Taste of TikTok: A review of TikTok Recipes and food trends, featuring Tini’s Mac & Cheese, Hwachae and Whipped Coffee

Social media is filled with an abundance of recipes claiming to be the “easiest” or “most delicious” — but do they really require such little effort to make and are they really that good?

I decided to put these recipes to the test — so I scoured my saved videos on TikTok and Instagram to find recipes that were both simple and something that anyone could enjoy. Some undoubtedly weirder than others. 

To kick off the cooking — and keep myself awake — I decided to channel my inner barista and make a caffeinated drink. My first attempt at a viral recipe was TikTok’s “whipped coffee.” The recipe checked the “simple” box, only calling for equal portions of instant coffee, boiling water and sugar. Once combined, I used an electric mixer to whip together the aromatic coffee and cream. Once it reached a frothy texture, I poured it into a cup over ice. The process was easier than expected, but required quite a few appliances making the cleanup less than ideal.

I usually don’t drink a lot of coffee, but this I could get behind. It was milky and sweet, with just the right amount of coffee flavor. 

The taste reminded me of mocha ice-cream but heavier on the coffee. I got the bitter flavor of the coffee, but paired with the light and creamy whipped topping it transformed the flavor into something straight from coffee heaven. I don’t know if my lazy self can whip out my mixer every morning but nonetheless, it was tasty and I would absolutely inhale it if I was given it again.

For the next course I’m thinking Tini’s Mac & Cheese — a standard recipe using three different types of cheeses and unique additions to add extra flavor — it’s manageable for beginner cooks and has over 91.6 million views. Plus, Tini has some experience — being a contestant on Gordon Ramsey’s “Next Level Chef.”

 Millions of views for a mac & cheese recipe? It simply must be amazing. Keeping my hopes held high, a few blocks of cheese later I’m thrilled to report that Tini didn’t disappoint.

The recipe called for a combination of grated cheese and a rue — a thickening butter-flour mixture — then to bake. What’s special about this recipe was the layering of extra cheese between noodles in the dish, and adding dijon mustard in the sauce.

Much to my surprise, the noodles were comforting and had a balanced amount of cheese. The use of paprika gave a nice amount of smokiness to the dish.  I was afraid of the dijon being too powerful but it brought the perfect amount of earthy flavor to the cheese.

All of this cheese made me crave something cold and fruity. So I combined ice, strawberry milk, sprite and assorted fruits to a large bowl and served. Now you’ve made quite the intriguing fruit “cereal” called Hwachae. 

 I was skeptical about this Korean soup but it was by far my favorite of the three. It was ice-cold and fizzy, a perfect bite with a few slices of strawberry and blackberry. It’s like nothing I’ve ever had before and believe me when I say if I will be making Hwachae again.

I suppose the things you’re most scared to try are the best, and sometimes millions of online viewers actually know what they’re talking about — thank you internet.