Cherry Vanilla Rose Italian Cream Soda

with low fat,  low sugar and sugar free options

Several years ago, my daughter and I were out with one of my friends and we went to a quaint little coffee shop downtown where they had Italian Cream Sodas. My daughter was tempted to try one, but a little reluctant. With a little encouragement, she went ahead and ordered one and immediately fell in love.

And while Italian cream sodas in lovely little coffee shops are fun, but not very practical when you have a fascination obsession with them. So my daughter and I discovered a couple years ago that it’s quite doable, and much easier on the waistline AND the pocketbook, to make them at home. It’s also a wonderful use for an overabundance of fruit you need a quick use for. In the past two years, we’ve made several different flavors of Italian Cream Sodas, and this year we decided it was time to do a CHERRY version. With roses. Because, you know, roses. They smell so wonderful and they taste soooo good.

If you don’t have a good source of chemical-free roses, you can skip that part and your cream sodas will still be marvelous. You can really taste and smell the roses, though. Here’s a Cherry Vanilla Rose cream soda before the cream–isn’t it a gorgeous color?

Cherry Vanilla Rose Italian Cream Soda

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: About 10 oz. of syrup - so roughly 10 cream sodas per batch 1x

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the cherry vanilla rose syrup:

• About 1 lb of sweet cherries, washed
• 6 large organic roses, washed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup sugar (or equivalent amount of Stevia — I used a mix of sugar and stevia)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For each soda:

• Ice
• About 5– 6 oz. club soda
• 1 shot cherry vanilla rose syrup
• 1 shot fat free half & half
• Fresh cherries, for garnish

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Instructions

1. Several hours (or days) ahead of time, put the whole cherries in a medium saucepan. No need to pit them (unless you so desire) because we’ll be straining out the pits later. Pull the petals off the roses and add to the pan. Add the water and sugar and stir. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until the syrup is a beautiful rosy cherry color and smells totally intoxicating. Stir in the vanilla.
2. Let the syrup cool, then strain through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer into a bottle. Squeeze the cherries well to squeeze all the juice out of them. Keep the syrup in a covered bottle or jar in the fridge.
3. When it’s time to make the sodas, take a tall glass and add a bunch of ice cubes. Pour the club soda in, then add a shot of the cherry syrup. Stir to mix up the syrup in the soda, then slowly pour a shot of the half & half on top, watching the wonderful swirls that the cream makes in the soda.
4. Garnish with a cherry … let the guests stir & enjoy!

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Notes

Prep & cook time doesn’t include the time for the syrup to cool.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Munching Mondays, Simple Supper Tuesday, Treasure Box Tuesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, Thursday Favorite Things, Gluten Free Friday and Hearth & Soul Bloghop.