The soda goes in slowly and the glass starts to hiss. Pale foam climbs over the ice cream, and where the cold cream meets the fizz, a fine white lattice spreads across the dark pink surface like a spider's web. Creaming soda is a burgundy-pink soft drink from Australia and New Zealand that tastes of lemon and vanilla, creamy and rich with a bright citrus edge. Pour it over vanilla ice cream and you have a creaming soda spider, the drink of children's parties, birthdays and hot afternoons in the backyard.
Pink Soda, Vanilla Ice Cream and a Web of Foam
The name comes from the foam. When ice cream and soda meet in the glass, the surface forms a web-like pattern, and Australians and New Zealanders call the drink a spider. In the United States and elsewhere the same idea goes by ice cream float or ice cream soda. Ice cream sodas in general are usually traced to the 1870s. Nobody has settled when creaming soda itself was first made, or where.
Among Australian soft drinks, creaming soda counts as one of the most traditional flavours. Bottlers sell it as a heritage brew with decades of history behind it, and drop a scoop of ice cream in to make it a summer staple. Plenty of Australians talk about it as something from childhood. A newer wave of small makers now builds the flavour again from lemon juice and natural vanilla and sells it as a syrup to mix with soda water at home.
In Australia and New Zealand it is a spider, named for the web of foam on top. Elsewhere it is a float or an ice cream soda. Creaming soda is also a different drink from the green cream soda served in Japan.
A drink that sells on memory
Small soft-drink bottlers used to be everywhere in Australia. People in the trade estimate there were around 600 companies in the mid-1950s, and that only about seven independents are left. A few names grew national. Kirks began as the name of a ginger ale in 1924 and was put on a whole range of drinks after a 1959 merger. The surviving makers say nostalgia is what sells their old-fashioned flavours, and more people now buy syrups so they can mix the drink as strong or as weak as they like.
The same bottlers will tell you soft drinks were invented as a treat and were never meant to quench thirst, and health advice says to keep sugar down. A spider fits that. You make one for a party or a scorching day, and the whole thing takes about five minutes. If you want the rest of the Australian table, head to the Australia country page. For something sweet from across the Tasman to serve after the spiders, there is pavlova.
Ingredients (serves 4)
Each scoop works out to about ¼ cup (60 ml). Four glasses will not hold all the soda. A little under a cup (about 230 ml) stays in the bottle, so keep it cold for topping up as everyone drinks.
You need eight scoops, so a family-size tub of full-cream vanilla is easier than small cups. Plant-based vanilla can stand in for a dairy-free spider, though the flavour and the way the drink foams and melts will differ.
Vanilla ice cream contains milk. Colourings, flavourings, preservatives and caffeine vary from one brand of creaming soda to the next, so check the ingredient label on the bottle you buy.
Equipment
- 4 glasses of about 1½ cups (375 ml) each; highball or milkshake glasses work well
- Ice cream scoop
- 4 long spoons
- 4 straws
Choosing the Soda and What to Use Without It
The bottle decides everything. Look for creaming soda at import grocers or online; Australian bottles are sold in the dark burgundy-pink you see in the glass. Ingredients differ between makers, so read the label for what goes into the colour and flavour.
If you can't find a bottle, creaming soda syrup is the closest swap. A 17 oz (500 ml) bottle of syrup makes 15 drinks, which comes to a little over 2 tbsp (about 33 ml) of syrup per glass topped with soda water. Start there and adjust to taste, because the right strength depends on the syrup. Use well-chilled, strongly carbonated soda water so there is enough fizz to raise the foam.
Lemonade, cola, ginger beer, lime or orange soft drinks all make a spider too. Each one gives you a good drink with a different flavour and colour, but it is no longer a creaming soda spider. Keep the vanilla ice cream and the pink lemon-vanilla soda if you want the Australian version.
Method
Get the glasses into the fridge first, because cold glass keeps the ice cream firm while the foam builds. Keep the soda in the fridge too and leave it unopened until you pour. Scoop the ice cream just before you pour, then make the four glasses one after another and hand them out straight away.
When It Goes Wrong
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Foam spills over the rim | The glass is too small, or all the soda went in at once | Use glasses of at least 1½ cups (375 ml) and pour in two goes |
| Weak fizz and no web on top | The soda was warm, or the bottle had been open a while | Use well-chilled soda and open it just before you pour |
| Too sweet and heavy | Too much ice cream for the soda | Drop to 1 scoop per glass; the soda flavour comes forward and the foam is lighter |
| The ice cream melts fast and the drink turns thin | The glass was at room temperature, or the drinks waited before serving | Chill the glasses, scoop just before pouring and serve at once |
| Syrup version tastes weak or too strong | The syrup and soda water are out of balance | Go back to a little over 2 tbsp (about 33 ml) of syrup per glass and adjust from there |
Serving and Variations
Spiders go out in sets: four glasses on a tray for a kids' party or a birthday, or on an outdoor table in the shade on a hot day. They also work as a quick dessert after a savoury Australian meal such as a halal snack pack. Make them at the last minute. A spider does not wait, so scoop and pour only when everyone is ready to drink. Keep the leftover soda cold in the fridge and top up glasses as they empty.
Lychee spider
A Melbourne shop pairs lychee ice cream with creaming soda. Use 2 scoops of lychee ice cream per glass in place of vanilla. The floral lychee sits on top of the lemon and vanilla in the soda, and the scoops look paler against the pink.
Another soft drink
Pour lemonade, cola, ginger beer, lime or orange soft drink over the same vanilla ice cream. Every one of them makes a spider with its own colour and flavour. Cola and ginger beer turn darker and spicier, while lemonade and lime come out lighter and sharper.
Dairy-free pink spider
A homemade pink syrup made from maple syrup, water, vanilla and lemon juice is warmed together, mixed with soda water and poured over ice. A "nice cream" of coconut cream and frozen banana goes on top, with a cherry to finish. The pink colour comes from a berry powder, so this version tastes like its own drink, a long way from the bottled flavour.
Frequently asked questions
Should I add ice?
No. The classic spider is just ice cream and soda, and ice melts and thins the drink. Cold glasses and cold soda keep it cold enough.
Can I make spiders ahead for a party?
Only the glasses. Chill them ahead and keep the soda in the fridge, then scoop and pour when the guests are ready. A poured spider loses its foam and fizz while it waits.
Does creaming soda contain caffeine or artificial colouring?
That depends on the brand. Some craft syrups use no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, and bottled sodas vary. Read the label on the bottle or syrup you buy.
How many scoops should go in each glass?
Two scoops per 1½-cup (375 ml) glass gives the classic balance of foam, soda and ice cream. If that feels too rich, one scoop makes a lighter drink in which the soda leads.
