Latte

Latte drinkers. I bought a back to the basic Latte maker. other than coffee grounds, do I just need milk ? the mc donalds lattes was killing my budget.

Yep, they steam the milk and make it all frothy.  You can also buy the flavored syrup if you like flavored lattes. 

thanks hun.

Ok, THIS is a subject area that I consider myself to be an expert.

I was buying Starbucks or Caribou 2 or 3 times a day @ $6 a pop....ya.....no good.

I could not control what they put in it either & when I asked for protein powder, half the time they had to ask if they "had it" and when they did, it only had 5 grams to it.

I make them at home now, probably at least 2 per day. Ask me anything, and I'll probably know the answer. I have it tasting so good that I prefer it to Starbucks now.
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Ingredients: (this fits my 16 ounce mug perfectly, as the milk expands)

- 6 ouces of Espresso (Starbucks brand & grind my own beans fresh) YMMV
- 4 ounces of half & half or milk ( I go for more fat, less carbs in the milk - that's just me)
- 2 ounces flavoring. Flavoring can be S/F syrup or regular, International coffee creamer, or pumpkin puree if you are making a pumpkin spice latte. 
- 1 TBSP whip cream (my weakness, totally unnecessary but tastes OOOH so good)
Protein Powder ( I put in a full scoop, 25 grams, choc p/b flavor). 
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Directions:

- Pour milk & syrup (or flavoring) in a cup & mix before steaming.  I use a short 1 or 2 cup glass pyrex measuring cup. It's made to take hot liquids, has a handle so I don't burn myself, and has a spout to pour so I don't spill all over.

- Add the recommended amount of water to your "unit" to make it steam. Once it is loud & making steam, put the cup of milk in the steam valve. To steam your milk, make sure the valve is as deep into the cup as possible to avoid making foam or froth. To make froth or foam, simply pull your milk away from the steam valve until the valve is just under the surface of the milk. This will make it bubble. If you steam it for a long time it becomes more frothy, not foamy. You will have to experiment with how you like it. The differences between all of the different coffee drinks (cappicino, latte, etc) is all about the amount of steamed milk, froth, and foam. I let my milk steam until it is pretty much boiling - but I like mine very hot! They make little thermometers for this purpose if you want to buy one.

- When finished, pour the milk into your cup/mug.

-Dump any extra water in your unit out at this point, or you have no idea how much water is left in there & your espresso will be really strong or weak.

-Pour 6 ounces of water back in the empty unit & brew your espresso.

- once it's brewed, pour espresso "through" the milk. Starbucks swears by this step. Do not stir!

- Add any whip cream to the top if you like, and any drizzle/sprinkles to the top of the whip cream. Of course, this depends on what drink you are making. Carmel Machiatto for example uses carmel over the whip, where as pumpkin spice would use a cinnamon/nutmeg/clove mixture sprinkled over the top. 

- To make whip cream, I buy heavy whipping cream (liquid) at the store and add my protein powder to the cream. Blend with a hand mixer until it's light & fluffy (like cool whip). I make a bunch & keep it in a container in the fridge so I have it when I need it. Warning though - it doesn't last too long, so you don't want to make too much all at once.

There you have it!

It turns out the same if you don't use protein powder - but I like that it's doing something for me (nutritionally) so I add it. It definately gives a different taste to the whip cream (depends on what flavor protein powder you use).

 

thanks darlins so much !!!!

I need to edit my post. I don't add the protein powder to the milk as I steam it, I add it to the whip cream ( I make my own) SORRY, the heat is no good for the protein powder.

When I was making my morning coffee today, I made it as usual, then realized I had told you the wrong thing with the protein powder.

I buy heavy whipping cream (liquid form), mix it with protein powder, then whip it. This is the whip cream I add to the top of my coffee.