Sweet and delicious, brown sugar cold foam is so easy to make at home in 2 minutes using 4 ingredients!
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What is Cold Foam?
Cold foam is a cold, frothed milk mixture that’s added on top of iced drinks to add a creamy, velvety touch.
It’s pourable and made by adding air to the milk by whipping or blending without heat or steam.
At Starbucks, cold foam is made in a special blender that has a circular disc which makes tiny and perfectly uniform bubbles in the heavy cream mixture. The popular vanilla sweet cream cold foam is made with heavy cream, 2% milk, and vanilla syrup. Brown sugar cold foam can be ordered as a customized cold foam.
At Dunkin’, cold foam comes in cans and it’s made with nonfat milk and creamer. It’s sweeter than the Starbucks version. The brown sugar cold foam in a can isn’t sold anywhere.
RELATED: Easy Cold Foam Recipes
Recipe Highlights
- Cold foam is incredibly easy to made at home using a French press. It creates perfect cold foam in seconds.
- This brown sugar cold foam recipe is a variation on Starbucks vanilla sweet cream cold foam and it’s made with heavy cream, 2% milk, brown sugar syrup, and ground cinnamon (optional).
- It’s a deliciously smooth topping that can be poured onto iced coffee or iced tea.
- Use brown sugar cold foam in addition to milk in drinks or swapped in place of milk or cream.
- This recipe takes only 2 minutes to make using 4 ingredients.
RELATED: Chocolate Cold Foam
Ingredient Notes
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream makes the cold foam thick enough to float on top of an iced drink.
- 2% Milk: The milk is used to thin out the heavy cream so it can be pourable. Starbucks uses 2% milk but you can use the kind of milk you like.
- Brown sugar syrup: Homemade brown sugar syrup is super easy to make at home. Make a batch and have enough left over to add to drinks the rest of the week.
- Ground cinnamon (optional): Cinnamon goes really well with brown sugar, adding another layer of flavor but this is optional so you can take it out if you want.
RELATED: Salted Caramel Cold Foam
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Put all ingredients into a French press.
Step 2: Place lid and move the plunger up and down. The cold foam will increase in volume. Pour cold foam on top of an iced drink and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
To simplify the recipe, use half & half.
If you want to reduce the calories in your cold foam, replace heavy cream and milk with 1/3 cup of half & half.
Using alternative milk.
Almond milk, soy milk, and oat milk can all be used to replace the 2% milk in the recipe. Frothing just almond, soy, or oat milk and not using heavy cream at all will create varying results. The foam will be watery and thin.
Best results come from a French press or electric milk frother.
The more uniform and tiny bubbles you create in cold foam, the more velvety the texture will be. The French press or an electric milk frother that makes cold foam will give you the best results. If you don’t have a French press, a handheld milk frother will work but the foam won’t be as uniform.
A manual way to make cold foam is to shake all the ingredients in a large jar with a tight lid. Just keep shaking until the froth looks like cold foam!
Expert Tips
- Brown sugar cold foam can be placed on top of any iced drink, either by replacement for milk and sweeteners, or adding an extra creamy, sweet topping to your iced beverage.
- Cold foam works really well on top of cold brew, iced Americano, or an iced latte.
- Don’t overfill the French press since the foam will increase in size. Leave at least half the glass container empty.
- Don’t underfill the French press or it won’t froth correctly, or at all. Be sure the liquids are touching the French press filter before moving the plunger.
- Cold foam can be made up to 2 days beforehand and stored in the fridge.
RELATED: Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam
Questions You May Have
Since brown sugar cold foam is not on the regular Starbucks menu, you can order a customized one: ““Can I get vanilla sweet cream cold foam with 2 pumps of brown sugar syrup and a little cinnamon blended into the foam?” This can only be ordered in person since the option isn’t available on the app.
Yes, in addition to the regular menu flavored cold foams at Starbucks, you can customize them with any flavored syrup, matcha, or puree that’s available. All customized cold foams must be ordered in person since there’s no way to request the syrup blended into a cold foam via the app. Ask the barista to add 2 pumps of the syrup you’d like to be blended into vanilla sweet cream cold foam.
Each Starbucks has a Vitamix blender with a circular disc with holes that can aerate liquids — it’s only used to make cold foam. Starbucks’ regular cold foam is made with nonfat milk, but the flavored cold foams use milk, cream, and flavored syrup.
Related
- Matcha Cold Foam
- Strawberry Cold Foam
- Bubble Tea with Cold Foam
- Irish Cream Cold Brew with Cold Foam
- Jameson Cold Brew Irish Whiskey with Cold Foam
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Brown Sugar Cold Foam
INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons 2% milk
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put all ingredients into a French press.
- Place the lid and move the plunger up and down 40 times.The cold foam will increase in volume. Pour cold foam on top of an iced drink and serve immediately.
EQUIPMENT
NOTES
- If you want to reduce the calories in your cold foam, replace heavy cream and milk with 1/3 cup of half & half.
- Almond milk, soy milk, and oat milk can all be used to replace the 2% milk in the recipe. Frothing just almond, soy, or oat milk and not using heavy cream at all will create varying results. The foam will be watery and thin.
- The more uniform and tiny bubbles you create in cold foam, the more velvety the texture will be. The French press or an electric milk frother that makes cold foam will give you the best results. If you don’t have a French press, a handheld milk frother will work but the foam won’t be as uniform.
- A manual way to make cold foam is to shake all the ingredients in a large jar with a tight lid. Just keep shaking until the froth looks like cold foam!
- Brown sugar cold foam can be placed on top of any iced drink, either by replacement for milk and sweeteners, or adding an extra creamy, sweet topping to your iced beverage.
- Cold foam works really well on top of cold brew, iced Americano, or an iced latte.
- Don’t overfill the French press since the foam will increase in size. Leave at least half the glass container empty.
- Don’t underfill the French press or it won’t froth correctly, or at all. Be sure the liquids are touching the French press filter before moving the plunger.
- Cold foam can be made up to 2 days beforehand and stored in the fridge.