How to make cream soda
Cream soda (or ice cream soda) is a vanilla-flavoured drink that got it's name because of the dollop of ice cream that is added to the top.
It makes a refreshing but different home-made drink to try out in the summer
The Recipe
Ingredients
- Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Water
- Yeast
Measure out 500ml of water in a measuring jug, and add 55 grams of sugar (this is about a quarter of a cup if you are using American measurements).
Next add a tablespoon of vanilla extract and a small pinch of yeast to the jug. Stir it till all the sugar is dissolved and then carefully pour the mixture into a clean washed 500ml Coca Cola bottle and cap it.
You then need to leave the mixture to ferment in a corner of your kitchen that is at room temperature but not directly in the sun. The fermentation process usually takes 48 hours (you should be able to tell as the bottle will expand outwards as the yeast generates bubbles).
Once the 48 hours is over, put the bottle in the fridge, and store it there till you are ready to drink it. The cold of the fridge will arrest the fermentation process (if you leave it at room temperature, it will simply continue fermenting and the bottle won't be able to contain all the bubbles and will burst).
When serving, strain it through cheesecloth or muslin to remove the yeast. Add a dollop of ice cream and enjoy! Note that the Italian version of cream soda is a "half and half" - i.e. half the glass is cream soda and half the glass is icecream. It makes for a particularly yummy version.
You can also make the following variations by adding ingredients:
- alcoholic cream soda - make the cream soda as normal and just add a little rum to taste
- orange cream soda - add some orange essense to the vanilla essense (half a tablespoon each). You can also create any number of combinations of flavours just by varying the essenses you use.
You can also buy commercially made cream soda, but they come with the usual additives that are in commercial drinks, plus no icecream. I personally think the home-made version is better..
