“Guaraná” Soda Milkshake | Brazilian '60s Drink

This recipe is a classic in my house and is kind of a retro recipe here in Brazil. Soda milkshakes were a thing in the '60s and '70s and the ones using Guaraná soda were called "Vaca Dourada" or Golden Cow in English and the ones using Coke were "Vaca Preta" or Black Cow.

So you can totally switch the soda from this recipe to something like Coke and make a Vaca Preta, but I encourage you to try to find "Antartica Guaraná" - they even sell it at Walmart nowadays - it has an amazing fruit-and-caramel taste without being super sweet or super artificial.

There are two main ways to do it: one super simple where you just blend vanilla ice cream and the soda and this version, where you kind of make your own ice cream WITH the soda and cream. This is how we do it here at my house and the advantage is that you can control the sweetness and the taste of the soda is more prominent. Still simple and easy, but better!

Fun fact: "Vaca Preta" - made with Coke - is the favorite drink of Lulu, from the comic "Little Lulu" (Saturday Evening Post). That become famous in Brazil between 1950 and 1970. In fact, "Luluzinha" - as we call the comic in Brazil - was so famous here that I didn't know that the comic was from the US, I really thought it was Brazilian until I did this research! haha

Supplies

• 1 can of sweet condensed milk
• 1 cup of cream (half or single)
• 1 can of soda
• Whipping Cream or Chantilly (optional)
• caramel to decorate the glass (optional)

Step 1: Prepping the Ice Cream

Beat the light cream until it becomes quite foamy. You can skip this step if you want, but the end results tend to be creamier when you do this.

Fold in the sweet condensed milk and half of the soda slowly, it will create some bubbles!

Put the mixture into some kind of bowl and leave it in the freezer until it sets and freezes, it takes about 3 hours, you can leave it over night.

Tip: at this point, you can make some delicious ice cream to eat on its own. Just beat the mixture 2 or 3 times during the freezing process to achieve a creamier texture more similar to ice cream. If you want to make the milkshake this is not necessary and an icy sorbet texture is ok.

Step 2: Putting All Together

Now, all you have to do is take that soda and cream misture out of the freezer, scoop it into a blender, and add the rest of the soda. Blend it well. You can add a little bit of a cold heavy cream if you want a more rich milkshake.

Put it in a tall glass decorated with caramel, some whipped cream on the top - if you want to - and Voilà! You have on your hands a delicious fizzy milkshake, direct from the '60s. Now you can enjoy it while listening to some jazzy "Bossa Nova" - popular Brazilian music style from the same decade - perfect for a summer day. Here's a Bossa Nova playlist on Spotify for you.

Variations: You can scoop a ball of vanilla ice cream on top to make a float and adults can easily transform it into a refreshing cocktail by putting a shot of vodka or any other spirit of your choice. I personally love it with Cachaça, a type of "cane brandy" typical from where I live.