HOME TOUR

This is the time of year for hot drinks. And when that hot drink is just the right amount of frothy, sweet and delicious? Well then all you need is a good book and cozy blanket. This dairy-free maple latte is our go to weekend treat and perfect for visiting guests. A slightly sweet way to welcome the morning captured beautifully by Ruth Eileen Photography.

Now last Christmas we invested in a Breville Espresso Maker for the Butler’s pantry / coffeebar. It was my hubby’s Christmas gift since he use to work at Starbucks in college and can make a mean latte. It’s wonderful and has a been a lot of fun, highly recommended if you’re looking for a semi-selfish gift to get your significant other. Haha!

Every year we go on our annual trip to Vermont in the fall and our favorite sips are maple lattes. Like legit maple from the jug and fresh from the tree. Years ago while in Stowe there was a coffee shop called Black Cap Coffee. It was our first magical sip of a maple latte and it literally made me want to cry. And I don’t even drink coffee people! But it was just that good…creamy, just sweet enough and lacking the bitterness that makes me usually not a huge coffee fan…usually. Now Stowe is 3.5 hours from our house so clearly not commutable and since then we’ve stopped drinking dairy milk. Soooo, husband’s job was to perfect a maple latte for his (at the time) 32 week pregnant wife. And he nailed it.

Now here’s the key to any good dairy-free latte. OATMILK. Holy (non-dairy) cow does this stuff foam well. Oats are a naturally occuring source of beta-glucans which cause oats to gel in water, hence oatmeal gets thicker when you cook it. It is gellan in non-dairy milks that give you froth so many non-dairy milks add gellan gums to achieve a frothable product. Oats naturally contain this which makes them excellent frothers. Our go-to is Oatley. Both the regular light blue one or the full fat one (darker blue carton). You can get Oatley at Target, Whole Foods and other grocery stores nation-wide now.

MAPLE OATMILK LATTE

1 C Oatly Oat milk

1 tsp real maple syrup

1 shot of espresso (I like mine a little more milky vs coffee-y so I think hubby doesn’t pour in a full shot)

Cinnamon stick / sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Add your shot of espresso to your pretty mug (these beautiful white ceramic mugs are from my friend Michelle’s beautiful shop FIORI in Franklin, Ma. Call her or email and she should have some in stock). Add one teaspoon real maple syrup to espresso and pour frothed oat milk over. If you don’t feel like splurging on an espresso maker with the foamer, get this handheld milk frother. Give me all the foam, and a cinnamon stick if I’m being picky. Enjoy sweet friends. This is one delicious treat.