Spanish Latte Recipe: How To Make Café con Leche At Home

Spanish latte or Café con Leche is a drink that is espresso-based with scalded milk. This strong coffee drink is a breakfast favourite that Spaniards enjoy, and it is not complicated to make!

You do not only have to enjoy this drink when you go out to cafes. You can easily make this drink at home. All you will need is milk, espresso, and water. Spaniards often use whole milk to make the hot beverage, but you can use whatever you prefer and enjoy to make the drink.

Jump to:

• What is Spanish Latte?
• Spanish Latte Calories
• Ingredients to make Café con Leche
• Spanish Latte (Café con Leche) Recipe At Home
• How to Make Iced Spanish latte

What is Spanish Latte?

Spanish latte is a strong coffee drink that is a bit sweeter than a regular latte. This is because sugar is often added at the end. Hence, this makes it similar in taste to the French café au lait. What makes it stand out is that, unlike other lattes, it is made by mixing scalded milk and coffee, specifically espresso. 

Other lattes are usually made using either foamed or steamed milk. It is worth mentioning that although a Café con Leche is sweet, it is not sweeter than a latte that has flavoured syrup.

Café con Leche has a sweet and creamy texture. The sugar makes it sweet, so you will add your sugar how you like it when making your latte. Spanish lattes often have a higher dosage of milk than regular lattes, and they tend to taste better when you use frothed than scalded milk.

Spanish Latte Calories

Spanish latte can have up to 250 calories. However, this will depend on the amount of sugar, type of milk and other toppings used.

Ingredients to make Café con Leche

Making this classy drink is pretty straightforward. Listed below is everything you require to make this drink at home.

Milk

Usually, Spaniards prefer to use whole milk. However, you can use whatever you prefer and even use a diary-free alternative like oat. 

You will need to warm your milk. You can take several approaches when heating your milk for your Spanish latte. So, feel free to choose which method is convenient for you. For instance, you could heat this in a pan or warm it in the microwave. 

You could also use a coffee machine if you have one to warm your milk using the steam nozzle. Ensure that your milk does not boil. Instead, let it scald.

Once you are through, use a frother to froth your milk to have a good texture. However, it is okay if you do not have a frother since frothing is optional. Suppose you are interested in buying a milk frother, there are several brands in the market that you can select from.

Espresso/Coffee

You will need an espresso machine to help you create espresso for your Spanish latte. There are several models and brands of espresso machines you can select from, depending on what you are looking for. 

It is worth mentioning that if you want to have the best Café con Leche, you should make your latte using Spanish espresso.

Alternatively, you can use regular coffee to make the beverage if you cannot access espresso. When using regular coffee in place of espresso, the recommendation is to use high-quality coffee and freshly ground dark roast or any coffee that will give off a strong taste. Do not use substandard coffee.

Water

Spanish latte also requires water for you to make, but note that you should not just use any water. Similar to making dishes that use a lot of water like stew and soups, the usage of good quality water will affect the taste of the Café con Leche. This is because your espresso will only taste as great as the water you have used tastes. 

Suppose your tap has a strange taste or the mineral concentration is high. It would be best to use bottled or filtered water to make your homemade latte.

Once you have your milk, espresso or coffee, and water ready, you can get started on making your Spanish espresso. Making a Café con Leche takes 7 minutes, five minutes to prep and two minutes to cook. Listed below are the ingredients.

This is how you make a Spanish latte at home. If you would like your latte to have texture, it would be best to use frothed milk. Ideally, one espresso is the best way to enjoy this recipe, but you can also use two. You do not have to restrict yourself to only adding sugar and condensed milk to your homemade espresso.

The point of doing it from home is to have fun with it. Other things you can add are whipped cream or chocolate curls. It is worth noting that the calories in your drink will depend on what milk you use and what add-ons you have incorporated into your latte.

How to Make Iced Spanish latte

This hot drink is perfect on cold days to keep yourself warm. However, if you enjoy your latte so much, below is a cool iced variation that you can make from home to enjoy during the hot months of summer. 

The ingredients you will use stay the same. You will only require to make a slight variation to the overall recipe. Listed below is how you make the iced version.

• Put ice in your preferred glass, then pour in your coffee
• Add condensed milk or sugar
• Then add milk on top

It is as simple as that. It is worth mentioning that you should not pour hot coffee into a very cold glass because this can make it shatter.

You can also refer to Shin Guiking’ Youtube channel on how to make iced Spanish Latte at the comfort of your home. In the video, she chooses to pour the espresso as the final step to create a beautiful aesthetic for the drink.

Iced Spanish Latte | Re-arranging my coffee corner

Making a Spanish latte from home is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is follow the above-listed recipe step-by-step. Suppose you do not have the right coffee equipment to use for this recipe. You can buy all your coffee equipment from Qavashop.

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Love a good local twist on your drinks? Try this Misugaru latte recipe next!