Crema Di Caffè: Italian Coffee Cream Recipe & Tips

Crema Di Caffe Recipe

Makes three small portions, with about 10 minutes of active work and time to cool and refrigerate. Allow approximately 90 minutes overall. This is our measured home adaptation of the cold espresso and soft-whipped-cream approach described by Lavazza; the quantities and portion size below are our defined recipe.

Ingredients

• 150 g cold, unsweetened liquid heavy whipping cream
• 36 g prepared espresso
• 15 g granulated sugar

Use liquid dairy cream suitable for whipping, rather than milk, half-and-half or a can of sweetened whipped topping. Check its label. The espresso is prepared coffee, not 36 g dry grounds. There is no egg, alcohol, cocoa or garnish in this base recipe.

Equipment and Preparation

Have a scale, chilled mixing bowl, whisk or hand mixer, spatula, small heatproof coffee container, cover and three small glasses ready. Glasses of around 150 ml capacity allow space for the aerated cream; they are not a promise of a 150 ml serving.

If brewing the coffee now, the espresso guide explains the preparation. One home starting point is 18 g dry grounds yielding 36 g collected espresso; weigh that prepared output for this recipe. The ingredient quantity is a mass, not 36 ml, and the dry grounds do not go into the cream.

Method

1. Stir the sugar into the warm prepared espresso until dissolved. Refrigerate until completely cold, allowing about 20 minutes; cooling time varies.
2. Whip the cold cream in a chilled bowl until it forms soft peaks that bend over when the whisk is lifted. Stop before it becomes stiff or grainy.
3. Gently fold the cold sweetened espresso into the whipped cream until the color is even.
4. Cover and refrigerate for one hour. Divide evenly among three small glasses and serve cold; keep any waiting portions refrigerated.

The ingredients total 201 g, giving about 67 g per portion before bowl losses. For even servings, weigh the finished mixture and divide its actual mass by three. Whipping adds air and volume, not extra ingredient mass.

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What Makes This Coffee Cream Different?

The useful distinction is where the airy texture comes from: this recipe whips dairy cream, then incorporates cold coffee. It is not instant coffee whipped with sugar and a small amount of water, and it is not brewed coffee topped with a separate spoonful of cream.

Italian roaster Lavazza presents crema al caffè as a café-style cold coffee dessert. Its home method is one documented approach, not proof that every Italian bar uses identical ingredients or machinery. Commercial mixes and other home preparations need their own ingredient information.

Choosing the Coffee and Cream

Use a small, concentrated coffee portion so the mixture receives coffee flavor without a large addition of water. A longer mug of filter coffee is not an equal-volume substitute for the espresso here. A measured concentrated moka-pot coffee portion is a home alternative, but its strength and caffeine will differ.

Cream labels matter as much as coffee choice. Choose a product intended for whipping and keep it cold. A lower-fat dairy liquid will not behave like heavy whipping cream just because the same 150 g is used. A plant-based whipping product is a separate adaptation: follow its instructions and recalculate its nutrition and allergens.

Why Is My Coffee Cream Runny or Grainy?

Check temperature and whipping stage before changing the ingredient amounts. A fridge rest is part of this method, but it cannot reliably repair a mixture whose structure was lost during preparation.

These are process-based troubleshooting suggestions, not results from a comparative kitchen test. Chilling times and whisking speed depend on your equipment, cream and starting temperature.

Crema Di Caffe vs. Caffe Crema, Espresso Crema and Dalgona

The similar words describe very different things. Crema di caffè on this page is a chilled coffee-cream dessert.

Serving and Keeping It Cold

Serve with a small spoon in chilled glasses. The base is already sweetened; taste before adding any optional cocoa, syrup or extra sugar. Additions are outside the recipe's calorie and caffeine estimates, and cocoa can contribute caffeine of its own.

Keep the covered mixture refrigerated at 4°C or colder and portion it close to serving. For planning, make it for the intended serving occasion; this guide does not establish a tested storage life or guarantee that its texture stays unchanged overnight. Follow the cream's storage and use-by instructions.

USDA advises refrigerating perishable food promptly and not leaving it at room temperature for more than two hours, or one hour above 32°C/90°F. That is a food-handling limit, not a recommendation to leave the cream out until the limit is reached. USDA safe food-handling guidance.

Crema Di Caffe Calories, Sugar and Caffeine

One of the three portions has about 190 kcal, 6.5 g total sugar and 25 mg reference caffeine. Cream supplies most of the energy. Dividing the batch into two larger servings instead would give about 285 kcal, 9.7 g sugar and 38 mg reference caffeine each.

This recipe contains milk. The stated ingredients have no eggs or alcohol. Coffee-based does not mean dairy-free, and a decaf substitution still needs a decaf caffeine reference.

Common Questions

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Sources and Further Reading