It’s Sunday morning. You wake up to the sound of rain washing down your window, and your bed feels a little cozier as you have no place to be. And that is enough reason to chain yourself to bed and embrace the coziness.
Let’s be honest; there are days when you don’t have any desire to take off from the house. Nothing sounds better compared to cuddling up with your treasured book, an extraordinary film, or pets.
In some cases, you feel so lazy and cozy that you would even prefer not to escape the house to snatch some espresso.
It is not like you wouldn’t prefer a flavorful latte from your go-to cafés—it’s simply that leaving your house isn’t on your daily morning schedule. So that leaves you thinking about how to make a latte at home.
Regardless of whether you’re a professional barista or a latte beginner, a basic formula will immediately turn into a staple in your schedule. All you need is espresso and milk and a couple of additional minutes to make a latte at home.
Roasterie Latte – Homemade recipe
Things required
Milk frother, saucepan, carafes, and a mug.
Ingredients
Playing around with coffee and milk can provide you with the kind of latte you prefer. The taste can vary depending upon the type of coffee and milk used.
Milk
Different amounts of milk can be added to create variations. 2% milk addition can do wonders if you prefer a strong creamy latte. Whereas if you prefer a skinny coffee, try adding 1% skim milk.
Dairy-free products like soy milk, almond milk, or rice milk can also be used to create variations according to your preference.
If you want to know about coffee recipes with milk alternatives, check out our guide: Coffee Recipes With Milk Alternatives.
Coffee
Customary lattes use coffee for caffeine and the espresso flavor. Even if you don’t own a coffee machine, you can likewise utilize a firmly brewed espresso for a similar impact.
Guide
- Brew a cup of your preferred coffee. Heat 1 or 1 and a half cups of milk in a pot while the coffee is brewing.
- Then froth your milk using a milk frother. And if you don’t have one, then a whisk can be used as an alternative. But for that, you will require to strenuously whisk the heating milk until it turns into a froth.
- Next, you can drain the coffee into your mug and make sure to leave some space for the frothed milk to consume.
- Spill the heated milk over the coffee while holding back the froth for the topping later.
- The amount of froth added on the top can vary. If you want a traditional latte, you can use less froth, whereas more froth will make it a cappuccino. So layer your froth according to your preference.
- Lastly, if you are an unconventional coffee drinker, you must enjoy a sweetened coffee. You can include vanilla extract, honey, cinnamon, or sugar to add flavor.
Espresso Machine
Making a homemade latte experience can be enhanced if you own an espresso machine. These machines usually come with a built-in steam wand which can be a blessing in disguise.
You can either use an insulated cup or warm a regular cup so the espresso does not cool down while steaming and frothing the milk.
Brew espresso shots according to the serving size you have in mind. If you have company, then you might want to brew more shots than usual. Discharge the brewed coffee into a mug.
Next, the machine’s wand will handle the steaming and frothing process of the milk. Pour it slowly, so the steamed milk reaches the espresso mug first while the froth layers at the top.
If you want to know the best large espresso machines out there, do check out our guide, The Best Large Espresso Machines for Baristas
Get creative!
Do you get fascinated by the designs created on the surface of the latte foam? Is that yet another reason that attracts you to have a latte at a café? People usually fall in line to taste the rich coffee and enjoy the aesthetically pleasing presentation of a latte.
Following are some of the innovative techniques to make such designs at home.
Tools
A pitcher, latte art tool, or a toothpick.
Heart
Utilize three ounces of milk for every one-ounce cup, and steam it. Slant the cup at 45 degrees with one hand, and with the other, pour the milk in the middle.
The pitcher needs to be placed higher to allow the milk to go to the lower part of your cup. When your cup is up to 3/4 full, pour the milk and start shaking the pitcher.
Keep shaking while you bring your hand closer to the cup and stop as soon as you observe the white circles showing up.
The minute the cup gets practically full, pour the milk in line from one side to the next through the middle. And you will observe a heart shape forming.
Spirals
To keep the syrup from sinking to the base, you need to make your froth thicker, which will keep it on the top.
Utilizing syrup, draw a spiral from the focal point of the mug to the edge. Then use either a toothpick or something a bit thicker to form lines. It would be tremendous if you had a latte art device to enhance the formation of the spirals.
Pull lines from the middle to the edge. Make five lines to make it look like a star. Then among those lines, make lines from the edge to the middle. And Voila! You have a spiral layer on the surface of your latte foam.
Chocolate syrup circles
Form a plus or a cross sign on the surface of your latte foam with chocolate syrup. Then stretch two diagonal lines from one side of the cup to another.
Keep drawing spirals with a toothpick or the tool till you get a finished circle; look around your mug.
Freestyle circles can also be deduced by moving the syrup in repetitive circles, forming a random volcano-shaped design on the foam.
Rosetta
Slant your cup around 45 degrees and begin pouring the milk, don’t hold the pitcher excessively near the cup.
When the cup is 3/4 full, put the pitcher nearer to the cup until it lays on the cup. When the pitcher contacts the cup, pour a bit more milk, and you’ll see a spot of white froth.
Now, begin moving the pitcher from one side to the next. When you arrive at the finish of the cup, begin pouring less milk, lift the pitcher and begin moving the milk stream forward through the middle.
Bear
Follow the same steps as you did for making the shape of a heart. But for the formation of a bear, it’s necessary to stop pouring the milk to the edge, or else it will start resembling the heart shape.
Put the pitcher a bit higher, pour the milk, then, at that point, put the pitcher nearer to make the stream thicker and afterward stop. It should resemble an apple or a heart without being pointy.
Take a spoon and a bit of milk to form two spots, one on each side, which serves as the ears. Then, utilize a toothpick to draw eyes and a nose at the focal point of two half circles.
Try not to utilize the instrument since it is thicker, and it may destroy your art.
Conclusion
It is always a wise decision to learn how to brew your coffee at home. You can play around with the toppings of your preference while spicing up the process with the creative latte art designs. You can also throw in some flavors to enhance your coffee experience in the morning.
Adding to this, people have always been obsessed with the creative latte designs that express your feelings more than words can. It’s the effort that counts! Therefore, it is safe to say that these are all catchy elements that will make you want to show off your aesthetic-looking latte made at home.
If you are interested in knowing the benefits of drinking coffee, check out our guide, The Little Known Benefits of Drinking Coffee.