but you can count that as a workout for the day!
To make it super, duper simple, you can put your cream mixture and vanilla simple syrup into a jar and just shake vigorously until thick and creamy!
Recently I've discovered that a Nutribullet does not work well for making this foam.
Other Starbucks Copycat Recipes:
📖 Recipe
Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam At Home!
Creamy and rich Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam. So easy to make at home, you'll never need the coffee shop again!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of 2% milk
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup (see notes) + more to taste
- Your favorite iced or cold brew coffee
Instructions
- Combine the milk, cream, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup into a jar or cup.
- Using your handheld frother, whip the mixture for about 50-60 seconds until the sweet cream is thick and creamy and has about doubled in volume.
- If you're using a countertop frother, you'll combine all the ingredients into the frother, and just whip per the unit's instructions.
- Fill a 16 oz glass or mason jar with ice and fill almost to the top with coffee. Remember to leave some room for the foam!
- If you like your coffee sweet, add a little extra vanilla syrup at this point.
- Spoon the foam over the top of the iced coffee and enjoy!
Notes
Homemade Vanilla Syrup:
Combine 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract. Allow syrup to cool completely before using. Store leftovers in the fridge. Makes 1 ½ cups.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 105Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 24mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 0gSugar: 4gProtein: 2g
Juliea Huffaker says
This looks delightful! I don’t drink coffee but I bet the sweet cream foam would be awesome on my postum!
Harlee says
How long is this cream food for in the fridge?
Michelle says
I usually make this cream on the spot when I'm ready for a cold brew, so I've never tried making a batch of it and storing it. I would say it'll keep for 2-3 days in the fridge and will just need to be frothed/whipped before serving!
heidi says
YUM!! we made this vegan with almond milk & vegan whipping cream, & the vanilla syrup..worked perfectly & as good or better than any coffee shop! 👏🏼👏🏼
Michelle says
I love this!! Thanks for sharing!
Caitlin says
How long does the vanilla syrup last ?
Michelle says
It will last 2 months in the fridge!
Annette says
I love this recipe and will be using it again and again. ❤️