how to make sweet cream cold foam

If you love Starbucks sweet cream cold foam like I do you're in luck because it's a breeze to make! Make this easy recipe to satisfy all your cold brew and iced coffee dreams.

To say I love coffee is an understatement. I drink it every morning and afternoon without fail. I prefer to make my coffee at home but occasionally I will treat myself to a Starbucks specialty drink. One of my favorite drinks at Starbucks is an iced americano with vanilla sweet cream cold foam on top.

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Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam

I already knew the three ingredients in Starbucks vanilla sweet cream cold foam were:

Vanilla syrup
Heavy cream
2% Milk

But I thought the ratio would be harder to obtain. I thought my first go at it would be to call and ask my local Starbucks what exactly was in it. I expected some hesitation but instead I was told the exact ratio. Here it is:

1 part vanilla syrup
2 parts heavy cream
1 part 2% Milk

How to make Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam at home

So the only thing left to do was test out methods. I tested out three and one bested the other two.

Method One - a blender

I started with using what I thought would be the best method because it's what Starbucks seems to use - a blender. Ultimately their was too much surface area and although it got foamy it didn't get thick enough and immediately mixed with the espresso.

In my experience the best part of sweet cream cold foam is that it's thick enough to linger on the coffee a while before finally mixing into it.

Method Two - A jar

The second method was to measure all the ingredients into a jar and then screw on the lid tightly and shake, shake, shake!

This method worked better than the blender and I would recommend it only if you don't have the tool for method three. The cold foam doubled in size compared to the blender method but it sunk into the coffee much faster than I prefer it to.

Method Three - An immersion blender

Immersion blenders come with a tall plastic cup to blend inside of - make sure to use this. Unlike the blender the surface area is much smaller and blends the mixture into a much thicker cold foam.

This method without a doubt worked the best. The cold foam was thick, creamy, and didn't immediately mix into my iced coffee. It was exactly how I love it from Starbucks.

Three glasses of sweet cream cold foam made in different ways

You can see the blender method has the least amount of volume and ultimately didn't whip up very much. The jar method did okay and would work if you don't have an immersion blender but ultimately the immersion blender made the best thick and creamy sweet cream cold foam.

Tips to make the best cold foam:

Use cold heavy cream. The fat in the cream stays emulsified longer when it's cold. You can't make stable whipped cream with warm heavy cream. The same idea applies here. We don't want whipped cream but we do want it to thicken up and stay thick for a while.
Use vanilla syrup. I love kitchen hacks and cheats but in this recipe I wouldn't try and substitute powdered or regular sugar for this. It won't taste the same. If you don't have vanilla syrup you can buy some online or make it yourself. It's super simple and all you need are equal parts sugar and water plus vanilla extract. Here is a perfect recipe.
Remember the ratio. This recipe is enough for 2 drinks but you can adjust it as necessary. Want to make sweet cream cold foam cold brews for 4 people? Just double the recipe. Ultimately if you just remember 2 parts heavy cream, 1 part 2% milk, and 1 part vanilla you're in business.

Delicious desserts that go excellent with coffee

Triple Berry Crisp with Oat Crumble
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Sweet cream cold foam on iced coffee

How to make Starbucks Sweet Cream Cold Foam

If you love Starbucks sweet cream cold foam like I do you're in luck because it's a breeze to make! Make this easy recipe to satisfy all your cold brew and iced coffee dreams. This recipe makes enough for 2 coffees.

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 0 mins

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Calories 150 kcal

Immersion blender or if you don't have one a glass jar with a tightly fitting lid

2 oz. Heavy cream (4 tbsp)
1 oz. Vanilla syrup (2 tbsp)
1 oz. 2% Milk (2 tbsp)

In the tall cup that comes with the immersion blender blend all three ingredients until thick and foamy.
Pour immediately on to cold brew or iced coffees. Enjoy.

If you don't have an immersion blender:

Measure all three ingredients into a jar with a tightly fitting lid. Shake the jar really well until the mixture turns thick and creamy. Use immediately.

Calories: 150 kcal

Let us know how it was!

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