A Daisy Garden

Most people love a good cappuccino.
It’s not as hard as you may think, and it’s wonderful on a cold day.

Some people call it a cappuccino, others know it as “Cafe con Leche“,
but it’s basically the same thing.

The only ingredients you need are:
Espresso coffee, Milk, sugar, and water.
That’s it!

First thing you do is fill the lower part of your espresso maker with water… just below the “valve” thing-y.  (You can tell I really know the technical names for all the espresso machine parts!)

Place the “basket” in and fill with espresso coffee.  Some people like to really fill it as much as possible (for stronger coffee), but I just lightly fill almost to the top of basket.

Close the top tightly over the bottom, careful not to spill the coffee.

Place on burner with heat just high enough to cover bottom.

Open lid so you can see the very first trickle of coffee when it comes out — this is an important step!  This is not the time to move away from the stove.

Meanwhile, in a glass or heavy cup, pour about 1/3 cup of sugar in.

In a nice big mug, heat up to “scalding”, about 3/4 cup of milk.
I like to use whole milk for this, but it’s perfectly fine to use skim or low-fat.

Make sure you stand there and watch when the first trickle begins…

Pour about 1 Tablespoon of that first trickle into the sugar.
Now you will use a lot of “elbow grease” to stir this sugar with a spoon as quick as you can, until it starts to resemble a paste…  (if you need to add another tablespoon of coffee, go ahead, but BE CAREFUL not to add too much! If it gets too thin, you won’t have that thick foam on top later)

As you turn your hand quickly, the sugar and coffee will be incorporated and you will get a nice, light-colored pasty concoction…
It will take about 2-3 minutes.

Pour the coffee into the sugar mixture, and stir very slowly.

You will have a beautiful frothy mixture of coffee and sugar.

This is actually Espresso… you can pour this into one of those tiny coffee cups that look like a doll tea set, and drink it.
WARNING:  It’s very strong and if you’re not used to it may keep you awake for three days!

Now pour the coffee & sugar into the scalded milk… stirring very slowly…
You’re making a masterpiece here, so take your time.

The top of your creation will look so good, it will look like a Barista make it!

And now there’s only one thing left to do…

Enjoy!!! 🙂

During the Christmas season, I like to have mine with Panettone.
It’s a perfect match.

Happy brewing,

Daisy