The difficulty with summer is that the heat really puts a damper on my enjoyment of cappuccinos. Pouring hot espresso on ice waters it down. Pouring hot foam on ice cubes melts the cubes and deflates the foam. An iced cappuccino is a disaster waiting to happen, inherently flawed based on the steps needed to create them. In order to come up with a great iced cappuccino we began with the vision of a perfect cold cappuccino and backed into the preparation.
We started the cappuccino with a espresso consomme. We used .25% agar to clarify the espresso which we seasoned with a bit of salt and agave nectar. Once we were satisfied with the coffee, we took a portion of it and used some xanthan gum (.15%) and versa whip (1.5%) to whip it into a cloud. The foam has the body and texture of the traditional steamed milk while amplifying the coffee flavor. The two elements came together to become the icy cold cappuccino I have longed for on these hot summer days.
