Mmm… a latte - bitter espresso diluted with silky steamed milk that gently coats your mouth as you drink it in an absolutely divine and indulgent fashion. “Latte” even sounds sexy. Or maybe just to me?
Lately, I have had an unrelenting love for lattes - especially during brunch - though I fully realize how ridiculous it is to pay $5 for a cup of coffee, no matter how sexy. I started considering if it was possible to make a latte without a machine with a four-digit price tag and thought back to a curious snippet I once read in Cooks Illustrated. I went through my magazine archive (i.e. a tall stack that lives in my closet) and found the May/June 2010 issue.
The at-home milk steaming technique calls for only one piece of specialty equipment - a glass jar. To my great surprise, this method actually works!
Here’s how it’s done: Start by making espresso in a French press or Moka pot; strong, regular drip coffee will work too. Find a microwave-safe glass jar with a lid that closes tightly and pour in 6 oz of skim or 2% dairy milk no more than halfway, as milk foam will need room to expand, and close tightly. Shake jar vigorously for 30 seconds, remove lid and microwave for 30 seconds. (Watch the microwave closely. The foam may rise above the brim and spill over. If it expands too high before being warmed through, pause the microwave and wait a few seconds until foam settles. Then continue microwaving until warm.)
Pour 2 oz of coffee into a serving cup and pour in steamed milk over the top, holding back the extra foam with a spoon. Ta-da! I like to drink mine out of the awesome double-walled Bodum cup my girlfriends gifted to me.
Do you make fancy coffee drinks home?
Looks nifty, but when it comes to drinking coffee at home I just make do with instant.
I bought one of those caffetierre things a few years back. It made great coffee but I got bored of it within a week.