Further to my last entry, looking at those recipes I linked left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied, because to my mind, anything claiming to be a "pumpkin spice cappuccino" ought to include copious amounts of at least two things: pumpkin and coffee. As it's a cappuccino, some sort of milk or cream froth must be involved as well.
Therefore, since I'm impatient, I messed about in my kitchen this morning and came up with my own recipe, which turned out quite good. If you've got 15-20 minutes and all the ingredients at hand, give it a whirl! This recipe may be scaled directly up or down as needed.
TIME REQUIRED: 15-20 minutes, approximately. Probably less each time you make it.
INGREDIENTS:
* 1 c. canned solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, which will likely be right next to it in your local grocery store. theoretically, one could purchase the pie filling and omit the canned pumpkin and the spices mentioned below and save oneself some time, though. If you do this, please let me know how it turns out; I may try it some time!)
* 6 c. of your favourite coffee, freshly brewed and at the strength you prefer it.
* 1 c. cream or whole milk. (Use whatever thickness of cream you'd prefer; I wouldn't think this would work very well with any milk less fatty than whole, however.)
* 2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
* 1.5 tsp. ground cloves
* 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
* 1 tbsp. ground nutmeg
* 1/3 c. brown sugar
* 1/3 c. sugar
In a blender (make sure your blender is big enough to do this without making a mess first, or else do this recipe in sections to avoid a really huge mess), combine the cream (or milk), pumpkin, and spices. Mix thoroughly; pour coffee into blender. Mix thoroughly again; add sugars and mix until sugars are thoroughly dissolved. Continue to process until frothy. If necessary, reheat to desired warmth.
If you wish, adjust the spices/sugar to your taste. Enjoy; you may wish to sprinkle more cinnamon on top of each mug as you serve it. This recipe serves as many as you feel like sharing with.
Posted by Janaki at October 31, 2003 12:55 PM | TrackBackthank you! and that smoothie recipe sounds awesome! i think i'll have to try that. i was making smoothies all summer---none with banana, though. which is odd, cos my mom used to make really great banana nectar. mmm. i think the best smoothies i made were the kiwi-strawberry one and the mango-apricot one. i'll definitely have to try what you're suggesting! and i'll just bet it'd go well with curry!
actually, i'm used to putting ginger in pumpkin pie anytime i make it. my grandma's pumpkin pie recipe (which my mom made all the time when i was little) had ginger, and it always surprises me when that isn't one of the primary ingredients in someone's idea of "pumpkin pie spice," because like you say, it's really good together. :)
Posted by: janni at November 1, 2003 09:35 PMthat sounds AWESOME!
i was actually going to suggest the kaboucha smoothie that mayumi came up with the other week. kaboucha is.. um.. japanese pumpkin? i guess it's butternut squash here or something. we boiled the pieces, separated the orange from the green and put the orange with some ginger and nutmeg and rice milk and apples and bananas in a blender and blended it up. it was nice and warm--a warm smoothie for fall. and it was REALLY pretty and went awesomely with curry rice.
i completely recommend it.
and your recipe for pumpkin spiced cappucino sounds amazing. if you hadn't had ginger in there, i would have suggested it because ginger, surprisingly, goes amazingly well with pumpkin.
=D
Posted by: usagi at November 1, 2003 10:03 AM