Hi, my dear fellow coffee lovers!
I've been tempted to publish this post for a while now, as several Hive friends seem surprised when I tell them about latte made with coconut milk. The truth is that homemade coconut milk latte is one of the most delicious and comforting drinks for me, but it wasn't always that way. Let me tell you about that and also about my recipe.
It's almost December and time to start using my Christmas mugs to enjoy all kinds of coffee drinks. Today, coffee with homemade coconut milk and ground cinnamon.
AND don't get me wrong.
My coffee is just black 99% of the time.
No milk of any kind.
No sugar or sweeteners of any kind.
Just plain
black coffee,
hot.
BUT I'm not posting about black coffee today.
My Empty Cups
My grandmother's and my mother's café au lait are an important part of my own coffee story.
I'm Venezuelan and in my country, coffee drinks are popular; we have been drinking them since we were little kids, even before the age recommended by doctors for children to start drinking coffee. Call it café au lait or latte, our mothers mixed brewed coffee and hot milk, and there was always a thick, provocative layer of foam floating on the coffee, like a playful dancer waving her silky handkerchief in mystery: it'd be more like a cappuccino or a macciato underneath it.
When I was barely six years old, I could already enjoy a strong marrón, cappucciono that my grandmother prepared, and which she gave me on Saturday afternoons behind my mother's back. It was a dark and very hot coffee with a dash of milk, like a strong cappuccino, sweetened with cane honey. It always came with a margarined, not buttered, bread bun. It was all what my mother didn't approve of--strong coffee and bread with no nutritional value--other than to nurture the complicity between my grandmother and me.
My grandmother died many years ago, when I was seven. Her dead came naturally to my awareness; grandparents died someday, long before we did. But my mother, well, no one was expecting that. It's a long story that I won't tell you today, but she died at 58. I was 21 and never saw it coming; She had beaten the cancer, but her body could not withstand the simple surgery that was supposed to be just an extra precaution. Life's irony. I've never had a latte that tastes like the one she made for me.
My mother would bring my latte with a cheese sandwich. It was a flat and crispy sandwich; I loved it. And her latte was like a macchiato with a little sugar.
Cow's Milk, then Vegetable Milks
Over the years, my body began to reject cow's milk. At first it was no big deal, but then it got worse. One day, I decided to give up drinking latte and find another way to remember coffee afternoons with my mother. Another day, I decided to try plant-based milks, but they all tasted horrible--at least the ones I could afford--. Another day, I found myself going back to drinking latte and buying lactase capsules at the drugstore. Another day, I simply decided that if cow's milk wasn't for me, I should just leave it at that and never bought lactase again. Eventually, a few years ago, I discovered that I simply loved homemade plant milks; I learned to make several types, of which cashew, almond and coconut milks are my big favorites. Rice, oat and peanut milks are better just for cocoa, but not for my coffee.
Now, if you're interested, I'll give you my recipe for homemade coconut milk latte.
Hot Homemade Coconut Milk Latte. The recipe that saved me :)
First, we need to make coconut milk. Then we'll brew a little of our favorite coffee for latte, and also, we'll have some ground cinnamon on hand, which will spare us the need for sugar.
That's
- coconut flesh, without endocarp (750 gr)
- hot water (400 ml)
- brewed coffee
- ground cinnamon (or cinnamon sticks) to taste
With these amounts of coconut flesh and hot water, I make 1 liter of coconut milk approx. The amount you want in your latte is up to you. Also, you must know that I leave the endocarp if I want to make creamy coconut milk, which is ideal for hot cocoa and puddings, as it is thicker.
I start by burning the coconuts directly on the stove fire until they crack.
Then I identify the soft pore and open a whole through it so I can take the water out. Then a hit one coconut against the other to break them open. Yes, pretty much like a savage woman in the wild. Next thing, I remove the pieces of flesh from the shell and peel the endocarp off. I wash it well.
I chop the white pieces of flesh and they go into the blender along with the hot water. After a minute or two, I can drain the mixture with the help of my yogurt dripping bag--which I keep clean in the freezer, always.
Once all the milk I can squeeze is out, I add 1/2 teaspoon salt and take the pot to the stove and let the milk cook over medium to high fire without boiling.
Notice that it's time to brew the coffee right away! I used my 4-cup mocha pot, which means only 2 cups for us.
At this point I'm stirring it constantly. This takes about 10 minutes and is the step that assures me that the milk will stay perfectly fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or even a week--instead of a couple of days.
As the milk is freshly made and hot, I just need to pour some of it in the cups and then add some freshly brewed coffee.
Notice how a foam begins to form as the coffee and coconut milk touch.
Then, with a hand whisk, we can make a very frothy latte if desired.
