Coffee Drink
Eiskaffee Recipe: German Coffee with Vanilla Ice Cream
German-style Eiskaffee is cold coffee served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. It sits between an iced drink and an ice-cream dessert: spoon the scoops, then sip the coffee as they soften. Start with chilled coffee so the ice cream keeps its shape rather than melting on contact.
Drink Snapshot
- Caffeine
- About 80 mg (reference)200 ml regular brewed coffeeCoffee strength and preparation vary; this is not a measured serving.
- Calories
- About 310 kcalGeneric vanilla ice cream and the named 35% creamNo extra sugar, chocolate, wafer or syrup is included.
Serving, sugar and sources
- Serving
- 200 ml coffee + 100 g vanilla ice cream + 30 g whipped cream
- Made with
- Chilled brewed coffee, vanilla ice cream and unsweetened whipped cream
- Sugar
- About 22.2 g total. Mainly from the ice cream; no separate sweetener is added.
- Preparation
- About 5 minutes with chilled coffee and whipped cream ready
USDA vanilla ice cream and brewed-coffee references, Arla Piskefløde 35% label and Mayo Clinic caffeine reference, checked 26 September 2026. See the full calculation or label comparison.
Key Takeaways
- 1This home serving combines 200 ml chilled brewed coffee, 100 g vanilla ice cream and 30 g unsweetened whipped cream.
- 2About 310 kcal, 22.2 g total sugar and 80 mg reference caffeine for the specified ingredient example; toppings are extra.
- 3Classic German Eiskaffee uses ice cream. Plain coffee over ice cubes is a different order, so check the café’s description.
On This Page9 Sections
What Is German Eiskaffee?
The ice cream is the defining choice in this German café-style version. REWE's German recipe collection describes a familiar combination of chilled filter coffee, vanilla ice cream and a cream topping. It also uses the word Eiskaffee for other cold-coffee variations, so a menu's ingredients are more useful than a literal translation alone.
Our recipe keeps that recognizable combination and specifies the weights. There is no added milk, blender or water ice. As the vanilla melts, the drink becomes sweeter and creamier; the first spoonful and the final sip will naturally have different balances.
Eiskaffee Recipe
Makes one generous glass. Assembly takes about 5 minutes once the coffee is cold and the cream is whipped. A 450–500 ml glass leaves room for the scoops and cream; its capacity is not a measured finished-drink yield.
Ingredients
- 200 ml chilled brewed coffee
- 100 g vanilla ice cream
- 30 g unsweetened whipped cream, made from 35% whipping cream
Method
- Set out a chilled 450–500 ml glass and a long spoon. Pour in the 200 ml cold coffee.
- Weigh 100 g vanilla ice cream and add it to the coffee in two small scoops.
- Weigh 30 g prepared unsweetened whipped cream onto the drink. Serve immediately with the spoon.
For the coffee, follow your usual drip-coffee method, let it cool, then chill it in a covered container. 200 ml means collected, prepared coffee, not the water poured into a brewer. Avoid adding ice just to cool a warm brew: the extra water changes this recipe's balance.
Prepare the cream separately by whipping cold 35% cream to soft peaks with no added sugar. A larger batch is easier to whip than a tiny portion; weigh only 30 g of the finished whipped cream into this serving. The nutrition example uses Arla Piskefløde 35%. Air changes cream's volume, so 30 g whipped cream should not be relabeled as 30 ml.
Choose Coffee and Ice Cream That Work Together
Start with coffee you enjoy black at drinking strength. A strongly roasted coffee can remain prominent as the ice cream melts, but extra bitterness is not required. Cold brew works as a variation if it is ready to drink; dilute a concentrate according to its maker before measuring the 200 ml. Its caffeine may differ substantially from the brewed-coffee reference here.
