How to Make Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam
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When over 40,000 people save and share a recipe, you know it’s one that delivers. This Sweet Cream Vanilla Cold Foam has earned its popularity by being reliable, easy, and incredibly satisfying. I’ve tested and tweaked this recipe too many times to count in order to get the perfect consistency. This cold foam whips up fast, stays up, and is perfectly sweet.
What is Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam?
Vanilla sweet cream cold foam combines cold milk, heavy cream, and vanilla syrup blended (or frothed) until thickened to 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.
Why you’ll love this Sweet Cream Cold Foam Recipe
- Cost Savings: Save money by making your favorite Starbucks treat at home.
- Time Efficient: Skip the Starbucks drive-thru line and make it in minutes. Enjoy a treat without leaving the house.
- Customizable: Adjust the sweetness and flavor to your exact preference.
- Impress Guests: Serve café-quality drinks to friends during playdates or gatherings.
- Availability: Enjoy your favorite drink even when you can’t make it to Starbucks.
- Healthier Ingredients: Control the ingredients and opt for healthier alternatives.
- Daily Ritual: Start your morning routine with a homemade, barista-style treat.
- Unlimited Cold Foam Flavors: Experiment with different flavors and syrups at home. I use this recipe combined with strawberry jam to make a strawberry sweet cream cold foam!
Ingredients you’ll need to make Vanilla Cold Foam
Makes enough vanilla sweet cream cold foam for one 16oz iced coffee. Exact ingredient amounts are listed on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- 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: 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.
- Cold brew coffee: choose your favorite brand or make your own!
What milk is best for cold foam?
2% milk is the best because it cuts through the fat of the heavy cream and it hold the froth better than whole milk. Whole milk is too heavy and causes the foam to separate faster.
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 Teddy Graham Latte or an 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.
How to Make Cold Foam
Step 1:
Combine the milk, cream, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup into a mason jar or cup.
Step 2:
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.
Step 3:
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.
Expert tips on How to Make Vanilla Cold Foam
- 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 flavored foams! Swap the vanilla syrup for flavorings like maple, sugar cookie syrup, brown sugar cinnamon syrup, lavender, caramel, or peppermint.
How to store leftover Vanilla Cold Foam
I don’t recommend making the foam and then storing it. The mixture will separate as it sits. But you can make a batch of the milk and cream mixture. When you’re ready for foam, add 1/4 cup of the milk mixture to a cup with 1 tablespoon of syrup and froth as directed.
Cold Foam Recipe FAQs
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.
Sweet cream 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.
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!
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.
Cold foam is a lighter version of whipped cream, that contains a blend of milk, cream, and flavored syrup. Whipped cream is just heavy cream whipped with sweetener and vanilla extract. Cold foam doesn’t hold it’s shape like whipped cream, but it’s very smooth and silky and perfect for sipping!
Yes, you can omit the vanilla syrup and use 2 or 3 drops of vanilla extract instead.
Sources for the above info are from the Coffee At Three Blog and Starbucks.
Other Starbucks Copycat Recipes:
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How to Make Vanilla Cold Foam
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!
This looks delightful! I don’t drink coffee but I bet the sweet cream foam would be awesome on my postum!
How long is this cream food for in the fridge?
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!
YUM!! we made this vegan with almond milk & vegan whipping cream, & the vanilla syrup..worked perfectly & as good or better than any coffee shop! 👏🏼👏🏼
I love this!! Thanks for sharing!
Which almond milk do you use? I tried doing the same thing and it didn’t come out :/
Hi! I use extra creamy or “seriously smooth and creamy”. If you can find it, “barista” style almond milk thickens up more than regular almond milk! Hope this helps!
How long does the vanilla syrup last ?
It will last 2 months in the fridge!
I love this recipe and will be using it again and again. ❤️
So good! I didn’t realize how simple it was to make!