Sprinkle ground cinnamon to taste on top of your hot homemade coconut milk latte if you wish to add a Christmassy twist.
I hope you have found this recipe useful.
Have a Merry Coffee Time!
All text and images are my own. I have taken the pictures with my Redmi 9T cell phone. And if any GIFs here, I've used GIPHY for all them.
Thank you so much for your visit :)
Thank you so much, @cinnccf ❤️☕
This made me laugh out loud! It was fun to picture you going through the steps of heating the coconuts on the stove, then cracking them this way after the puncturing step. I think I said said before, I am all about coconut milk! Totally perfect in any coffee beverage if you ask me.
It's amazing that you learned to make so many plant milks! Now I bet you can more or less eat the way you did before without discomfort? I went dairy free for awhile, and the one tough replacement for me was cheese.
This was a wonderful write-up that was full of personal history, thanks for the great read! 🤗
You'd be surprised how fast I make coconut milk, haha. It's like a quarrelsome spirit takes over me and no one can interrupt me. Then I sit in infinite, angelical peace to sip my latte.
I once gave up gluten and dairy for 3 months. It did me a lot of good. I think for everyone, cheese is the hardest part. I still eat cheese and if something contains milk, I may eat it, sporadically. Doing without dairy most of the time, makes it less of an issue for me when I do eat it, but there's always a little discomfort.
Thank you so much for dropping by and reading my post, gorgeous @grindan 😁☕
That must taste like friendly glory. I never imagined that recipe existed. Thanks for sharing colleague.
It does! If you like coconut milk, there's a good chance that you'll love this latte 💕
Thank you for stopping by, colleague, hehe 😁
Wow! A latte with homemade coconut milk - this is such a treat! Thanks for sharing. I definitely have to add it to my to-do list now.
Add it, @coffee.time. And if you ever get to make it, let me know, please. I'm sure you're going to love it.
Like making bread at home, it takes some work, but one gets used to it with the constant practice.
Thank you so much for dropping by 😁☕
Wow I loved the post I will try to make the recipe. Thank you!. A hug
Thank you so much, my friend @osismi 😁 I hope you can make it. It's super delicious!
I remember the burnt coconuts that were shown to us in the conversation, it really made many of us curious. It is a great recipe to accompany coffee with milk, I can't drink it either cow's milk, so this is a very good option.
Thanks for sharing your recipe with us.☕
Happy day.
Hi, my dear friend!
Vegetable milks are an excellent option for us who need to avoid lactose; you just need to find the right ones for you. It's a new world of possibilities.
Thank you so much for dropping by 😁☕
This looks great 😲 baby @ipexito can we make something like this with Turkish Coffe as well? 🤯🤔 Maybe with less milk I don't know we need to try 😄😄
Turkish coffee, yum-yum, hehe. I need one right now ❤️
I was a milk drinker but now have my coffee black to be a bit healthier. After all, they do say cow's milk is for calves so I can understand why some people can't tolerate it. I have tried coconut milk as well and I liked it. Unfortunately, we don't have many coconuts in supermarkets over here to make my own, apart from certain times of the year.
Hi!
There's important polemics regarding the consumption of cow's milk. Should we feed our children with it? I couldn't tell, but I do know I had no problems tolerating it when I was little. My discomfort began when I turned 12 or 13, I think.
Anyway, you could try making almond milk at home; it's a lot more delicious and creamy than the ones you find at the store. I even make vegan cheese cream with soaked almonds. Have tried that? Almonds must be a lot cheaper over there, I guess.
Thank you so much for dropping by ❤️
Sadly, they take calves away from their mums far too early over here. It's very sad.
I might try making my own almond milk but my skills aren't very good. I could burn a salad!
It's too sad. No animals should suffer.
Hello, the recipe sounds delicious, and then looking at the photos, I realize that coffee with coconut milk must taste very tasty. I remembered your photo the other day burning the coconuts, and that I was surprised that you burned them, I know now why you do it.
Thanks for sharing the recipe! ☕🥥🥥
Hi, @jordy0827! Now you see why I had those coconuts on the stove fire. I do this every week, unless I choose to make another vegetable milk. The milks are not only for our coffee, which is black almost all the time, but for pancakes, sauces, spreads, etc... Homemade vegetable milk is always better, at least in my own experience.
Thank you so much for dropping by ❤️☕
wow amiga, jamás he probado mi café con leche de coco, muy interesante tu historia y tu receta, ya me provoco. Bien hecho
saludos @marlyncabrera
You must try it, my friend 💕 If you like coconut milk, I'm sure you will love this latte.
Thank you so much for dropping by and for the motivation! ☕😁