Vanilla ice cream brings sweetness and dairy without adding a second coffee ingredient. Weigh it instead of relying on a scoop count: two scoops from different tools or different ice creams can have very different weights.
| If you want… | Change to try |
|---|---|
| More coffee and less dessert | Use 60 g ice cream instead of 100 g; keep the coffee portion unchanged |
| Less richness | Omit the whipped cream rather than diluting the coffee with extra water |
| Lower caffeine | Use decaf brewed coffee and plain vanilla ice cream; decaf is not necessarily caffeine-free |
| A dairy-free version | Use plant-based vanilla frozen dessert and a suitable whipped topping; recalculate from both labels |
With the same reference ingredients, 60 g ice cream gives about 225 kcal and 13.8 g sugar. Omitting the 30 g cream from the original serving gives about 210 kcal and 21.2 g sugar. Both changes leave the coffee's caffeine contribution unchanged.
Eiskaffee vs. Iced Coffee, Affogato and Coffee Floats
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| Preparation | What goes into it | How it is served |
|---|---|---|
| German-style Eiskaffee | Cold coffee, vanilla ice cream, often whipped cream | A tall drink and dessert together |
| Iced coffee | Chilled coffee or coffee cooled over ice | Primarily a drink; milk and sweetener are optional |
| Affogato | A small hot espresso pour over ice cream or gelato | Eat immediately while hot and cold still contrast |
| Coffee float | Coffee with floating ice cream | A broad category that can include an Eiskaffee-style serving |
Choose iced coffee for coffee over ice cubes. Choose affogato for a small dessert with a hot pour. The coffee-float guide covers the wider idea; there is no need to invent a strict boundary where recipes overlap.
For a coffee-ice-cream dessert with a smaller cold-coffee pour, see café liégeois. Its name also covers regional variations, so the recipe matters more than the glass shape.
Keep the Scoops Intact Until Serving
Chill the coffee first and keep the ice cream frozen until the glass and spoon are ready. Warm coffee quickly turns the serving into a melted mixture. That can still be pleasant, but it loses the contrast this recipe aims to preserve.
If the drink seems too bitter, taste a little coffee with the ice cream before adding syrup. If it seems too sweet, reduce the scoop portion next time. More whipped cream adds richness without solving an overly sweet ice cream choice.
For guests, have the chilled coffee, whipped cream and glasses ready separately. Assemble each drink just before serving. Do not freeze the completed drink or leave scoops sitting in the coffee while you prepare the rest of the table.
Eiskaffee Calories, Sugar and Caffeine
The stated serving is about 310 kcal, 22.2 g total sugar and 80 mg reference caffeine. Most of the energy comes from the ice cream and cream. Using a different carton, sweetened aerosol cream or extra toppings changes the estimate.
Serving calculation, ingredient labels and caffeine basis
USDA vanilla ice cream, NDB 19095, supplies 207 kcal and 21.22 g sugar per 100 g. Arla Piskefløde 35% supplies 338 kcal and 3.4 g sugar per 100 g; 30 g contributes 101.4 kcal and 1.02 g sugar. Plain whipping adds air without adding sugar or energy to the weighed cream.
USDA brewed coffee, NDB 14209, lists 1 kcal and zero sugar for its 1 cup (8 fluid ounce) household measure. Using approximately 237 ml for that volume gives a small energy proxy of 200 ÷ 237 × 1 = 0.84 kcal. This uses a published household volume; it does not assume that all ingredients weigh one gram per milliliter.
The total is 309.24 kcal and 22.24 g sugar, displayed as about 310 kcal and 22.2 g. Reducing the ice cream to 60 g gives 226.44 kcal and 13.75 g sugar; omitting the cream gives 207.84 kcal and 21.22 g. Energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, sugar to one decimal place.
Mayo Clinic's brewed-coffee reference is 96 mg caffeine per 237 ml. Scaling to 200 ml gives 81 mg, displayed as about 80 mg. Beans, recipe and extraction change actual caffeine. Plain vanilla ice cream has zero caffeine in the USDA reference; coffee or chocolate flavors need a different calculation.
The dairy version contains milk, and vanilla ice cream may also contain egg. Check your carton and any toppings for their full allergen statements. A wafer, chocolate shavings or liqueur is an optional addition, not part of the recipe or its nutrition.
Common Questions
Is Eiskaffee just iced coffee?
Can I use instant coffee?
Do I need an espresso machine?
Is Eiskaffee a drink or a dessert?
Does it contain alcohol?
Editor's Take
Sources and Further Reading
7 references
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