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Welcome to your ultimate guide to making Starbucks whipped vanilla sweet cream cold foam at home! You’ll find all the tips, tricks, and methods for making that whipped, fluffy cold brew coffee topping right in your own kitchen – with or without a milk frother! It’s a perfect pairing for homemade cold brew coffee. And ready in less than 5 minutes!
Cold Brew Coffee + Vanilla Syrup + Homemade Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam = the only iced coffee drink you’ll need. No trip to Starbucks required!
Ingredients for this recipe
Psst! I have a whole post on how to make vanilla sweet cream at home!
How do you make this delicious cold foam coffee?
This is just a brief overview. Find the full, detailed instructions in the recipe card below!
Making vanilla sweet cream cold foam with a machine milk frother
If you have an automatic milk frother that has a cold option here’s how to use it to get vanilla sweet cream cold foam at home:
Using a hand-held milk frother
Now let’s say you only have one of those little handheld milk frothers and want to make cold foam:
Making Cold Foam Without a Milk Frother
If you happen to have a powerful full-sized or hand-held blender in your kitchen, you can still enjoy homemade sweet cream cold foam!
This is a great method to employ if you want to enjoy flavored cold foam recipes - like my pistachio cream cold brew.
Making sweet cream cold foam with a whisk
Now this section might get a little controversial. You have been warned!
I’ve developed a way to get the thickest, most luxurious vanilla-flavored cold foam that can be whipped by hand with a whisk BUT it is not an exact dupe for the Starbucks vanilla sweet cream recipe.
I use this method in my pumpkin cream cold foam cold brew, salted caramel cream cold foam cold brew, Irish cream cold foam, and peppermint mocha cold foam recipes! I love them and so do other readers! So don’t knock this method until you try it.
To make vanilla sweet cream cold foam by hand combine the following:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
This mixture can be made and stored in the fridge until ready to use, just like my classic vanilla sweet cream recipe.
When ready to turn this into cold foam by hand with a whisk place ½ cup of the mixture into a shallow bowl and whisk vigorously for 45 - 60 seconds.
Serve this just as you would the regular vanilla sweet cream cold foam. (FYI, you can also whip this mixture in the blender or with a handheld milk frother!)
Watch the recipe video!
Whipped Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam with Cold Brew Coffee
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Sweet Cream:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup 2% milk
- ¼ cup vanilla simple syrup
For the Cold Brew Coffee with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam:
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Simple Syrup
- 8 ounces Cold Brew Coffee
Instructions
For the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam:
- Whisk together 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup 2% milk, and ¼ cup vanilla syrup until smooth. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.
To make the Cold Brew Coffee with Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam:
- Fill a large glass halfway with ice cubes. Add 1 - 2 tablespoons of vanilla syrup, then fill the glass ¾ of the way with your cold brew coffee. Stir to combine.
- Top with the homemade sweet cream cold foam (see below for multiple methods of preparing the cold foam) and enjoy!
To make sweet cream cold foam with a milk frother:
- When ready to serve, place ½ cup of the homemade vanilla sweet cream in an automatic milk frother and press the cold foam function.
To make sweet cream cold foam with a handheld frother:
- Place ½ cup vanilla sweet cream into a glass or mason jar. Lower the handheld frother into the cream and power it on. Let it whip the mixture for 10 – 20 seconds, or until thickened. Slowly move the handheld frother up out of the cold foam (this is how it get really thick!). Power the frother off when it is at the top of the foam.
To make cold foam with a blender:
- Place ½ cup of the homemade vanilla sweet cream in a blender and whip for about 10 - 20 seconds, or until thick and creamy.
Video
Notes
- Vanilla Sweet Cream can be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- See post for alternative method for making vanilla sweet cream cold foam by hand with a whisk.
Jennifer Warren says
I’m a Starbucks vanilla cold foam addict. Love the stuff, particularly on my Pink Drink. I just made your version, thinking best case scenario would be “wow, this is just as good as SB’s!” Nope - it’s better! I actually (greatly) prefer your version! It’s so much more luxurious and velvety…using the sweetened condensed milk is crazy smart. I whipped mine up in my little 3 cup Cuisinart mini chopper (it was already on the counter and I’m lazy) and it worked perfectly. Now you’ve got me thinking about cold brew coffee…I’m gonna load up my French press, pop it in the fridge, and then try your salted caramel cold foam! The recipe is afreakingmazing - thanks for sharing it with us! ⭐️ ❤️
Amanda Gajdosik says
Oh WOW Jennifer! Thank you for your kind words and review! Here's hoping you like my other cold foam recipes too 🙂 <3
Jess says
I love that this is so simple and doesn't cost $7 like it does at Sbux! Thanks for the great recipe!
(This comment was left by a friend of the writer of midwestniceblog.com)
Amanda Gajdosik says
Right? It's such a great option to make at home!
Laura K says
Ugh this is everything I have wanted for my at home coffee! Thank you so much for making waking up much more enjoyable!
(This comment was left by a friend of the writer of midwestniceblog.com)
Amanda Gajdosik says
Of course, Laura! So happy you enjoyed it 🙂 And didn't have to go to a drive-thru to get it!
Mara says
I'm so excited to try this! Having cold foam on had that I could add to all of my coffee creations would really elevate my morning coffee routine into feeling like I'm at my own personal coffee shop.
