How to Turn Almost Any Powder into a Whipped, Dalgona-Style Drink
Even protein powder works!
If you’ve tried the creamy coffee trend (a.k.a. dalgona coffee), you know that it’s without a doubt worth the hype. I literally cannot stop making this whipped South Korean drink — its sweet flavor and luscious texture are worth rolling out of bed for.
However, if you’ve tried dalgona coffee, you also know that the process of crafting this beverage rivals an intense upper body workout. Whisking the instant coffee, sugar and hot water together until it reaches a pillowy, golden-brown foam can take forever, leaving your biceps pretty sore.
As such, crafty at-home baristas have gotten creative with their approach. Some folks are cleverly adding cornstarch to their coffee mixture to thicken it up, while others are quickly rolling the whisk between their hands to avoid any potential finger cramping. And, as you’d expect, the latest dalgona coffee hack is just as ingenious.
Enter: whipped strawberry milk, social media’s newest dalgona obsession. Folks not seeking a caffeine boost are making this beautiful millennial pink drink left and right, and the key to perfecting it is to deviate from the traditional ratio of one-part instant coffee, one-part sugar and one-part hot water.
In her whipped strawberry milk tutorial, TikTok user @sweetportfolio instead makes her bright drink by whisking together one-part strawberry milk powder with four parts of heavy whipping cream. Once the mixture is nice and frothy, she then tops her iced milk with the blush foam for a fruity — and totally Instagrammable — treat.
After seeing this foamy strawberry milk all over my feed, I realized that you can make dalgona-style drinks from both strawberry and cocoa powder (more on that here). So, I decided to go on a deep dive to find out how to whip up (no pun intended) whipped beverages from a variety of other powders. Consider this your guide to transforming your favorite powders into deliciously frothy drinks.
Cocoa powder/hot chocolate mix: One-part cocoa powder, one-part granulated sugar, one-part heavy whipping cream
Strawberry powder: One-part strawberry powder, four parts heavy whipping cream
Matcha powder: Similar to the original dalgona coffee, TikTok user @dieteticaesthetic uses one-part matcha powder, one-part granulated sugar and one-part hot water for a whipped matcha drink. If you're looking for an extra creamy drink, Instagram user @y.na__ uses heavy whipping cream for her dalgona-inspired matcha latte.
Chai latte powder: Instagrammer @livingrichly swaps out the hot water and sugar for her whipped chai latte. To make it, she whisks one-part instant chai powder with four parts heavy whipping cream. Pro tip: add instant coffee to the mix for a fluffy take on a dirty chai.
Protein powder: Yup, whipped protein powder coffee is a thing. To make it, you’ll nix the sugar and instead use one-part instant coffee, one-part hot water and one-part protein powder. Here, TikTok user @livingfeliz opts for vanilla flavored powder and adds a dash of cinnamon. Now, these are gains I can get behind!
Related Links:
7 Things Every Coffee Lover Should Know
