Cold Foam Recipe (Unsweetened and Sweetened)
Cold foam is a frothy milk-based topping that you can serve over iced drinks. It’s airy and adds a nice texture. When you lick some foam you get a sensation that little bubbles are fizzing on your tongue!
What is Cold Foam?
Cold foam is a frothy milk-based topping that you can serve over iced coffee or iced tea. It has grown in popularity thanks to popular coffee chains (i.e. Starbucks vanilla sweet cream cold foam).
Cold foam is different from the frothy milk in hot drinks because instead heating milk, we aerate cold milk.
Dairy Options
You can use any dairy or non-dairy milk but not-fat milk works the best due to it’s high protein content. The best non-dairy milk is unsweetened soy milk which is also high in protein.
Heavy cream or whipping cream is whipped up quickly to make homemade whipped cream. It has a more full fat flavor than milk and is higher in fat and a thicker consistency. You can make cold foam with heavy cream but the taste will be different than milk and the texture will be heavier.
Cold Foam Techniques
We need to aerate cold milk until it is very light and foamy and theres a lot of different techniques to achieve it. I’ve seen people use a french press machine, a blender, and handheld frothers and more! After testing all these options, the ones listed below are my favorite ways to make cold foam.
- Handheld milk frother is affordable and easy to use. Stick the wand into the bottom of a tall glass and then turn it on to avoid milk splashes. Slowly lift the wand up and down to aerate the milk.
- Electric milk frother and steamer machine is more of an investment but it makes thick, sturdy foam in a minute or less. I purchased this frother machine on Amazon almost four years ago but it is no longer listed. Here is a similar machine that I have tried (my friend owns this one) and recommend. First you add your milk and then choose from different foam settings and it aerates the foam.
- Shake it in a mason jar! While this way is “easier” because you don’t need to buy a tool, this is the most tiring way! (You get an arm workout in, which is good?) Add milk into a jar with a well sealed lid. Shake the jar for a minute or two vigorously to get that foamy consistency!
To make sweet cold foam, add simple syrup to your milk before any of these frothing methods. You can also add a dash of vanilla extract for a slightly warm flavor.
Add cold foam to an iced earl grey tea latte!
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RECIPE CARD
Cold Foam Recipe (Unsweetened and Sweetened)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Milk of your choice
- 1 tsp Simple syrup optional
- Dash Vanilla extract optional
Instructions
Hand Held Frother
- Pour the milk into a cup with tall sides (to avoid splashing).
- Add your optional sweetener or dash of vanilla.
- Place your hand held frother onto the bottom of the cup, turn on and whisk until frothy. Pour over your drink right away.
In a Jar
- Add milk and optional sweeteners into a jar.
- Close the lid tightly and shake for 1-2 minutes for light foamy. Pour over your drink right away.
Milk Foam Machine
- Pour the milk and optional sweeteners into an electric milk frother.
- Choose the cold foam setting and when its done frothing, pour over your drink right away.
Notes
- Dairy options: Non-fat milk or unsweetened soy milk will yield thicker foam due to the high amounts of protein.
- The thickest foam is made with an electric milk frother and steamer machine but you can also get nice frothy foam using a handheld frother wand.
- Flavoring can be added to foam before whisking. A dash of vanilla adds a slightly warm flavor.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, and should be used as an approximation.
