Cappuccino at home - how to make it, DIY recipes

How to make cappuccino in a Turk

To be fair, we do not brew cappuccino, but its base - espresso. To get a real masterpiece of coffee art, you need the following:

brew a good base (espresso);
choose high-quality milk of suitable fat content;
heat it to the desired temperature;
achieve dense milk foam;
keep the proportions.

By the way! Not every coffee shop will serve you real cappuccino. Most often it will be ordinary coffee with milk.

The taste of espresso prepared in a Turkish coffee machine will, of course, be different from that obtained from a coffee machine. And this name applies only to machine-made coffee. With the help of a Turk, you can brew strong coffee, but this does not mean that the cappuccino will turn out worse, it is quite likely that you will like it more.

By the way! Real espresso should have a slight bitterness, be viscous and have a pronounced aroma.

The grind of the coffee beans for this drink should feel like fine salt. It is better for a Turk to choose copper with a wall thickness of no more than 1.5 mm. In extreme cases, a stainless steel product will do.

Take two tablespoons of ground coffee per 100 ml of water. Prepare the cappuccino base as follows:

Put the Turk on the fire and warm it up.
Pour coffee into it and add sugar to taste, keep it on the fire for a while.
Add water. It should not be tap water or boiled. Spring water is best, but bottles will do just as well.
As soon as the coffee foams and starts to rise, remove from heat and cool slightly.
Put on fire, bring again until foam appears and remove.
Repeat this procedure three to four times in total.

Important! The coffee should not boil.

Well, the base for the cappuccino is ready. Using the process as a basis, you can experiment with different coffees, grind levels and brewing times to achieve a result that suits you.

Important! The ratio of espresso to milk in a cappuccino should be one to five.

Learn to draw on cappuccino

If you have ordered cappuccino from professional baristas, you have noticed the beautiful patterns on this drink. This type of drawing on cappuccino is called latte art. This is an entire art that requires skill and talent. There are even world-class competitions where baristas show their skills in this. But you can also make quite attractive designs on cappuccino foam. If you have little experience in this yet, you can use special stencils. You can make them yourself. You just need to make slits with a pattern along the diameter of the cup. The most common design is a twig with leaves or a heart. Then you take this simple stencil and sprinkle the foam with regular ground cinnamon or chocolate through it. It will turn out elegant and appetizing.

If you want to draw on the coffee rather than sprinkle it, you can use heavy cream for this purpose. They just need to be poured in a thin stream over the foam. At the same time, try to reproduce the intended pattern. Do not immediately choose an option that is too complex. It is better to choose the simplest drawing, but at the same time get an excellent execution of it. Hot chocolate or fairly thick syrup is also suitable for drawing. First, you need to carefully pour one of these components over the foam, and then create a pattern from it using a regular toothpick. You will have shades mixed together to create a beautiful, unique design.

Professionals use different latte art techniques. They can be found on video on the Internet.

Ingredient Selection

To make a delicious cappuccino, you need to choose the right milk. It should not be powdery - only natural. And not any low-fat. Only 3.2% and above. Take 100 – 150 ml per serving.

Must read: Ristretto: sunny greetings from Italy

To get the right consistency, it's a good idea to use a kitchen thermometer. Since the desired texture can be achieved only at 60 - 65 oC. In this case, lactose is broken down into galactose and glucose, and because of this the milk becomes sweet.

The dishes in which the cappuccino will be served are also important. The cup should have a volume of 140 - 170 ml. A 120 ml version from a home service is also suitable. The cup is wide at the top and tapering towards the bottom.

Important! The cup should maintain the temperature of the drink for a long time, allow the foam not to fall off and not burn your hands. Therefore, the best materials for such dishes are porcelain, ceramics and clay.

There are two rules for pouring cappuccino into a cup:

Coffee and milk should completely occupy the volume of the dishes.
The foam from the milk rises at the edges.

Cappuccino coffee - calorie content per 100 grams: with sugar, without sugar from coffee machines at McDonald's

Coffee lovers know that coffee in its pure form does not contain many calories. However, cappuccino may contain different ingredients. Starting from chocolate, milk with a high percentage of fat, ending with sugar.

McDonald's coffee - cappuccino calories

According to experienced baristas, it is believed that cappuccino with a traditional recipe is better obtained in a coffee machine. The calorie content of cappuccino from an automatic machine is 165 kcal , provided that you have not added sugar, but there is chocolate in it.
If coffee is prepared with sugar and cream , then the calorie content of such a product already increases to 210 kcal .
Cappuccino made at McDonald's is popular among fans. It is contained in glasses of 0.3, 0.2 liters. Accordingly, the calorie content in the drink depends on this, so in 300 ml. in a glass - 125 kcal , and in 200 ml. glass – 75 kcal . Provided there is no sugar in it.

Combining coffee with foam

In order for you to get a cappuccino, and not just coffee with added milk, the latter needs to be whipped into foam. You already know about the required temperature and fat content, now let’s talk about the process.

