Starbucks Cold Foam (3 Ingredients)
on May 13, 2024
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Perfectly sweet, frothy, and creamy, this Starbucks vanilla sweet cream cold foam copycat recipe is incredibly easy to make at home using a French press and takes just 2 minutes with 3 ingredients!
Starbucks Cold Foam
Vanilla sweet cream cold foam is what Starbucks uses as their basic cold foam for cold drinks. It’s a cold, frothed milk and cream (made without heat or steam) that’s flavored with vanilla. All flavored cold foams start with the vanilla sweet cream cold foam as their base.
Cold foam is pourable, and it’s a cold version of hot, steamed milk froth that goes into lattes. It’s a thinner version of whipped cream and it’s made by adding air into the milk and cream, creating tiny air bubbles. The smaller and uniform the air bubbles, the smoother the texture of the cold foam.
Starbucks makes cold foam in a special blender but it can easily be made at home in a French press or a handheld milk frother.
Note from Jee
When I first put this blog post together, the cold foam at Starbucks was a non-dairy one but they stopped making that version and now the vanilla sweet cream cold foam is their main one.
The idea of cold foam is that it’s a pourable whipped cream so they added milk to thin out the heavy cream.
A shortcut I like to use is to make cold foam using half & half, which is a dairy product that’s half cream and half milk. By using half & half, I don’t need to get heavy cream and milk separately. The end result is pretty much the same.
Either way you make it, adding cold foam to any iced drink will make it so much more decadent.
Recipe Summary
- This copycat Starbucks cold foam recipe is sweetened and flavored using vanilla syrup.
- There’s just 3 ingredients in this recipe. Milk, heavy cream, and vanilla syrup are all that’s needed. Use store-bought or homemade vanilla syrup.
- A quick and easy recipe, cold foam is made in just 2 minutes using a French press.
RELATED: 12 Easy Cold Foam Recipes
Ingredient Notes
- Heavy cream: This is key to making cold foam. The heayy cream froths up nicely to create 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 on the lid and move the plunger up and down. The cold foam will double in volume.
Pour cold foam on top of an iced drink and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Use half & half as a shortcut.
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.
A French press or an electric milk frother makes the best cold foam.
A handheld milk frother can also be used to make cold foam but the French press or an electric milk frother with a cold setting like an Aeroccino does a better job of creating smooth foam.
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. Make sure the French press filter is fully submerged in the milk and cream so that air can be pumped in.
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 $25.
- Cold foam is only added to iced drinks since it’ll melt into a hot beverage too quickly.
- Leftover cold foam can be stored in the fridge for 2 days. It’s best to make and serve immediately.
Questions You May Have
Cold foam is cold, frothed milk and cream. It’s a drink topping for cold beverages.
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 brown sugar syrup to make brown sugar cold foam.
Related
- Salted Caramel Cold Foam
- Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam
- Strawberry Cold Foam
- Hibiscus Cold Foam
- Butterfly Pea Flower Cold Foam
If you tried this Starbucks Cold Foam recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating and let me know how you like it in the comments below.
Starbucks Cold Foam
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.Serve immediately.
Notes
- 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.
- Since the heavy cream will double in volume as air is pumped in, only fill the French press halfway. Make sure the French press filter is fully submerged in the milk and cream so that air can be pumped in.
- No French press? Just shake ingredients for a few minutes in a large jar with a tight lid. The more you shake, the more froth you’ll create.
- Any leftover cold foam can be stored in the fridge for 2 days. It’s best to make and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
