If you’ve spent even a few minutes on the internet over the last few weeks (and, let’s face it, we’re all spending a lot more than that), you’ve probably heard about Dalgona coffee. This lovely, layered drink took off shortly after the coronavirus quarantine started, and it’s not hard to see why – it’s easy to make with things you probably already have at your home, and it looks really, really impressive. If you’re pining for brunch at your favorite restaurant or coffee from your corner cafe, it really feels like the next best thing.
I was just going to pass on the whole craze at first, but then I wondered (as I often do) what would happen if I added some booze into the mix. And I knew just which one would be perfect: Ricura Horchata, which I first introduced you to around the holidays. It’s a delicious, creamy liqueur made with aged Caribbean rum, heavy cream, and cinnamon. Despite all that deliciousness, it has half the fat and fewer calories than other horchata liqueurs. Mixed with milk and topped with Dalgona coffee, it makes for the dreamiest brunch cocktail I’ve ever had.
So how do you make this lovely drink? It really is insanely easy considering how impressive the result is. Simply combine equal parts instant coffee granules, sugar, and boiling water in a bowl and whip with a hand mixer for several minutes. It will slowly start to lighten in color and thicken. Just keep going until you have a mixture with the texture of whipped cream. It’s usually layered on top of hot or cold milk, so I put mine on top of a combo of cold milk and Ricura. It’s brunch perfection in minutes!
I am going to give you a tip here, and I beg you to listen: use a much, MUCH larger bowl than you think you need for this. My Dalgona coffee was not born in this lovely little teal bowl. I tried to make it in this bowl, and promptly covered my countertops, my floor, my hand mixer, my tea kettle, my sugar jar, and myself in splatters of sticky-sweet, highly concentrated coffee. I switched to the most massive bowl I own, and still made a bit of a mess before it was all whipped to perfection. Use a big bowl. You have been warned.
(But yes, I did transfer it back into the pretty teal bowl for photos. Consider it the culinary equivalent of FaceTune.)
Also, prepare to be wired if you use caffeinated coffee! I went with decaf just in case.
Dalgona Horchata
1.5 oz. Ricura Horchata
3 oz. cold milk
~2 oz. Dalgona coffee (see below)
Fill a rocks glass with ice and add Horchata. Top with milk and stir briefly. Gently spoon Dalgona coffee on top.
Dalgona Coffee
2 tbsp. instant coffee granules
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. boiling water
Combine ingredients in a large bowl and whip with the whisk attachment of your hand mixer, scraping down the sides occasionally, until the mixture becomes light brown in color and thickens to the consistency of whipped cream.
Dalgona coffee recipe adapted from Jessica in the Kitchen.
This post was sponsored by Ricura Horchata. All opinions are my own.