Italian Cream Soda Recipe by Mia P. Manansala @MPMtheWriter

I first learned about the delicious, refreshing drink known as an Italian Cream Soda, funnily enough, at a Korean cafe my best friends and I used to frequent back in college. I was already familiar with the large array of Korean/East Asian teas, desserts, and snacks, as well as the typical coffee drinks you’d see at any American coffee shop, but I’d never heard of an Italian cream soda. And even though there was a large assortment of flavors, I never cared to try it, maybe because in my mind, cream soda was that super sugary but otherwise indistinguishable-flavored drink from a can.

Lavender-Lemon Italian Cream Soda

My best friend, however, adored them, and finally convinced me to try her drink. I believe it was a grapefruit one and I remember being blown away by how simple yet satisfying it was. I was even more blown away years later when I learned how quick and easy they were to prepare. I prefer to make my own simple syrups, but many people like the ease of bottled ones. Torani is probably the most popular brand and can be used for flavored lattes as well. Whichever one you choose, an Italian cream soda is the perfect drink for a lazy afternoon or a fun get-together. Hope you enjoy it!

Italian Cream Soda Recipe

Yield: one 12 oz drink

Ingredients:

• 2-4 TBSP flavored simple syrup (for this version, I used lavender and fresh lemon juice)
• 2 TBSP heavy cream or half and half
• Club soda
• Ice

Directions:

1. Fill a glass halfway with ice.
2. Add in your flavorings, followed by the cream or half and half.
3. Top off with club soda.
4. Stir and enjoy!

Cast of characters: Heavy cream, club soda, lavender simple syrup, lemon

Add your flavorings to your glass.

Drizzle in the heavy cream or half and half.

Fill the jar with ice. (in the instructions, I have this first. It doesn't matter if you add the ice first or during this step, but I'd suggest doing it before you add the club soda)

Top off with club soda.

Stir and enjoy!

Have any of you tried an Italian cream soda before? What are your favorite flavors? Let me know in the comments!

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Homicide and Halo-Halo

Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie’s Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.

 

Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can’t bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt’s Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie’s Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.

 

To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila’s little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.

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