Make this for your Valentine. Photo courtesy Amoretti.
Ever wish you could create latte art? Today’s the day to practice a heart design in your latte.
We love latte art: animals, cross-hatches, ferns (rosettes), hearts, flowers. The ephemeral milk foam adds a smile to the coffee.
We looked for a book on latte art, but surprise: There isn’t a dedicated book in print (there is, however, LatteArt.org). So we turned to the experts at DeLonghi, whose coffee and espresso machines are coveted by lovers of espresso, cappuccino and latte.
They in turn reached out to Laila Ghambari, Director of Coffee at Cherry Street Coffee House in Seattle—the home of American latte art. Here are her tips:
The micro-foam is a crucial element in creating the perfect latte art. Use a milk foaming machine that is able to produce rich, thick, long-lasting foam.
Use whole or 2% milk. More milk fat equals more creaminess.
Add air to the milk by bringing the steam wand tip to the surface of the milk (not beneath). Remember that NO air will just create hot milk and TOO MUCH air will make your milk bubbly.
Make sure that when you are steaming your milk that the milk is spinning. You can achieve this by tilting the pitcher, which allows for the air and milk to blend together.
You need to steam the milk to a smooth, creamy texture. It should look cold cream or wet paint.
Once the milk is steamed, swirl it around to make sure the milk and foam are incorporated, not separated.
TO MAKE A HEART
TILT. Start by tilting the cup of espresso 45 degrees.
TOUCH. Think of the steamed milk in the pitcher as the “pencil” and the espresso in the cup as the “canvas.” To create art you must touch the pencil to the canvas. Tilting the cup enables the pencil to touch the canvas much sooner than if the cup is upright (in which case you could only reach the canvas when the cup is full).
POUR. Start pouring up high, further away from the cup, so that the milk has a higher velocity and drops below the espresso. When the cup is full enough that the coffee soon start spilling out of the 45 degree tilt, drop the tip of the pitcher to the surface of the milk.
POUR. Keep pouring in the same spot as you fill the cup (make sure you are tilting the cup back to upright, so not to spill). This will create a large white circle in the cup.
PULL. To make a heart, pull the pitcher away from the surface of the milk to thin the stream before you “slice” the circle. Pour the milk through the center of the circle, which will split it into two halves. It will immediately start to take the shape of a heart.
A DeLonghi cappuccino machine close-up on the steaming wand and frothing pitcher. Photo courtesy DeLonghi.
Latte art was enabled by the development of microfoam, created by the steam wand of a cappuccino machine, used to foam a pitcher of milk. The combination of the crema atop the cup of espresso and velvety microfoam allows patterns to be made. (Note that other types of milk steamers/foamers do not create microfoam.)
Latte art in the United States developed in the Seattle coffee culture of the 1980s and 1990s. By 1989 the heart pattern was a signature at David Schomer’s Espresso Vivace and the rosette pattern followed, based on a photograph Schomer saw of latte art in an Italian café.
FOOD TRIVIA
Cappuccino is named after the color of the hooded robes worn by monks and nuns of the Capuchin order. The red-brown color was a common descriptor in 17th-century Europe.
HOW DOES LATTE DIFFER FROM OTHER ESPRESSO DRINKS?
What’s the difference between latte and cappuccino? What’s a macchiato? Check out our Espresso glossary for the different type of espresso drinks.
A Truffletini with a chocolate syrup garnish. Photo courtesy Godiva.
What better excuse for a Chocolate Martini than Valentine’s Day?
We’re particularly fond of the Godiva Truffletini—so chocolaty that you can have it for dessert. It combines both the original chocolate and white chocolate Godiva liqueurs. But if you only want to buy one bottle, there are enough chocolate liqueur cocktail recipes to keep you mixing until next Valentine’ Day.
RECIPE: GODIVA CHOCOLATE TRUFFLETINI
Ingredients For 1 Cocktail
1 ounce Godiva Original Liqueur
.5 ounce Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
.5 ounce vodka
Garnish options: chocolate cookie rim, shaved chocolate; a chocolate truffle, heart-shaped bonbon or strawberry notched onto the rim; a cocktail pick with raspberries; or a chocolate syrup garnish* as shown in the photo above
Preparation
1. COMBINE liqueurs and vodka in a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. SHAKE and strain into a pre-chilled Martini glass.
3. GARNISH and serve.
*Use chocolate syrup in a squeeze bottle to swirl a pattern onto the inside of the glass.
GODIVA CHOCOLATE LIQUEURS
There is an entire family of delicious Godiva chocolate liqueurs:
Godiva Caramel Liqueur, which makes a delicious Carameltini (1 ounce liqueur, 1/2 ounce vodka).
Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, the original flavor.
Godiva Milk Chocolate Liqueur, sweeter than the original.
Godiva Mocha Liqueur, great in a cup of coffee or to amp up a White Russian.
Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, which is delicious by itself (all the flavors are!) or mixed with orange liqueur, alone or in a Martini or other recipe.
HOW TO ENJOY GODIVA CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR
In cocktails
For straight sipping
In hot chocolate
In hot coffee and iced coffee
Atop ice cream
In a spiked ice cream soda or milkshake
In dessert recipes
Time to get mixing!
White chocolate liqueur on the rocks, but any of the chocolate liqueurs is delicious this way, straight up or in coffee. Photo courtesy Godiva.
Cut brownies with a heat-shaped cookie cutter. Photo courtesy California Avocado Commission.
If you have a heart-shaped muffin pan (mini cake pan), it’s easy to turn out heart-shaped brownies. And if you don’t, no problem: Turn a pan of brownies into a Valentine treat with your heart-shaped cookie cutters.
1. BAKE your favorite brownie recipe and cut into heart shapes. If you are using a small, shallow cookie cutter, you may wish to divide the batter into two pans, so the cutter will get through these “shorter” brownies.
2. SERVE plain, like cookies, or with ice cream (try strawberry!) or whipped cream.
3. FREEZE all the leftover brownie scraps and use them for ice cream, vanilla yogurt, pudding, etc.
VARIATIONS
Mix chocolate chips—your choice of butterscotch, mini, peanut butter, white chips, etc.—into the brownie batter.
Sprinkle the top of the batter with sanding sugar, silver dragées or cinnamon candies (like Red Hots) before baking.
Avocado in your brownies? The California Avocado Commission chefs substituted heart-health avocado for half the butter in a conventional brownie recipe, and the brownies in the photo are gluten-free. Take a look.
When bagels are made, ropes of dough are twisted into the familiar circular shape.
So why not twist them into heart shapes?
That’s what the bagel makers at Einstein Bros. Bagels and Noah’s New York Bagels have done—and they’ve thrown in some dried cranberries to replace the raisins in a cinnamon-raisin bagel.
The love-worthy bagels are available at select locations through February 14th.
To go with your bagels, how about making cranberry, strawberry or raspberry cream cheese? Even if you only have conventional bagels, pink cream cheese will make your Valentine’s Day breakfast special.
Love thy cranberry bagel. Photo courtesy Einstein Bros.
RECIPE: STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE
Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup berries, hulled; or substitute 2 tablespoons cranberry, strawberry or raspberry preserves and omit the confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Optional:1 tablespoon orange zest
Preparation
1. COMBINE ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until smooth and well blended.
2. REFRIGERATE until needed. Ideally make the day before to let flavors blend.
Rice Krispie Treats on a stick for your Valentine. Photo courtesy Bella Baker.
Thanks to BellaBaker.com for these fun Valentine Rice Krispie treats. Just grab your heart-shake cookie cutter, some red-striped straws and a box of Rice Krispies.
They’re sweet and sticky and oh so satisfying, and in the shape of a heart and stuck onto a striped straw, they’re a perfect addition to your V-day celebration.
RECIPE: VALENTINE RICE KRISPIE POPS
Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
10-ounce bag mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies
Heart shaped cookie cutter
Optional decoration: candy melts, red or other colors, cinnamon candies or chocolate chips
Plus
9″ x 13″ baking pan
Red and white striped straws or lollipop sticks
Squeeze bottle(s) for candy melts
Preparation
1. MELT butter in a saucepan over low heat, then add in the marshmallows.
2. SPRAY a rubber spatula with nonstick cooking spray (to avoid marshmallows sticking to the spatula), then stir the marshmallows until melted. Add Rice Krispies and stir until cereal is well coated in marshmallow.
3. LIGHTLY SPRAY a 9″ x 13″ pan with nonstick spray, then turn the Rice Krispie mixture out into the pan. Press down with the palm of your hand to flatten the Rice Krispies evenly into the pan. Allow 15 minutes to cool.
4. CUT into heart shapes, then gently insert a striped straw into the base of each shape.
Decorating Options
1. CANDY MELTS. Melt candy melts in the microwave and then transfer to squeeze bottles. Decorate the Rice Krispie heart with various colors and patterns.
2. CINNAMON CANDIES or CHOCOLATE CHIPS. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cinnamon candies (like Red Hots) or mini chips atop the Rice Krispie mixture in the pan; then press down with palms to flatten.
