{Hand Made} Vanilla Cafe Latte

I am not a regular coffee drinker. I consider caffeine to be a drug. Notwithstanding my 5:30am alarm clock, I still make a conscious attempt to limit my coffee consumption to desperate and/or special occasions.

So why am I posting about coffee!?!? I have a confession to make: I’ve been finding myself sipping a decent amount of coffee as of late. Not just any coffee; $4 vanilla lattes from Starbucks. Ironically, my growing admiration for latte’s has nothing to do with caffeine and everything to do with sweet indulgence. I look at my weekly Starbucks trip as one of those guilty pleasures in life.

In a moment of DIY-mania, I recently got the urge to recreate these concoctions in the comfort of my own home. The thought of buying a $400+ espresso machine was unappealing, to say the least, so I started to look for alternative methods. A latte is nothing more than a combination of espresso and frothed milk, so I began to divide and conquer. I had the espresso part down – I was gifted a moka pot (bottom right picture) which is a cheap contraption that brews espresso on a stove top.

Now for the other half – steamed milk. I was at first afraid I would need one of those fancy nozzles that Starbucks baristas use to steam milk. After a few hours of research, I came across a tool called a milk brother, which does the trick for $30-$40. With William-Sonoma gift card at hand, I went to the mall and grabbed a fancy Bodum milk brother.

Recipe

Serving Size (1 person)

Estimated time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 shots espresso (1-2 shots)
• 8 oz hot frothed milk
• 1 oz vanilla syrup

What You’ll Need:

• moka pot
• milk frother

Directions:

1. Brew espresso
2. microwave milk for 1-2 minutes until hot
3. froth milk
4. pour ingrédients into a mug in the following order: syrup, espresso, milk (strain the foam)
5. top with foam and/or whipped cream