I am a cappuccino and cold coffee fan. So when I came across the name ‘dalgona’ coffee, I was intrigued. I had to try it.

You actually can’t miss dalgona coffee if you are often on social media and watching food videos. This is what a lot of TikTokers and YouTubers have been posting for the last year or so. With little to do during the pandemic and no cafe to go to for some nice coffee, people turned to whipping up their own coffee froth and now all experimental cooks, and some non-cooks, on social media have tried their hands at this.

Technically, dalgona coffee is a Korean coffee recipe. It is whipped coffee using only a few ingredients, but you can make so many variations to it after the coffee is whipped. You can have it either hot or cold, I am making the cold version. You can also make it sweeter by adding sugar, condensed milk or honey to the milk. I would recommend this because the flavour of the coffee is very strong if the standard recipe is followed, especially for occasional coffee drinkers who do not like black coffee.

The frothy texture is the result of beating it light in the beginning and then adding to the milk. Let’s see how it is done.

Ingredients for the basic version

• 2 tablespoons instant coffee

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons hot water

• 1 cup, or as needed, milk

Method

In a small bowl, add coffee, sugar and hot water, using an electric beater or hand whip, whip the three things until it becomes light and foamy. This can take almost seven to ten minutes if you are using an eclectic hand beater, with breaks in between the mixing sessions. When halfway done, take a spoon or spatula and stir the sugar or coffee sticking to the bottom and sides, and beat again until the colour becomes light and firm peaks form.

Fill two glasses with cold milk. Add ice cubes. At this point you can also add the extra sugar or sweetener you want and stir it well. Now take a spoonful of the coffee and gently try to drop it on top. You might need to take the help of a spatula or another spoon as the coffee froth is very sticky and doesn’t come off the spoon easily.

Fill the top with as much coffee mixture as you want, garnish with some coffee granules or chocolate shaving.

And at the end, after you are done with admiring your masterpiece and taking photograph, you will have to stir it well before drinking.

Note: Do not believe it when people tell you that the coffee whipping can be done by a hand-held whip or manual beater. It takes a lot of beating so don’t put yourself through so much pain. And do not do it in a mixer/blender as the froth is too sticky and you will have a hard time getting it out of the jug. Have a great coffee break!

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 17th, 2021