Perfectly sweet, frothy, and creamy, the vanilla sweet cream cold foam is incredibly easy to make at home and takes just 2 minutes with 3 ingredients!
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Recipe Highlights
- Vanilla sweet cream cold foam is a Starbucks topping option for cold drinks. It’s a cold, frothed milk and cream mixture (made without heat or steam) that’s flavored with vanilla.
- Starbucks makes cold foam in a special blender but it can easily be made at home in a French press or with a handheld frother.
- This copycat Starbucks cold foam recipe is sweetened and flavored using homemade or store-bought vanilla simple syrup. Using just 3 ingredients, water, sugar, and vanilla extract, homemade vanilla syrup is super easy to make.
RELATED: 13 Cold Foam Recipes
Cold Foam vs Whipped Cream
Cold foam is pourable, and it’s like a cold version of hot, steamed milk froth that goes into lattes. Whipped cream is thicker and can hold a shape. Both are made by adding air into milk or heavy cream, creating tiny air bubbles.
RELATED: Caramel Cold Foam
Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam
At Starbucks, any cold drink can be topped with sweet cream cold foam but there will be an additional cost.
There are a few cold foam options, including regular cold foam, salted caramel cream cold foam, and vanilla sweet cream cold foam. There are also seasonal cold foams like pumpkin cream cold foam.
You can customize any cold foam with syrups or even matcha, like the TikTok Matcha Pink Drink and TikTok Iced Chai Latte, both of which are TikTok Starbucks secret menu drinks.
RELATED: Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew
Ingredient Notes
- Heavy cream: This is key to making cold foam. The cream froths up nicely to create that velvety texture.
- 2% milk: Because heavy cream alone is a little too rich, 2% milk is added to thin it out a bit to make it pourable. You can also use whole or skim milk.
- Vanilla syrup: This flavors and sweetens the cold foam. Use homemade or store-bought.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Put heavy cream, milk, and vanilla syrup into a French press.
Step 2: Put lid on the French press 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
No heavy cream or milk? Use half & half.
A shortcut to making vanilla sweet cream cold foam is using half & half. Replace the heavy cream and milk with ⅓ cup of half & half. Don’t forget the vanilla syrup.
Use cold foam in iced drinks only.
Cold foam is only added on top of iced drinks since it’ll melt into a hot beverage too quickly.
Any iced drink that tastes great with milk will be delicious when it’s topped off with vanilla sweet cream cold foam. Add vanilla sweet cream cold foam to cold brew, iced Americanos, iced chai latte, or iced matcha latte.
Don’t overfill or underfill the French press.
Since the heavy cream will double in volume as air is pumped in, only fill the French press halfway with cream. But, make sure the French press filter is fully submerged in the cream so that air can be pumped in.
RELATED: Chocolate Cold Foam
Expert Tips
- Get Starbucks vanilla syrup at any Starbucks location by asking if they have any available for purchase. If they have extra in stock, they’ll sell it to you for about $14.
- A handheld milk frother can also be used to make cold foam but the French press does a better job of creating smooth, even froth.
- Any leftover cold foam can be stored in the fridge for 2 days. It’s best to make it and serve immediately.
Questions You May Have
Cold foam is cold, frothed milk and cream.
Another way of making cold foam is by shaking it vigorously in an airtight container like a large jar with a tight lid.
Swap out the vanilla syrup with another flavored syrup to make different cold foams. Try rose syrup to make rose cold foam or cinnamon syrup to make cinnamon cold foam.
Related
- Brown Sugar Cold Foam
- Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam
- Matcha Cold Foam
- Strawberry Cold Foam
- Salted Caramel Cold Foam
- 17 Simple Syrups Recipes
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Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam (Starbucks Copycat)
INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons 2% milk
- 2 tablespoons vanilla syrup
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put heavy cream, milk, and vanilla syrup 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
- Any iced drink that tastes great with milk will be delicious when it’s topped off with vanilla sweet cream cold foam.
- A shortcut to making vanilla sweet cream cold foam is using half & half. Replace the heavy cream and milk with ⅓ cup of half & half.
- Get Starbucks vanilla syrup at any Starbucks location by asking if they have any available for purchase. If they have extra in stock, they’ll sell it to you for about $14.
- A handheld milk frother can also be used to make cold foam but the French press does a better job of creating smooth, even froth.
- Don’t overfill the French press. Since the cream will double or triple in volume as air is pumped in, only fill the French press halfway with cream.
- Make sure the French press filter is fully submerged in the cream so that air can be pumped in.
- Any leftover cold foam can be stored in the fridge for 2 days. It’s best to make it and serve immediately.
Better than Starbucks!
How long does the cream last in Refrig??
Thanks!!
Hi Carole, it keeps for up to 2 days in the refrigerator.