Important! In addition to the fat content of the milk, you need to look at the protein content in the composition - it should be more than three percent.

You can froth milk manually or using various kitchen appliances.

French press

If you have a French press, use it:

Heat the milk to the desired temperature.
Move the handle up and down sharply several times (until you get the result).
Pour the foam into a cup.

By the way! If you really like cappuccino, you can buy a frothing jug. They come in different sizes, so you can choose the right one. You can also make cocoa and hot chocolate in them.

Using a mixer or immersion blender

To beat, you can use a mixer or immersion blender:

Pour milk into a saucepan and place on low heat.
Lower the device into it and start beating at low speed.
Bring the milk to the required temperature.
Pour carefully into a cup.

Important! Pour milk into the container to a quarter of its volume so that it does not run away when whipping.

Instead of such large devices, you can purchase a small frothing blender. As a rule, this device copes well with small volumes of milk and produces stable foam.

Hand mixer or whisk

You can whip the foam by hand - with a whisk or hand mixer. This process will take longer and does not guarantee a good, stable foam.

Be sure to read: Making the perfect espresso: barista secrets

You also need to froth the milk during the heating process, without bringing it to a boil.

Cooking features

Most coffee lovers do not recognize drinks made from instant powder, believing that only natural coffee makes it truly tasty and aromatic. However, this position is often a tribute to tradition. The modern food industry has made significant strides forward in recent years, and the times when the taste of instant coffee was very different from natural coffee are a thing of the past. Picky customers are offered different types of instant coffee, including those containing ground coffee. They make it possible to prepare a drink whose organoleptic qualities are not inferior to those brewed in a Turk or made using a coffee machine. This allows you to prepare cappuccino at home from instant coffee, obtaining excellent results. You just need to study the main features of the technological process.

There are brands of coffee on sale from different manufacturers of completely different quality. Don't expect cheap powder to turn into a divine drink. It’s better to pay more, but get truly tasty and aromatic coffee that’s as good as ground coffee.
Manufacturers of instant coffee often place information on the packaging regarding the rules for brewing it. In particular, customers are reminded that coffee should be brewed with hot, but not boiling, water. If you want the taste and aroma to be fully revealed, you should not neglect such recommendations.
When planning to make cappuccino at home, you should find out what proportions of water, milk and foam in it are considered optimal. There are two opinions on this matter. Some coffee lovers believe that there should be equal amounts of coffee drink and milk base, including foam and milk. Others believe that you should use one part of milk and milk foam for one part of espresso. If there is more milk in the drink than the specified amount, the cappuccino will turn into a latte.
A standard serving of cappuccino is 150-180 ml. The drink is served in large coffee mugs, which are recommended to be heated first.
When making cappuccino at home, the most difficult thing is to get the right milk foam. It should be small and thick, not fall off. The easiest way to steam milk is using a cappuccino maker, but this requires a coffee machine, which few people have in their kitchen at home. You have to make do with improvised means: a blender, a mixer. Some housewives skillfully whip milk into foam in a jar.
It will be easier to froth the milk if it is hot and contains at least 3.2% fat. The fattier the milk, the easier it is to whip it.
If, despite following all the recommendations, you are unable to froth milk for cappuccino, replace the milk foam with whipped cream - the taste of the drink will not be significantly affected.

When serving cappuccino, you can sprinkle it with sugar, cinnamon, and grated chocolate. This will give the drink an even more appetizing look.

Adding toppings

You can diversify the taste of cappuccino using various toppings to suit your taste. Additives are added to the brewed coffee, mixed, and then milk foam is added. The following flavors go best with cappuccino coffee:

cinnamon;
caramel;
amaretto;
maple;
walnut;
vanilla;
chocolate.

By the way! If you added a cinnamon topping, you do not need to sprinkle this spice on the foam.

Add syrup to coffee based on the volume of the cup - 1 teaspoon per 50 ml.

Turkish cappuccino with chocolate

You can enrich your usual drink with hot chocolate. To do this, you need to boil it. For one cup you will need 35 g of dark chocolate and 30 g of milk:

Heat the milk, but do not boil.
Remove from heat.
Grind the chocolate, add it to the milk, dissolve.
Heat the mixture for two to three minutes over low heat (again, do not boil).

Prepare coffee and milk foam using the methods described above. Now we need to collect everything. You can simply mix coffee and chocolate and put foam on top. Or you can pour it in layers. In this case, it is better to use a transparent glass:

The bottom layer is coffee. Add sugar if necessary.
Using a second layer, carefully pour the chocolate over a wide knife (so that the layers do not mix).
Place milk foam on top.
Sprinkle with grated chocolate. If desired, you can add ground cinnamon.

Vanilla cappuccino coffee in Turk

Vanilla complements the taste of milk and coffee well. It is added to milk when frothing. There are two options - just with vanilla and with egg yolk.

At the first time, all coffee is prepared as usual. Vanilla is added to the milk to taste before putting the saucepan on the fire. Next, follow the algorithm described above. The result is a cappuccino with vanilla notes.

