Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is one of my favorite Starbuck’s creations. This coffee drink tastes like a pumpkin pie in a cup. The only problem with this treat is that it is seasonal. Meaning if it isn’t fall your chances of getting one of these drinks is pretty slim.

This drink has been somewhat elusive for me, I knew it had multiple components in this recipe. It was actually when I had this drink prepared for me at Whole Foods it dawned on me what I was doing it wrong. I think the real trick is trying to make a pumpkin flavored syrup, and then work on the coffee portion of the drink. What did it for me at Whole Foods, other than having a completely open coffee bar, I found myself staring at the pumpkin syrup. For the longest I was wondering how you get pumpkin into the drink without it turning into an a weird texture.

So I begin this drink with a pumpkin spice flavored syrup.  I recently posted a recipe for a simple syrup on youtube, but this syrup has more flavor?  So this was accomplished by first flavoring the water of the simple syrup by allowing the flavors of nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon, and then adding the sugar and pumpkin.

For the espresso I actually invested in an Bialetti 6799 Moka Express 3-Cup Stovetop Espresso Maker which is inexpensive espresso maker.  You can buy an espresso coffee pot for about 20 dollars.  Italians have been making espresso in these pots for the past 80 years, and I thought I would give the  pot a try.  It worked wonderfully.  I have a gas stove, and I had espresso in literally two minutes.  If you don’t have an espresso maker I would suggest that you use 1 1/2 to twice as much coffee as you normally would when you prepare your coffee.  You want a good strong coffee flavor.

For the milk you can easily froth warm milk in a jar with a lid on it, or in your mixer, or in your blender.  If you don’t have any of those you can froth your milk with a whisk.  I would suggest that you use whatever milk you enjoy the most.  You can see half and half, whole milk, 2%, or even skim milk.  I heated up my milk for about 1 minute in the microwave before I frothed the milk.

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

• Author: CopyKat Recipes
• Recipe Type: Copycat Restaurant Recipes, Copykat Recipes, Drink Recipes
• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Serves: 1

You can enjoy this Starbucks seasonal favorite anytime of year.

Ingredients

• Pumpkin Syrup
• 2 1/2 cups of water
• 1 tablespoon of ground nutmeg
• 3 cinnamon sticks or 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 tablespoons canned pumpkin
• Coffee per serving
• 4 ounces of espresso
• 4 ounces of milk (warmed and frothed)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons pumpkin syrup
• whipped cream if desired

Instructions

To make the syrup combine spices and water in a medium sized sauce pan. Bring water to a boil, and then turn down the water with spices to simmer. Allow the spiced water to simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out spices by pouring the water through a coffee filter. You want the seasoned water to be free of the spices. Place water back into the pan and add sugar and pumpkin mix well. Simmer this for another 10 minutes. This will yield about 1 pint of pumpkin spice syrup. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

To make the latte prepare 4 ounces of espresso or strong coffee. In a coffee cup place 2 to 3 tablespoons of pumpkin syrup, then add coffee. Gently pour the frothed milk over the coffee, and gentle stir. If desired top with whipped cream and a dash of ground nutmeg.

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