How to Make a Caffe Latte

A caffe latte, literally "coffee with milk," is espresso with both a generous amount of steamed milk and milk foam. Although you are unlikely to see caffe lattes offered in Italy, except perhaps at breakfast, they have become quite popular in the United States, particularly those flavored with sweet syrups.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Make a shot of espresso equaling between 1 and 1 1/2 oz. (See "How to Make an Espresso" in the Related eHows section.)

2. Steam 10 oz. milk.

3. Point your steam wand towards the bottom of your stainless steel pitcher to steam your milk. To create froth, raise the tip just below the surface of the pitcher.

4. Pour hot milk in a 12-oz. glass until 3/4 full.

5. Pour the espresso shot into the steamed milk.

6. Dust with ground chocolate, cinnamon or nutmeg.

Tips & Warnings

• You can lower calories by substituting low-fat milk.
• Try other proportions of milk to coffee if you like; there are no absolutes here.
• A cappuccino has espresso, a small amount of steamed milk, and foam. A caffe au lait has filtered coffee and steamed milk (preferably filtered coffee from a french press, as the French would do).
• Specialty stores and some coffee bars sell small bottles of flavored syrups, so you can make your own flavored lattes at home. Add a few teaspoons of syrup to the steamed milk in the glass, and then add more to taste if you want.
• Steam can cause severe burns, and the espresso machine will be very hot even after it is turned off. Open the valve on machine's steam tube very slowly.

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[remyjaafar]

on 5/7/2009 i make a 1 shot of espresso using 50cc of ro water and adding molasses and it tastes better for me. as for me the satisfaction of making a perfect cappuccino is to see the layers of espresso and milk with a layer of foam on top. that is why i serve it in a glass to be able to see the layers

[mymukki]

on 2/1/2009 I cheat also, but at 5 a.m. it's all I can do to stand upright. I fill a cafe au lait bowl 3/4 with milk and pop it into the microwave for 60 -90 seconds. Then, I position the bowl of hot milk under the nozzles and add two shots of espresso. I save foam for weekends.

[coffeegirl]

on 11/8/2007 I'm not sure why anyone would do the milk and foam separately. There is a technique to doing the milk which makes the milk and foam together. Keeping the airhole of your steam wand towards the bottom of your frothing pitcher (use a good quality stainless steel pitcher for this) will create less foam and more steamed milk. Raising the tip to just below the surface creates the foam. Lattes typically have very little foam so most of the time you should keep the tip deep inside the pitcher. On a home-use machine, try to do only one or at the most two small lattes at a time or it will take forever. Use the smallest pitcher you can to hold the milk and account for the level rising as it foams.

on 3/19/2006 Adding the syrup directly to the cold milk before steaming gives a sweeter and more professional flavor. Adding it to the espresso kills the richness of the espresso.

on 11/22/2005 You do not froth a separate container of milk for foam, and you don't need to leave room and spoon foam on top when done correctly.

The milk should only reach 155F or so. It scalds at 170F and bacteria thrives at 140F. Nonfat milk will provide more foam, but whole milk will provide a much better richness in the density and flavor of the foam.