The second option is more interesting. The coffee component remains unchanged. But you’ll have to do some magic with the foam:

The egg yolk is separated from the white.
Two teaspoons of fine sugar are added to it (it is better to use powder).
Beat until white foam.
Add two tablespoons of milk (warmed, but not too hot).
Beat everything until a fluffy, stable foam.
Place foam on coffee.

By the way! If you are afraid of salmonella, add a couple of citric acid crystals or a few drops of lemon juice to the yolk.

Instant coffee cappuccino with cream

Compound:

instant coffee – 5 g;
water – 50 ml;
milk – 50 ml;
heavy cream (for whipping) – 30-40 ml;
sugar - to taste;
cinnamon - for decoration.

Cooking method:

Pour sugar and instant coffee into a cup, brew with hot water, stir.
Whip the cream and pour over the coffee.
Warm the milk. Pour it in a thin stream into the cup of coffee straight through the creamy foam.

Sprinkle the foam with cinnamon and serve cappuccino with cream.

Ground cappuccino coffee for a coffee maker: which one to choose?

How cappuccino coffee is prepared is already clear. But not all drink lovers know which coffee to choose for preparing the drink in a coffee maker. Lovers of rich taste and aroma can use Arabica beans for this. There are a number of producers who successfully sell coffee, further details:

Coffee beans from Guatemala El Chapina are famous for their honey aroma and sweetish taste.
In Honduras, the grains have a particularly pronounced taste and sourness.
In Peru, Arabica has a special creamy taste.
Ethiopian beans are mild in taste and have a citrusy aroma.
In India, Arabica beans have a bitter taste (Planation AA).
In Santos, Brazil, the beans have a sweet aftertaste.
The beans produced in Colombia (in the city of Supremo) have a caramel aroma.
In Tarrazu (Costa Rica), coffee beans are grown without any aftertaste or unnecessary aromas.

I would also like to highlight Espresso Exclusive, it contains a blend of 4 varieties of coffee beans. For lovers of not too rich varieties of coffee beans, we can recommend Coffee Cubano Fidel, which contains 30% Robusta and 70% Arabica.

Ground coffee

Which types of coffee beans are best for you to choose. Fortunately, there are now no problems with the variety of this product.

History of the origin of the drink

Sunny Italy is considered the birthplace of cappuccino, and the history of its origin is associated with the monastic order of the Capuchins. According to one version, the monks loved to enjoy black coffee, but in ancient times this drink was considered devilish, so it was prohibited for consumption by the church. To neutralize the negative effects of bitter taste, the monks came up with the idea of adding frothed milk to coffee. The result was a light brown drink, which, according to the Capuchins, had nothing to do with evil forces.

Cappuccino became popular much later. The self-taught engineer Giuseppe came up with the prototype of the modern milk frother. It consisted of two containers that were connected using a tube. When water boiled in one tank, steam entered the second compartment with milk and whipped it until foamy.

There is another story about the appearance of cappuccino, it is connected with the first coffee machines. At the beginning of the 20th century, inventor Luigi Bezzera developed and created a machine for making espresso. The steam produced by the mechanism was used to froth milk. They began to decorate strong coffee with delicate, airy foam.

The classic cappuccino recipe remains unchanged for a long time. A third of freshly brewed espresso is poured into a porcelain cup, ⅓ of the milk is added, and the rest is filled with a whipped milk top.

Sometimes various syrups are added to the drink: caramel, coconut, vanilla, chocolate. Coffee shops offer to sprinkle ground cinnamon on top of cappuccino - this is the most popular type of spice, preferred by most coffee lovers.

Recipe 1. Classic cappuccino

To prepare one serving (180 ml) of classic cappuccino you will need:

60 ml espresso;
120 ml milk;
sugar (optional).

You also need a Turk (cezve) for brewing coffee, a small saucepan or enamel mug for heating milk, and a mixer or hand whisk for whipping foam.

Step-by-step description of the process:

First, prepare espresso - brew 15 g of freshly ground coffee in 60 ml of water and pour into a wide ceramic cup.
Then we heat the milk to about 70 °C. Mix half with coffee, and beat the remaining amount until it turns into a dense foam of very small bubbles. Place this foam on top of the coffee and milk mixture.

To make cappuccino not only tasty, but also beautiful, you can decorate it with a design. To do this, sift a little ground coffee through a strainer, covering the cup with a special stencil.

How to draw on cappuccino

To decorate your own drink, you don’t have to be a specialist barista. The most ordinary and beautiful pictures can be made using a stencil, the slits of which are sprinkled with cinnamon. You can draw on coffee with thick cream, which is poured in a narrow stream onto the milk foam. Toothpicks and thick syrup or hot chocolate are often used for this type of drawing.

Read our detailed article about this art - latte art at this link.

With the help of the following video, which presents different techniques and examples of drawings, you will understand how to draw on cappuccino: