How to Make a Cappuccino at Home

Cappuccinos, lattes, mochas and other espresso coffee drinks are all the rage nowadays. They can also be expensive. Making your favorite espresso drink at home is easy and costs only a fraction of what you'd pay in a coffee shop. A cappuccino is traditionally equal amounts of espresso and steamed milk with a dollop of frothy milk on top. When making at home, regular brewed coffee can be used in place of espresso. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon or chocolate and serve in pretty espresso cups.

Things You'll Need

• Espresso whole bean or ground coffee
• Milk
• Ground cinnamon or chocolate

Instructions

1. Brew coffee in either a regular coffee maker or an espresso machine. Allow one-half cup of regular brewed coffee or one-quarter cup of espresso per cappuccino. Brewed coffee will be a little weaker tasting than espresso.

2. Pour one-half cup of regular coffee or two shots of espresso (2 ozs.) into one coffee cup. If desired you may add a splash of flavoring although traditional cappuccinos do not have flavoring added.

3. 

   Heat and froth the milk. There are a few ways of doing this at home. The best way is to use a frothing wand on an espresso maker; this heats and froths the milk in one step. If you don't have an espresso maker, heat the milk in a microwave until the temperature is how you like it; check temperature with a kitchen thermometer. Milk for cappuccinos is usually heated to between 120 and 150 degrees. Another method is to heat the milk on the stovetop over low heat, checking the temperature occasionally with a thermometer.
   Froth the heated milk with a hand-held immersion blender; be careful not to turn on the blender until it is fully immersed in the milk and do not lift out while on.

4. Add one-half cup of heated milk to the regular brewed coffee or one-quarter cup heated milk to the espresso. When adding the heated milk hold back the creamy froth with the back of a spoon held against it while pouring the milk into the cup.

5. Add a dollop of the creamy frothed milk on top of the cappuccino. Sprinkle with either cinnamon or chocolate, or both if you like.

Resources

• All about espresso coffee drinks