For all you Canadians (and some fortunate Northern States) you are probably all too familiar with Tim Horton's. This coffee shop franchise has the market around here and people say "you can't swing a dead cat by the tail without hitting a Tim Hortons" All joking aside, you can find one of these at every intersection in every town and even have them strategically placed in the middle of nowhere...literally!. I find this coffee phenomenon fascinating, especially when morning "caffeine lacking" motorists think basic rules of the road do not apply when they proceed to block major intersections awaiting their turn at the mile long drive thru. This place is also a popular hang out in winter where countless snow bound Maritimers flock to the nearest Timmies, drink numerous rounds of "Double Doubles" and complain about the weather. Seriously, what else is there to do in minus 20 and 8 feet of snow? Come summer time we switch to caffeinated iced capps and continue to complain about, you guessed it, the weather...and the influx of mosquitos.
Last year as I was nearing the end of my pregnancy I used the baby as a convenient excuse to drink these calorie laden goodies nearly every day. Filled to the brim with 35 % (gulp) cream you can practically feel your butt expanding as you take the last sip. At that point I was already fat, uncomfortable, hot and had the worst case of "Jimmy legs", so I felt that was enough of an excuse to indulge daily in addition to forking over the $2.50 for a small. Fact is these little treats add up in more ways than your waistline, I had to find a cheaper alternative.
After searching dozens of sites I found there to be a common denominator with all of the iced capp recipes. From this I played around with several variations and found one that works for us. The nice thing about this recipe is the fact you can tweak it to your liking. Everyone is different and although the basics are the same it is up to you on how much sugar, twin, icing sugar, splenda etc. you want to add.
The first step is to save the coffee from the bottom of the pot in ice cube trays. Once frozen dump them in a ziploc bag to ensure you have some on hand when you plan to make this up.
To make the ice coffee add the following in a chilled metal blender:
3 cups milk, cream (I use prepared powdered milk)
2 Tablespoons of instant coffee (you may like a little less depending on your preference)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
sugar ( I use 3-4 Tablespoons of icing sugar which results in a creamy texture, you will have to experiment with the amounts to your preference)
Once blended I transfer to a juice container and use the blender to crush the frozen coffee cubes. Once pulverized I simply add some to a mug and fill with the iced coffee. I have added the ice cubes to the coffee initially but found it simply melted into the drink and I did not get the desired slushy effect that you get from the coffee shops.
That is it, simple and frugal.
Now go and whip up a batch, invite a bunch of friends over and do nothing but consume caffeine and complain about the weather, pesky mosquitos, taxes or gas prices. Enjoy!
For more frugal tips visit Biblical Womanhood