The Ingredient Trio For Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam At Home

Over the last decade, Starbucks-flavored cold foams have become a favorite of iced coffee drinkers for their luxurious texture and light sweetness, but it turns out you can make a Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam just as good at home. Combined with cold brew, the foam sits on top of the coffee like a dairy cloud and slowly sinks into the drink, flavoring it and giving you a delightfully smooth sip. It's one of those coffee shop tricks that seems way more complicated than it actually is, and with just three ingredients, you can have some cold foam of your own in under a minute.

All you need to make a Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam at home is heavy cream, reduced-fat milk, and vanilla syrup, as well as a sealable container like a mason jar. If you don't have a vanilla syrup like Torani, don't use extract, as it's far more concentrated and not as sweet. Instead, you can make your own by making simple syrup and adding 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract or paste for each cup of water. Once you are ready to make your cold foam, mix 3 tablespoons of cream with 2 tablespoons of milk in the jar, then add 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup. Then seal the jar and vigorously shake until the milk gets fluffy and smooth. 

You can keep this 3-2-1 ratio and scale it up if you want to make more.

Cold foams are essentially the same frothed milk you get on top of hot drinks like lattes, just without the heat, which is why it's so easy to make at home. The only extra "ingredient," that you need to foam milk and cream is air. The texture of foam comes from air being suspended inside the proteins of milk that open up as you agitate them. You can do this using all different kinds of equipment that will work well if you already own them, including a specialty milk frother, an immersion blender, or even a French press. But all you really need to get decent results is a jar.

One big upside to making your own Sweet Cream Cold Foam, beyond the price and convenience, is that you can customize it to suit your tastes. Cream adds a nice rich flavor that matches Starbucks, but a foam made from a high proportion of reduced-fat milk will stay fluffier, and whichever you prefer is up to you. You can also keep the same basic ratios, but swap out the vanilla for other syrups, or add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or that Starbucks classic: pumpkin. Just make sure you are getting some form of sweetener in there if you opt for spices.

With just those few ingredients and some good homemade cold brew, your next Starbucks run can be as short as the walk to your fridge.