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Author:
Franco Salzillo
How does a creamy, icy drink infused with the heartwarming flavors of vanilla sound? Let’s make ourselves a fantastic vanilla iced coffee.
Vanilla is one of the most popular flavors in the world. All cakes, muffins and cookies are infused with at least a sash of the inky flavoring. Real vanilla is quite expensive. You get it by scraping the dried out vanilla orchid pods, which are native to Mexico’s tropical regions, and you get just a teaspoon of pulp from each vine.
Luckily, now someone does all the work for us, and you can get authentic vanilla extract at any supermarket. Watch out, there are artificial substitutes too, and although they taste and smell similarly, they’re not as good as the real deal.
Today we’re using vanilla extract for our iced coffee, but also one of my new favorite ingredients — vanilla sugar. This fine powder is nothing more than powdered sugar infused with vanilla beans, and it is the perfect sweetener for today’s project.
Last but not least, we’re adding milk to our ice coffee, because what’s better than the combination of dairy and vanilla? It reminds me of vanilla ice cream.
I’m using whole milk, but of course, you can use low-fat milk or plant-based alternatives for similar results — the more neutral, the better, because we want that warm vanilla flavor to shine!
I’m borrowing a technique from the bartending community. We’re shaking this delicious drink to get a nice, frothy head. It’s a good way of using that cocktail shaker you have around, but you can also use any container with a lid.
As for the coffee, let’s go for an espresso made with a medium-roasted Arabica blend. You don’t want to use dark roasts since they’re more chocolatey. As you know, it’s either chocolate or vanilla in my book, and today, vanilla is the star of the show. A medium roast, often labeled city roast, will work like a charm.
Brew your espresso and let it cool at room temperature. Then store it in the fridge for a while.
In a cocktail shaker or a plastic coffee cup with a lid, pour the coffee, the vanilla extract, the vanilla sugar, the milk and a fistful of ice cubes.
Shake for about fifteen seconds or until frothy.
Fill your glass with fresh ice cubes and strain the coffee into the glass.