(This comment was left by a friend of the writer of midwestniceblog.com)
Sarah Cook says
Not only is this recipe delicious, but I love that you can adjust the sweetness to taste. I'm a vanilla cold brew half-sweet kind of gal, and coffee shop drinks are usually still too sweet.
Making this at home lets me make it exactly how I like my cold brew.
(This comment was left by a friend of the writer of midwestniceblog.com)
Amanda Gajdosik says
Yes, Sarah! Me too! I like being able to control how sweet my coffee drinks are - just another bonus of making them at home 🙂
Mandy says
So easy to understand and such beautiful pictures!
Emma says
This was a fun recipe, I can’t wait to try the others!
Kerri says
I just made the cold foam exactly as the recipe states & it turned out perfectly! It’s delicious on top of my afternoon iced coffee! I used a ninja bullet blender if that helps anyone else. I plan on experimenting with adding caramel syrup or peppermint extract for a wintery cold foam.
Amanda says
Hi Kerri! So glad you loved it! If you're looking for other cold foam cold brew recipes to try - I have some fun ones! Including a caramel one: https://midwestniceblog.com/salted-caramel-cold-foam-cold-brew-coffee/ and a peppermint mocha: https://midwestniceblog.com/peppermint-mocha-cold-foam/ that I bet you'd love! Thanks for rating the recipe 🙂
LIZ GARRATT says
didn't work not foamy at all
Amanda says
Hi Liz, I am so sorry to hear that. I'd be happy to troubleshoot the recipe for you if you'd walk me through exactly what you did. Perhaps we can find insight into why it may not have turned out as you wanted. Thanks!
Mojoblogs says
I personally love coffee. I can't go a day without having coffee. This is so perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this! 🙂
Amanda says
Always happy to help out a fellow coffee lover! Glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Meredith says
Love this, so easy to keep me more interested in making my coffee at home when I'm feeling in a rut of the same coffee every day.
(This comment was left by a friend of the writer of midwestniceblog.com)
Amanda says
So happy to hear you enjoy making this coffee at home, Meredith! <3
Dre says
The cold foam recipe absolutely didn’t work. I have a milk frother as part of my coffee machine and that did nothing to help whip up a foam. I then threw the mixture in a blender first on low, then medium, then high only to get the same consistency of mixed cream, but now with bubbles. Now I’m sitting here with a bowl full of this condensed milk heavy creamer that won’t foam up. Saw another recipe and it suggests using actual milk instead of condensed milk.
Amanda says
Hi Dre, I'm sorry to hear that the cold foam didn't work. I will offer a few possible reasons as to why: 1) if your milk frother uses heat, then the foam will absolutely not whip. Heavy cream needs to be cold when it is whipped, otherwise it doesn't hold air and get that gorgeous cold foam texture (or even just for a regular whipped cream recipe). 2) if you went from using a milk frother that made the cream hot and then put it in a blender, it still wouldn't work because again, warm heavy cream doesn't whip.
For the leftovers, if you cannot get it to whip when it is cold and by only using a blender, I would suggest using it as regular sweet cream coffee creamer - it's still very delicious that way!
Jennifer says
I tried the cold foam recipe exactly how you made it and I loved it! I want to make it again but I ran out of heavy cream. What can I substitute it with?
Amanda says
You can certainly try half and half or whole milk, but it won't whip up as thick and luxurious as it would with heavy cream. It'll still be delish though! I'm so happy you loved the recipe 🙂
Danielle says
How much coffee in cups would the 6oz be equal to? For those of us who don’t have a kitchen scale....
Amanda says
2 cups! Or about half a bag of 12 ounce coffee beans if you just want to eyeball it. Hope this helps Danielle! (Also, I have an Escali scale that was super affordable that I've had for years, if you ever decide to get a kitchen scale and are looking for one!)
Danielle says
Thank you! I’m excited to try this!
Marsa says
8 ounces is 1 cup
Amanda says
Actually Marsa, that's a liquid measurement conversion of ounces to cups. When it comes to weighing something like coffee beans (or any dry good) in ounces and then converting it to cups, it's best to accurately weigh the item first and then convert. For instance, 6 ounces of coffee beans is actually nearly 2 dry cups worth (or half of a 12 ounces bag of beans, if you want to eyeball it). Another way to think about this is how a pound of feathers and a pound of bricks might weigh the same, but they take up different amounts of space. The same is true for ingredients! That's why many professional bakers and bakeries use kitchen scales instead of measuring cups as it is much more accurate. Hope this could help you! 🙂
Hailey says
Thanks for the recipe! How long can you store the cold foam in your fridge? Will it keep the same consistency if you don't use it immediately?
Amanda says
Hi Hailey! I have stored the sweet cream in the fridge for a week, without whipping it. Then, when I make a cup of coffee, I whip a small portion of the sweet cream (about 1/4 cup), and leave the rest in the fridge. Hope that helped and so happy you love the recipe!
Cydney Kamm says
I have made this exact recipe a few times and it never really creates a top layer like cold foam should. So I just came up with an idea of using a mixer and whipping it up until it dot or doubles in size and is thick enough to lay on to but has some flow so it disperses all over the top and not in one big clump like whipped cream.
Amanda says
Using a mixer is a great idea Cydney! Especially if you don't have a Nutri-bullet or Ninja Blender type device. Even if using one of those, I know some are more powerful than others and that could lead to some heavily whipped cream instead of that soft, fluffy top of cold foam. I hope you keep enjoying the cold brew recipe!