OK. Full disclosure. Once I got over the hamburger thing, my main hurdle to becoming plant-based was contemplating how the hell I was going to make my morning cappuccino (no it wasn’t the damn cheese, I mean com’on, get over the cheese already). I really like my morning cappuccino.
I’ve been experimenting with this for at least a year, LOL! Here’s what I’ve learned:
- soy milk froths the best no matter what any online blogger tells you
- homemade milk tastes so much better than store bought
- in terms of homemade nut milks, almond froths the best, hazelnuts next best, cashews are so-so
- if you want to mimic cream, go for cashew/hazelnut mix
Now here comes the … I don’t have time to make homemade milk … yes, yes you do. Stop reading my nonsense and use those 10 minutes a week to make your milk.
You need a nut milk bag, heavy duty blender (I use the nutribullet), and a hand held milk frother if you want to froth.
The recipe for any nut milk is 1cup of nuts (e.g. 1/2 cup hazelnut, 1/2 cashew), 3-4cups of water (I use 3 ’cause I like it creamy), and a bit of salt. Soak nuts for 6hours OR just 1-2hours if you soak them in near boiling water. Then rinse, put in blender, add water/salt, blend for 45secs. Then pour through nut milk bag and milk that sh*t.
For my dreamy morning cappuccinos, I warm up 3/4 cup of milk on the stove in a small pot (takes about 45secs at LOW heat). Remove when it starts to bubble a bit then froth it up and pour over your espresso.
Believe me, if I can achieve this, you can too.
Jan 1/2020 – Update – we must evolve, right? Nuts can be expensive and nuts consume a goodly number of resources to produce too, moderation in all, right? Enter my recent fave recipe from the minimalist baker. Now, they say this milk froths, it doesn’t. But, it is exceedingly creamy, I completely love it in espresso. Use a teaspoon of high quality maple syrup, not a date. Use very low heat to warm gently and give it a whisk to bring it all back together at the end. Enjoy.