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.
I received a very nice e-mail from someone named LaDonna in response to my post about pumpkin soup, wondering where she could find a recipe for pumpkin cappuccino (since I'd mentioned it). Unfortunately, I seem to have accidentally deleted the e-mail, so I hope she comes back to this page and sees this post.
I've never tried any of what I'm about to post, but a quick Googling turns up this recipe at Lazy Gourmets, which looks the most promising of the bunch I've found so far. there's also this, which looks like the two recipes posted here are meant to be combined to make the pumpkin cappuccino, and which also looks like it might well get one at least slightly loaded. If that's what one is going for, all is well and good, but one should be aware before one makes it. Finally, my search turned up this recipe, which also looks intriguing.
If one happens to decide that one would rather have a mix after all (something I'm normally not a fan of, but in some instances, definitely am more inclined to be), there's always Superior Coffee's Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino, which can be ordered from them directly.
All this posting about this lovely drink has made me want some. Perhaps I'll try one of those recipes later on---if I do, I'll make sure to update this entry to let you know what I think.
In the meantime, happy hallowe'en!