Discover the differences between coffee cream and cafe noisette

Categorized as Coffee break

Last update August 29th, 2023

Cafe noisette or cream coffee? It’s hard to choose, especially when you don’t know exactly what the difference is. And most of us may not know the difference between cafe noisette and cream coffee… unless we are a real fan of these beverages.

In this article, we give you the recipes for cafe noisette and cream coffee so that these two drinks no longer hold any secrets for you… and so that you can make an informed choice. So… café crème or café noisette?

Hazelnut coffee: recipe

Whatever the recipe, we always start by preparing a coffee. For the cafe noisette recipe, it is best to start with a good espresso coffee, as aficionados like it.

However, don’t worry, we know that all tastes are in nature… So if you prefer a less strong coffee, opt for a filter coffee, or a coffee prepared with an Italian coffee maker.

Once the coffee is ready, you need to add the ingredient that will give its famous nutty color that inspires its name, texture and taste to cafe noisette: the mоuѕѕе dе lаіt.

To make milk foam, there are several options:

  • the nozzle of the espresso machine if it has one
  • milk frother
  • beat his milk with a mixer or a hand whisk.

The milk foam is made with cow’s milk, but if you don’t consume dairy products or are lactose intolerant, you can also use vegetable milk for the cafe noisette recipe.

And yes, you can froth vegetable milk as well as animal milk: soya, coconut or oat milk, take the one you like. Be careful to take a vegetable milk that contains enough fat, this is what allows it to foam well and obtain a good cafe noisette.

And to top it all off, don’t hesitate to try your hand at latte art to draw beautiful patterns on your cafe noisette!

How much milk foam is in the hazelnut coffee recipe?

For a small cup of espresso, add a teaspoon of milk foam. Increase the dose for more creaminess and decrease the dose for more coffee intensity.

How much sugar is in the hazelnut coffee recipe?

Sweeten to your taste: if you like strong flavours, don’t add any. If you like milder tones, add sugar to your cafe noisette.

Variation on the hazelnut coffee recipe

It is impossible to finish without mentioning that sometimes milk (cow’s or vegetable) is used instead of milk foam in the cafe noisette recipe… but this is not the traditional version, only a variation that allows to go faster. However the result is very different in the mouth.

Cаfé сrèmе : recipe

The recipe for café crème differs from that for café noisette.

First of all, a long coffee is used for the coffee cream recipe. Prepared with twice as much water as an espressoit is milder and this sweetness is accentuated by the ingredient that gives its name to the recipe: cream.

The combination of long coffee and cream is particularly tasty in the mouth.

How to prepare the cream in the coffee cream recipe?

In the recipe for café crème, the cream must be whipped on its own in a separate container before being added to the coffee. The colder it is whipped, the more it will rise for a delicious and creamy result.

For the dosage, make to your taste, test with a teaspoon of whipped cream and add more if you want more sweetness in the mouth.

How much sugar is in the coffee cream recipe?

Sweeten to your liking according to your taste.

Variation of the coffee cream recipe

Sometimes a variation is found using milk (cow’s or vegetable) instead of whipped cream for a result that is more like a café au lait.

Difference between coffee cream and cafe noisette

To summarize, here are the differences between coffee cream and cafe noisette:

  • espresso coffee is used for cafe noisette and long coffee for cream coffee
  • we put milk foam in the cafe noisette and whipped cream in the cream coffee
  • the two recipes of coffee cream and cafe noisette have variations with milk (cow’s milk or vegetable milk for vegan)
  • both recipes of coffee cream and cafe noisette are made with or without sugar.