Penny Pinching: Fluff Coffee

The Twitterverse is on fire with Starbucks holiday coffees. I have been just dying for a Gingerbread Latte, but we're in penny pinching mode to make a nice Christmas and a $4 coffee just isn't in my foreseeable future.

Fortunately you can fake a latte. Ideally you should have an espresso machine with a steamer and some really good espresso roast coffee. I've faked it with a little french press I got at the recycle pad and a milk frother my sister gave me. But let's do it with nothing but this can of MJB I've got sitting here and the stove.

Making "Espresso"
In your regular drip coffee maker, use 1/4 cup coffee grounds and 1/2 cup water. This makes 2 - 4 ounces of coffee concentrate, about two shots. Be warned this also concentrates the caffeine (oh darn!).

"Steaming" Milk
Some food safety warnings here: between 41F and 135F milk is considered unsafe. It's really easy for bacteria to grow in it. You'll want to heat your milk to at least 140F. On the other end of the thermometer, the scalding point of milk is 180F. You don't want to scald it, it changes the taste. My sister, a coffee shop manager who trained at Starbucks, tells me that Starbucks makes their milk about 165F, with a kid's cup at 140F and extra hot at 170-175F. You can use any cooking thermometer (like a meat or candy thermometer) to monitor the temperature.

That's all a bit complex. I heat mine until I can see it steaming. In the microwave, heat 1 cup of milk a minute at a time until it's hot enough. On the stove top, use a metal pan and low heat so it doesn't scorch. When it's hot use a whisk (or even a fork) to whip it nice and frothy.

You can adjust the coffee and milk amounts until it suits you. Pour the hot frothy milk into the hot coffee and ta-dah! You've got a basic latte. (Trivia: A latte is about 1:3 coffee to milk with a little foam. A cappuccino is 1:1 coffee and milk with lots of stiff foam.)

Fancy Coffee
The reason we all go to Starbucks is for the indulgent fru-fru flavored coffees. Here's where it gets a little tougher on a budget, but it's not impossible. You can, of course, buy the coffee syrups fairly inexpensively (try your local warehouse store instead of a specialty shop). Whipped cream is cheap, buy a house brand in the spray can and it'll last almost forever in the fridge if you never let it sit out.

Vanilla Latte
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
sugar to taste

You can also make your own syrup by flavoring simple syrup:

Vanilla Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Stir the sugar into the boiling water until it's dissolved. Add the vanilla extract. Reduce heat and cook a bit to reduce it, stirring constantly. Cool and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Add one or two ounces to a latte for flavor.

You can skim some calories on an eggnog latte by getting fat free eggnog. It won't be as thick, but the flavor is still there. Do not bring your eggnog to a boil, it will change the flavor.

Eggnog Latte
for the milk use:
1/2 cup eggnog
1/4 cup milk
Combine the eggnog and milk and heat.
Add coffee.
Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg if desired.

This is my absolute favorite. I need to get some more ginger!

Gingergread Latte
For this one you really need a syrup.

Gingerbread Syrup:
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the water, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla in a small to medium saucepan. Medium is probably better since the syrup could boil over the top. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. When done, pour into a melt-proof container and let cool. It will thicken a bit more once cooled.

Add 2 ounces to your latte. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon, if desired.

Another favorite, and Starbucks always runs out way too early in the season.

Pumpkin Spice Latte #1
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon sugar or sugar substitute - you can halve this amount
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

For the steamed milk, combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and heat as noted above.
Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon if desired.

Pumpkin Spice Latte #2
Make a pumpkin spice syrup.
1c sugar
1c water
2 tablespoons pumpkin spice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Stir the sugar into the boiling water until it's dissolved. Add the pumpkin spice and vanilla. Reduce heat and cook a bit to reduce it, stirring constantly. Cool and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Add one or two ounces to your latte. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon if desired.

This one's for Gnobrin, my favorite Starbucks addict:

Peppermint Mocha or White Chocolate Mocha
I tried this with peppermint candy and peppermint extract. It really needs a syrup too. Again, we just flavor simple syrup.

Peppermint Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon peppermint extract

Stir the sugar into the boiling water until it's dissolved. Add the peppermint extract. Reduce heat and cook a bit to reduce it, stirring constantly. Cool and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

To make a mocha, add chocolate or white chocolate syrup to your milk. You can also melt 3 tablespoons of chocolate or white chocolate chips in your milk. I like a delicate peppermint flavor, so I only add one ounce of syrup. Top with whipped cream.

If you want to get really really fancy, make peppermint whipped cream.

Peppermint Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons totally pulverized peppermints
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Beat the cream, pulverized peppermints and sugar until stiff peaks form.

This one is just for Kiara.

Chai Latte
For this you need a Chai syrup concentrate. You guessed it, we're going to make simple syrup again! In this case it's not quite as sweet, it's more like the base for sweet tea.

Chai Tea Syrup
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2-3 Chai Tea bags. I prefer Tazo, which is Starbuck's brand

Boil the water and add the sugar, stirring until it dissolves. Add the tea bags and turn off the heat. Let it steep until it's really strong, 15-20 minutes.

For sweetened Chai, add hot water to about 2 ounces of the syrup. For a Latte, add hot frothed milk.

A Note on Ounces, Shots, and Tablespoons
Those all seem to get bandied around a lot in coffee talk, don't they? It's pretty easy: there are two tablespoons in an ounce (by measure, not by weight). 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup = 2 ounces.

A "shot" is a little vague; in coffee, my sister tells me, it can be an ounce to an ounce and a half depending on the coffee strength. If you're using a shot glass, be aware that they come in measurements from 3/4 of an ounce to 1 1/2 ounces. Get your tablespoons or measuring cup out if you want to know what size it really is.