Orange cream soda with a dried orange wheel.
This is the grown-up version of the orange ice block you ate as a kid. Fresh orange, a little vanilla, a splash of cream, and soda to lift it. It tastes like a creamsicle and looks like a proper drink, which is exactly the trick. No alcohol, no shame.
The dried orange sits on top and makes the whole thing look composed. A fresh slice would sink into the cream and turn the surface messy.
What you'll need
- 60ml fresh orange juice
- 15ml vanilla syrup
- 30ml pouring cream
- Soda water, to top
- 1 dried orange wheel
- Ice, to fill
How to make it
- Fill a tall glass with ice.
- Pour in the orange juice and vanilla syrup, and stir once.
- Add the cream slowly, pouring over the back of a spoon so it streaks the top rather than mixing straight in.
- Top gently with soda water to lift the cream into a soft, foamy head.
- Float a dried orange wheel on the foam.
Why dried beats fresh here
Cream and soda make a delicate foamy head, and that head is the whole charm of the drink. A fresh orange slice dropped on top is too heavy, it sinks through the foam, breaks it, and leaves wet fruit slumped in the glass.
A dried wheel weighs almost nothing, so it rests on the foam without collapsing it. It holds a clean orange colour against the cream, keeps its shape to the last sip, and tells you it's an orange drink before you've tasted a drop.
Use the Orange jar, about 25 wheels, enough to dress a whole summer of soft drinks and floats.