Dalgona coffee (or whipped coffee) is a trend that has taken over the internet. I can’t consume content on TikTok without coming across at least one dalgona coffee video.  While whipped coffee has been around for a while in various cultures, it has gained (or regained?) popularity now with so many people at home due to Covid-19 physical distancing protocols. Many people are making their own coffee, and trying to find ways to make it fun!

I made dalgona coffee the popular (or original? I don’t know) way using instant Nescafe coffee, sugar and hot water — beat it until fluffy, poured it over iced milk. To be honest, it wasn’t my thing. After stirring and about 10 minutes of my slowly enjoying my coffee, the foam started to lose structure and felt like I was drinking a slightly aerated, bitter, very strong and sweet coffee… which is still good, but not absolutely amazing. It reminded me a lot of the caramel cloud macchiatos I used to get at Starbucks! With maybe the flavor of a Vietnamese coffee… maybe I need a more higher quality instant coffee ??‍♀️

Side note- the word “Dalgona” is a bit misleading since it was originally a Korean honey-comb like candy… a discussion for another time!

Recently, the team at Matcha Kari reached out and asked if I’d create a Matcha Dalgona content piece using their matcha– the answer is a very resounding YES! Some of you who follow me on IG know that I love experimenting, and am always on the hunt for amazing ingredients to work with.

Matcha Kari carries a top-notch line of matcha, great for drinking and baking. I have experienced both first hand and it’s the best brand I have ever used (I have used MANY brands, and they are NOT paying me to say this). Matcha Kari’s matcha has amazing flavor, but equally important for me is how well it holds up during a bake– does it retain the color AND flavor? So many brands of culinary matcha hold flavor but darken a ton during the bake– whilst not damaging to taste, it does impact the aesthetics. 

Matcha has been enjoyed by many cultures, and is also known to provide a myriad of health benefits when consumed consistently, many of which you can read about HERE.

I have used Matcha Kari’s culinary matcha in shortbread, sugar cookies, drop cookies, pastry cream, lattes, whipped cream, and cake batter.  I’m probably missing a few more things I’ve done with it, but you get the picture.

All that said, my favorite way to enjoy matcha to this day is still to drink it. I have enjoyed Matcha Kari’s ceremonial matcha by itself, hot, cold, and in mixed drinks (such as this one!). 

So here it is– my version of the Dalgona Matcha Latte:

What you’ll need to create 1 large matcha latte (using approx. 8 oz of milk)

** I find that there is enough foam to serve 2, so if you’re not ready for a big drink, split this with someone or FREEZE the remainder of the foam!

• 1 freshly separated egg white
• 1 TBSP high quality matcha such as the ones from Matcha Kari
• 1 TBSP granulated sugar (you can add more, this was good for me)
• 2 TBSP water
• 8 oz Milk of your choice (I like it iced, and I used Oat Milk..unsweetened since we’re adding sugar syrup)
• Ice as desired
• Vanilla Bean Paste if you’re fancy but I do think a tiny splash of vanilla extract helps enhance the flavor — you can also get creative and use other flavors!! 

Useful Tools:

• Hand mixer, stick blender, anything with a whisk attachment that will whisk on its own so you don’t have to whisk by hand– it’ll work by hand, but take significantly longer and requires much more effort 
• Bowl for whisking – make sure it’s squeaky clean! Any fat will severely disrupt up your egg white structure and it won’t whip properly
• Microwave safe cup or bowl for your sugar syrup
• Sieve for getting the chunks out of your matcha

A few things to keep in mind:

• It really, really does help to watch the video below before you start– it gives you a great idea of what the steps look like
• The hot-ass sugar syrup beat into the fresh egg whites is likely to kill whatever “bacteria” might be in there. But ultimately you decide for yourself what you’re comfortable with
• No, you can’t taste the “raw egg white”– the sugar syrup cooks it just a tad and the fluff tastes like marshmallow fluff. This is similar to the stuff they top lemon meringue pies with.
• I’ve heard you can freeze your foam so that it doesn’t deflate and separate – if you do this, would love to hear if it works for you! I feel like it would def. Work for the whipped matcha version (with egg whites), but unsure how a non-egg white version would work… maybe if you used whipped cream as your “foam” base!
• My fancy straw is from Corkcicle and I love it.

Method:

1. Sift your Matcha
2. Separate your egg white from your egg, into the bowl that you’ll be whisking your foam in, set aside for a second.
3. Combine your water and sugar in a microwave-safe container for 1:30-2:30 minutes (keep an eye on it and don’t let it get out of control)– it should boil vigorously but not boil over or turn colors (it has caramelized and won’t really hurt it but that also means a lot of water has evaporated and it might be a tad too thick to blend in appropriately into your egg white foam). The second you take it out of the microwave, the bubbles significantly subside– this is totally normal. 
4. While the sugar syrup cooks in the microwave, whisk your egg whites until they are bubbly– this should take about the same amount of time as cooking your egg whites.
5. Pause to CAREFULLY grab that hot syrup out of the microwave.
6. SLOWLY and a bit at a time, pour in AND whisk your sugar syrup into your egg whites. When all the sugar syrup is poured in, whip it good until it starts to look like whipped cream or marshmallow fluff,  about 2 minutes. You really don’t want to pour all your sugar syrup in at once because we don’t want to accidentally end up with cooked egg white texture or chunky bits 😉
7. Add in all of your sifted matcha, give it a good stir before turning on your whisk so you don’t get matcha everywhere on the first pulse…
8. Add in your vanilla extract or other extract of choice, whisk for about 10 more seconds until well incorporated
9. Assemble and serve– drop ice in your glass, fill with milk and top with whipped matcha.
10. Stick a straw in it or mix it up with a nice spoon, enjoy your foamy, airy drink and don’t forget to tag me on social media (@borderlandsbakery) if you make it! I would love to share your creations!! 

Note: I was compensated by Matcha Kari to create content around the Dalgona Coffee concept. All opinions are my own and not associated with Matcha Kari. There are some affiliate links in this post and should you make a purchase, you’ll be supporting me at no additional cost to you.