A Break from Baking: Easy and Frothy Iced Coffee

My friend, Andreya and I were feeling parched after a romp through the forest with her adorable puppies. We decided that an iced coffee would hit the spot just right (and I figure that since we live in Vancouver, we only have a short window of opportunity to enjoy something iced!).

Aren't they super cute!

Anyway, back to more important things in life....like coffee

*WARNING: MEASUREMENTS ARE NOT EXACT (our apologies; we sometimes like to do things on the fly)

There was an old pot of coffee chilling out from this morning so we decided to use what was leftover for our icy beverages (yay for not wasting!). 

Ingredients (for two large iced coffees):

Coffee (your favourite kind will do; preferably strong coffee as the taste will get diluted by the other ingredients; enough coffee to cover the ice)
Ice (approximately 2 cups) 
Milk (we used 1%)
A dash of vanilla
Sugar (to your preference)
Whipped cream topping (optional)
Shaved chocolate (optional)

Method

1) Put ice into a blender
2) Pour coffee over top of the ice until just covered
3) Add a splash of milk
4) Add sugar (we added approximately a tablespoon; don't worry about the sugars not dissolving, the blending allows the sugars to be fully incorporated)
5) Blend until frothy (ours turned out super frothy and yummy from the milk and sugars!)

If your iced coffee still is lacking in coffee flavour, add a couple of teaspoons of instant coffee mixed with a small amount of water (till just liquid-esque)

Additional (optional) steps:

1) After pouring the iced coffees into two tall glasses; use the same blender to make your whipped cream
2) We used about a cup of whipping cream and a couple pinches of granulated sugar; pour this directly into your blender (no need to clean up the iced coffee mixture as this adds additional flavour to the whipped cream)
3) Blend the ingredients until you achieve the desired texture and stiffness (takes about 2 minutes or so depending on how awesome your blender is)
4) Shave a block of chocolate (we used mint chocolate) with a cheese grater for a chunky effect or simply use a straight edged knife to create mini chocolate curls

Voila, delicious and frothy iced coffees for two. 

You could also try adding different types of extracts or syrups. Be careful when adding mint extracts as they can overpower the iced coffee. 

Some suggestions:

Hazelnut Mocha (Addition of hazelnut chunks and chocolate syrup)
Mint Chocolate (Addition of real mint leaves and chocolate syrup)
Caramel (Addition of caramel drizzle)

Would love to see your icy creations!

Beautiful Baking (Blending) Sweeties