Latte is the famous Italian coffee beverage with whipped milk, similar to the layered cocktail. Knowing the tricks, you can make it with no difficulty and can prepare infinite variations of the subtle nuances of taste.
Classic coffee latte macchiato
Ingredients for one serving:
- ground coffee – 1 tsp;
- milk 3.2% fat- 1 cup;
- water – 0.5 glass.
In Italy they say that the latte macchiato (in Italian – spotted milk) would be ideal if for its preparation you use the coffee mixture containing no less than 15-20% of Robusta – one of the two types of coffee beans. It is also called Congolese. Robusta loses to Arabica in taste and aroma, but it gives the drink an unprecedented strength and intense color.
There are just two types of coffee. Robusta and arabica, also known as an arabian coffee. All other types of fragrant beans are just grades.
Brew coffee the usual way. You can use the coffee maker, a Turk or a coffee machine. In any case, the coffee should be quite strong. Pour milk into a separate container and warm up a bit. Do not bring it to boiling, 50-60 °C would be enough. You can make it either on an electric or gas stove or in the microwave (40 seconds at 600w power in the microwave oven is enough).
Now we have to whip the milk. Take your home mixer or blender, it’s impossible to do by hand. Beat thoroughly, no less than 5 minutes to form an airy and fluffy foam. If have neither blender nor mixer, you can take a French-press ( a device with a mesh plunger for brewing tea or coffee by extraction method), pour milk into it and lowering the plunger in the milk intensively move it up and down. If you won’t be lazy and would work hard, you’d get a rich and thick foam. Then carefully pour the milk in a prepared beforehand transparent Irish high-glass or a wine glass. Carefully lay out the foam, which has remained in a blender or mixer,on top of milk.
Next goes the most crucial moment that requires skill and accuracy. With a thin stream, slowly pour the brewed coffee into the whipped milk. The stream of coffee must be very thin and unbroken. This is the only way to get a real latte, the main feature of which is the autonomy of each of the layers of coffee, milk and foam. They should in no case should be mixed with each other. Provided the milk was correctly whipped and the coffee was accurately poured in, you will enjoy a delicious three-layered cocktail: coffee between milk and an airy milk foam.
There exists a variation of the classical recipe you can take an instant coffee for preparing latte, but it should be of extremely high quality. Then the final beverage will have little difference from the classical one.
Tip: do not let the layers mix, the coffee should be a few degrees hotter than milk. You can also use another trick – take a teaspoon and drop it handle first at a slight slant into the milk until you reach the coffee cream, but not touching it (literally 1-2 mm from the surface). Start gently pouring the coffee into the spoon with a thin stream, from where it would relatively evenly flow down the handle and into the glass.
At the end of the process of preparing the classic latte you can sprinkle the milk froth with powdered cinnamon or grated dark chocolate. The latte should be drunk or served with a long spoon.
Latte with syrup
This recipe is addressed to sweets lovers. To make it you will need all the same as for the classic latte, plus 20 ml of a syrup, which should be poured into the high-glass first, before the milk. Choose the syrup according to the preferences of the person for whom you are cooking. If you are making it for yourself, use the syrup with your favorite flavor. Essentially, any would do: chocolate, fruit, vanilla, and so on, except citrus which would make the milk go sour. Connoisseurs believe that you get the most successful coffee latte when you use the black currant syrup.
Original latte
Ingredients for one serving:
- natural finely ground coffee – 1 tsp with slide;
- sugar – 1 tsp incomplete;
- salt – on the tip of a knife;
- 3.2% fat milk – 1 cup;
- liquor Baileys – 1 tbsp;
- cocoa powder – 1/3 tsp;
- water – 2/3 of glass.
Warm up the glass in hot water and pour the liquor in it. Heat up milk but do not boil. Whip it in a blender at high speed for 3-5 minutes, then pour into a warmed glass of liquor. In an empty clean and heated dish, in which you will make coffee (Turk, bucket, pot), put salt, freshly ground coffee, sugar and warm up for 10-15 seconds at a very low heat stirring constantly with wooden spoon. Then pour cold water into the pot and continue heating (remember stirring) as long as the coffee foam rises. Immediately take off the fire, do no allow to boil.
Frothed milk at this point would divide into two layers: the milk at the bottom and the milk foam at the top. Carefully start pouring the thin stream of coffee in the middle of milk. If done correctly, the coffee will be in the middle of the layers, i.e. bottom – milk, medium – coffee and on top – the foam. Prepare beforehand a cardboard template in the form of a heart, circle or any other shape, attach it to the foam and sprinkle with cocoa powder. Remove the template and adjust the picture with a wooden stick (for example with a toothpick), if needed. Now your latte is not just very original, it is also beautiful and flavory.