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In June 2021, I went to Germany to visit my family. Quickly, I fell into the German routine of having “Kaffee und Kuchen” (coffee and cake) in the afternoon, though the important part is the coffee and sometimes a cookie will do instead of a piece of cake or Torte.
However, when you go out or are in a different city, you might want to enjoy a little more than just a coffee. And when it’s warm you might want to consider an Eiskaffee. While it sounds like an iced coffee, it’s better translated with “ice cream coffee” or “coffee float“. You can get in most cafés and definitely at ice cream parlors.
What you need to make your own Eiskaffee
The German word “Eis” refers to ‘ice‘ and also ‘ice cream‘. In “Eiskaffee” it definitely means ‘ice cream’.
What you need:
- vanilla ice cream (2-3 scoops)
- cold brew coffee (1/2 cup)
- (real) whipped cream
- chocolate shavings (optional)
Put your ice cream in a tall glass, add cold coffee, top with whipped cream. You can add sprinkles, and also use different ice cream like chocolate. Serve it with a spoon and a straw.
You can have different ratios depending on the size of your glass and how much coffee you like. It is however important that you use good quality food items.
How I made my Eiskaffee back at home
I actually make my own ice cream using a Cuisinart ice cream maker, and Madagascar Vanilla extract. It’s more expensive than the generic kind but after using both extracts, I can say with confidence that it really makes a difference to spend the money.
I use the recipe for simple vanilla ice cream that comes with the ice cream maker.
For the coffee, I actually used Dunkin’ Donuts cold brew. But you can also steep ground coffee in water overnight, and pour it through a sieve (probably twice) to filter out any coffee grinds.
I always use real whipped cream or Schlagsahne, meaning that I whip heavy cream. I also don’t add anything to it, just plain heavy whipping cream.
Some people like to add some powdered sugar and/or vanilla extract but for me that’s too sweet. If you are worried that your whipped cream might not hold up, you can add Sahnesteif, a whip cream stabilizer by Dr. Oetker.
I personally don’t have any problem concerning the stability of my whipped cream but I do have some tricks to help with the proper consistency. Before I whip the cream I put the beaters of my hand mixer as well as the mixing bowl in the freezer. You can also put the cream into the freezer, but only for a short time so it doesn’t actually freeze. The cooled beaters and bowl help stiffen the whipped cream, and with this method it stays in pretty good shape until the next day.
After pouring the coffee over my ice cream and topping it with whipped cream I added some Raspelschokolade (chocolate shavings) that I actually brought back with me from Germany.
While Amazon has a pretty good selection of Dr. Oetker products they don’t carry this particular chocolate. Your best bet might be some chocolate sprinkles, cocoa powder, a little chocolate syrup, or make your own chocolate curls unless you want to opt for Belgian chocolate curls.
Variations
Obviously, there is not just one way to make an Eiskaffee. Maybe you want to use chocolate ice cream, or hot espresso poured over ice cream. Maybe you don’t have whipping cream handy and use cool whip. Just experiment with the ingredients you have. Or get inspired by the creations below.
What’s your favorite way to make and drink an Eiskaffee?
