Combine Coffee and Desserts to Make Something New

Cold coffee with ice cream in it? It’s the typical way iced coffee is served in Australia. And now, Australian Iced Coffee is gaining popularity in the United States.¹ In fact, in the Northeast, “ice cream” appears on menus with coffee about as often as “hazelnut” or “cappuccino.”¹ 

It’s part of a broader trend that is seeing coffee transform beyond just an energizing pick-me-up, and into an indulgent treat. 

Coffee and Desserts Suit Each Other

It seems that after the past couple years, consumers are in the mood to treat themselves. 95% of consumers had a dessert within the last week!² 

So why coffee and desserts, then? Coffee is considered a ubiquitous flavor in desserts,³ and “dessert-inspired” has high proliferation with coffee nationwide as well.¹ And of course, coffee is king on its own. The National Coffee Association’s latest annual report showed that 67% of Americans drank coffee in the past day.⁴ 

Coffee desserts can be positioned on menus as a premium-priced category that tempts both sweet-seekers and even typical dessert-skippers. Amped-up coffee beverages carry high profit margins but can be priced below many other desserts. This represents both value for the customer and dollars for the operator. Coffee desserts can also: 

• Be unique signature items 
• Take pressure off the dessert or pantry station 
• Come in alcoholic or nonalcoholic varieties 

Here are some additional ways to capitalize on the growing trend of coffee and desserts. 

Try Proven Coffee Desserts 

• Affogatos are amongst the most popular coffee desserts, and they’re easy to prep. Place two small scoops of ice cream (coffee, chocolate, or vanilla) in a coffee cup. Then pour in a shot of espresso or three tablespoons strong brewed coffee, plus any toppings. 
• Sparkling iced coffees can be made using espresso, cold brew, or freshly brewed coffee that has cooled to room temperature. Simply fill a glass with ice, add the sparkling water, and then your coffee or espresso. 
• Coffee-based floats can be made by adding ice cream to the sparkling iced coffee above. Cold brew or nitro coffee can add dimension to this indulgent refresher. 
• Mug cake coffee cakes align with the trend toward smaller dessert portions and convenience. They can also be tweaked to align with diets like gluten free or keto. 

Try Indulgent Toppings  

• Cold foam is frothed cold instead of hot by blending nonfat milk until it is smooth, creating layers of creamy texture and flavor without the cream. For an extra touch of sweetness, try cold foam in different flavors like salted caramel, vanilla sweet cream, or pumpkin.  
• Sprinkles or drizzles like candy toppings, cookie crumbles, caramel or butterscotch syrup or drizzle, marshmallows, or coconut shavings can all help turn coffee into a dessert. 

Try Coffee and Desserts Pairings  

• Pair with a higher margin dessert food. Many high-revenue desserts require less prep or can be eaten on the go, like cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and ice cream. Cookies make an exceptional coffee and desserts combination — and have seen the highest sales increase of all desserts recently.⁵ 
• Offer coffee flights for dessert. Coffee flights allow your guests to try novel styles of coffee like nitro cold brew, pour over, cortado, and more. 

Try Global Flavors

• Jus Alpukat, an avocado coffee shake, is an Indonesian mainstay. And it’s experiencing early adoption on menus in the United States.¹ It gets its creamy texture from avocado and milk, and its sweetness from condensed milk, both of which pair well with a chocolate drizzle. 
• Mbatata is a cookie made from sweet potato, flour, milk, butter, eggs, sugar and cinnamon, and sometimes raisins or chocolate chips. It’s essentially a cookie take on already-familiar sweet potato pie,and makes an excellent coffee and desserts pairing. 
• Kulfi is like ice cream, but is a denser, creamier version of ice cream, as it excludes eggs and isn’t whipped. It’s traditionally served in a conical shape and served on a stick like an ice pop. That leaves a hand for a coffee pairing! 

Looking for ways to upgrade your coffee and desserts menu? Check out our related products and recipes below. 

Sources: 1. Datassential Cold Coffee (April 2024); 2. Datassential Desserts Keynote Report (January 2023); 3. Datassential Desserts (January 2024); 4. The National Coffee Association of USA 2024 National Coffee Data Trends Specialty Coffee Report; 5. Datassential Desserts (February 2023)