Dalgona

I don’t know if people are still making this or if it’s cool or not still but, let’s talk about dalgona. I’ve somehow found myself with this peculiar persistent interest in this trendy drink. I was a bit reluctant to make dalgona while it was at the climax of hypeness but I caved. Turns out the first time I made it, it was disgusting. To be fair I was using 6 month + old Folgers kept in a cabinet over the oven; but after that I set a goal to make my own version I could consistently enjoy. I may have fallen into a highly caffeinated dalgona obsession’s but the process was captivating. I had to understand dalgona in all its whippedness. I ended up making a recipie that we can all enjoy here in 2021 and beyond. Anyways, let’s forget about all this extra talk and introduce you to the recipe.  

If you don’t like all the talking you can skip to the printable recipe card bellow

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Recipe 

Ingredients

Honey – 2Tbs (6g)

Instant coffee – 2Tbs (6g)

Water – 2tsp (20g)

Sugar – 2 ¾ tsp (10g)

Milk of choice

process

• Place Honey, instant coffee, and sugar into a bowl
• Pour the boiled water on top of the other ingredients and mix with a spoon until fully dissolved. ( may need to be placed in the freezer to cool down)
• Start whisking or blending to create desired foam. ( The longer you whip the thicker it will be)
• Pour milk into a glass and spoon foam on top.

Notes 

• Personally I run a hand mixer with one whisk attachment and whip in a small shaker tin for cocktails.This  keeps the whip contained in one spot and whip  everything together. 
• You may want to toss your bowl and whisk in the fridge or freezer after adding the hot water. The colder the solution is the easier and quicker it will thicken.

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Matcha 

I have to mention matcha dalgona for a second. I’ve come across some matcha recipes using aquafaba ( chickpea juice), heavy cream or egg whites. To me the drink loses that peculiar exciting identity of coffee literally being whipped into a foam; however, coffee and matcha make a good mix so I put the two together. It’s just my basic recipe but sift in 1 tsp of matcha just before the foam is done. I think mixing it in the beginning makes it harder to whip up. 

Serving 

When it comes to serving the dalgona the options are numerous. There’s loads of milk options and flavorings. My standard is oat milk with a splash of vanilla extract. I’ve seen some people toss in liqueurs and spirits turning it into a fun cocktail perfect for brunch. I once mixed in a bit of milk washed coffee infused cream de cocoa and it was amazing ( you do not need to be that extra). When it comes to ice I like big cubes. This Keeps a nice cool temperature and dilutes the milk and coffee slowly. No one likes watery milky coffee but as i said before, you don’t have to be that extra. You got Hello kitty shaped cubes? go for it. We’re just trying to have fun and enjoy some basic coffee out here.

Science 

We got to get all cooking science for a second. James Hofman has an awesome video on dalgona where he explains that when coffee is roasted polymers called melanoidins form (He touches on the history of the drink also, I highly recommend)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHmpgMsW-aA .

Melanoidins arise when amino acids and sugars come together in this process we like to call the mallard reaction. These polymers are also foaming agents. The foam on fresh espresso is partly caused by this( and co2 being released). So we have our foaming agent but that foam we create will easily disappear without being stabilized. It’s a good thing that sugar is a foam stabilizer. In this recipe I use honey simply because I love it , but I had to account for it being a sugar and liquid. We have a little bit of water to make sure it’s still liquid and fluid enough to actually whip and a bit of sugar for a little extra stabilizing. You want extra hot water to dissolve everything together but at the same time, the colder the solution is after dissolved the quicker it whips.  It took me a few tries to get all the ratios right, it was definitely a caffeinated roller coaster.

Well that’s a little bit of my perspective on dalgona. I usually try not to get swept up in trends but this one got to me. I’ve been riding the daldona train and I’m sure I’ll be on it until I finally run out of instant coffee. I hope you can try out this recipe and enjoy as much as I do. Thanks for stopping by the blog too. Ill be posting some fun stuff here to stay tuned. 

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