Here’s one of our favorite latte recipes - pumpkin spice!

Latte Recipes – Pumpkin Spice

By Sirena Van Schaik

Every year, thousands of coffee drinkers around the United States will give a little jump for joy when fall comes and with it a very popular Latte drink from a popular coffee shop. Of course, I don’t really need to say who this coffee shop is and we all know that I am talking about the pumpkin spice latte so we will just leave it there.

During the other three seasons of the year, I’m not sure what pumpkin spice latte lovers do since the beverage tends to disappear from store counters. Sure, they could go back to the regular double latte with triple foam, chocolate and a dinosaur fossil with each cup but what would be the fun in that. We want our pumpkin for crying out loud.

Of course, you can go out and purchase a high quality espresso machine and following this little recipe, make your own pumpkin spice latte. It might not be exactly like the store bought kind but it is definitely flavorful enough to make an excellent treat every once in a while.

What you need:

• Whipped Cream (optional and only if you like whipped cream on your pumpkin spice latte.)
• 2 shots of espresso
• 1 cup of milk
• 3 tbsp of canned pureed pumpkin (you can buy this in the baking aisle at most grocery stores.)
• 2 tbsp of vanilla syrup
• ¼ tsp of pumpkin pie spice (again, this can be found in the baking aisle.)

Directions:

1. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and place it on the stove, set at low-medium.
2. Add the pumpkin puree and stir until it is well mixed.
3. Add the vanilla syrup to the pumpkin/milk mixture and stir completely.
4. Finally add the pumpkin pie spice to the pumpkin/milk mixture.
5. Stir the milk mixture until it begins to heat. You will want to heat it until a slight foam begins. Make sure you stir it occasionally to prevent the milk from burning.
6. While the milk is heating, pour a double shot of espresso.
7. Once the milk is done, pour it into a latte cup and immediately pour the double shot over the milk.
8. Finish off with a dollop of whipped cream.

And then simply enjoy the taste of pumpkin in your latte.