This time of year, various coffee shops feature pumpkin lattes and other fall drinks. Today we went to Starbucks for a break and as we added up their prices (which of course aren't cheap) we realized that a small pumpkin latte as well as a pumpkin scone each for two people cost close to $10.
Well, we should be able to make that on our own for a fraction of that cost! That said, we set out to make pumpkin scones, which turned out delicious. Starbuck's scones are usually quite heavy and “cake-like”, whereas ours were light, moist and flavorful.
Next up the pumpkin lattes... We don't currently have an espresso machine, but what we do have is an Italian “Moka Express Pot.” The coffee it produces of course isn't of the same quality as real espresso, but it's pretty good.
To flavor our pumpkin latte, we turned to our home made pumpkin butter (the same for the scones.) Pumpkin butter is a very versatile pumpkin spread. You can either make it using canned pumpkin, or preferably fresh, and then it's cooked with various spices and some sugar. It's quite easy as a matter of fact and nice to have on hand for situations like this.
So we whisked some milk together, added pumpkin butter and some sugar and poured it over our strong coffee.
TIP! A good idea, if you use a mix such as pumpkin butter, as opposed to a pumpkin syrup, is to strain it before you drink it, or else you can end up with bits or strands of pumpkin in your drink. 
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2 servings
- 2 shots of espresso, or some strong hot coffee
- 1 cup of milk
- 2 tablespoons of pumpkin butter
- 3 teaspoons of sugar
Method:
Make the espresso/coffee. Heat the milk and the pumpkin butter up on the stove in a pan. Add the sugar and stir. (Strain mixture if you so choose, then pour it back in the pan.)
Whisk well to form a foam or use a small electronic frother whisk. Pour the espresso/coffee into each cup and add the pumpkin milk. Make sure to get some foam on top. Sprinkle with some additional cinnamon or nutmeg and serve.
Conclusion:
The taste of this drink was quite good, however not really comparable to Starbucks. They of course put whipped cream on top, which makes everything taste better and their drink is richer. However, if you substitute some of the milk with half-and-half or heavy cream, you could definitely bump the creaminess up a notch. Overall, this drink was nice; good pumpkin flavor, slightly sweet and it went quite well with our pumpkin scones...
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