Alleluia Is Our Song

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iced coffee

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Season

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Happy Saturday, friends! How is Fall treating you??

Here in California I’ve been waiting for Fall… truthfully since summer began! I’m not a fan of hot weather, and we’ve had some crazy heat this October! Triple digits in a tiny, poorly-insulated house with no AC and 8 people isn’t for the faint of heart. While today and tomorrow are still mid-80’s, I’m grateful it seems that the hottest is behind us. We’ve had some cool mornings and lovely crisp evenings, and you’d best believe I’ve brought my sweaters out! 😉

Speaking of Fall, I shared this hack for making the best Pumpkin Spice Coffee (hot or iced!) and Pumpkin Spice Crema/Cold Foam on Instagram awhile back, and thought I should share here as well. The secret to making this popular treat at home comes down to 1 magical ingredient.

Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter.

So crazy right?! I’ve tried a few methods, which do come out good but require more time, ingredients, and steps. Also, something about putting plain canned pumpkin straight into my coffee just doesn’t sit well with me. 🙈Making it into a sauce is amazing but takes too long when you only have a minute or two in the morning, so this hack is truly a lifesaver. And the flavor is just right! SImply adjust the amount according to taste! Let’s break this down. For the coffee portion, use your favorite method, either hot or iced:

You can also add this to your hot coffees, lattes, and americano’s. The possibilities are endless! Here’s what I did for the “cold foam” (background chaos included hehe):

Basically all you need is heavy whipping cream and the magical Pumpkin Butter, but you can also add a drizzle of milk to thin it out if you prefer.

And there you have it! Let me know if you make this and enjoy it as much as I do! 🎃 Happy Fall!

Love,

Happy Fall & A Pumpkin Crema Topping

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“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” -Anne of Green Gables

I am SO relieved Fall is here! I think I always carry fall in my heart to some degree, but now that it’s here officially I don’t have to hide it. 😉 The mornings are crisper, the air in the evenings carry a waft of wood from the few brave souls who have decided to put their fireplace to use before winter is even close, and coffee shops are carrying pumpkin and apple-spiced beverages.

Speaking of which, have you tried the new pumpkin cream cold brew from Starbucks? It’s amazing and my sister has openly blamed me for getting her hooked on it haha! So I promised her and a few others that I’d get to work on a recipe to save us all a little money. 🙂 Karina – this post is dedicated to you! 😀

It’s all about that topping!

Okay so look – all we really need is that topping, amiright? As for the cold brew, you can make your own by cold-steeping coffee to your desired strength in a mason jar, or even icing strong coffee OR buying a premade iced/cold brew. You can DEFINITELY even use hot coffee. The key here is the pumpkin cream.

I whipped up a quick single-serving batch of this cream with my little $7 frother and the measurements are below, but honestly the most important thing about this recipe is the ingredients. You can tweak according to taste, and you could even whip up a big batch in your mixer…and eat it with a spoon. Which is what started happening over here before I topped and stored the rest for later. If you mix it longer and faster it will turn into whipped cream which is perfect as a topping for EVERYTHING, but if you want to stick to the coffee topping, just wait until the cream is ripple-y and on its way to being stiff and STOP THERE – so you have a good enough consistency to sift out the grittiness of the pumpkin and get that smooth crema. You can leave the pumpkin fiber in if you prefer too, just a head’s up if you want this more like the coffee house version. 😉

Made a big batch for pie topping – or spoon-eating!

Okay here we go! Let me know what you think!

The Pumpkin Crema (Single Serving):

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 C heavy cream
  • 1/2 TBSP plain canned pumpkin
  • 1 TBSP pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • *tiny dash of sea salt

Method:

  1. Combine ingredients in mixing bowl and froth until ripples form and cream becomes fairly stiff (but before peaks form!). This doesn’t take long.
  2. Sift cream through strainer to get rid of pumpkin fibers.
  3. Spoon onto hot or iced coffee and sip without a straw for those first few tastes to create the best ratio of cream-to-coffee.

*tip: definitely recommend doubling, tripling, or quadrupling recipe for extra topping, and for swirling into your coffee!

**Also, if you like yours extra sweet or pumkin-y, tweak as desired. The ingredients are the key – I’ve done my best to create a balanced mix, but feel free to “eyeball” it and/or add more or less according to your taste. <3

Enjoy!

Cold Brew Coffee with a Sea Salt Crema

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Hi!

I’m back with a coffee recipe because I PROMISED and didn’t wanna leave anyone hanging. 😉

So cold-brew coffee. It’s super popular and also happens to be my personal favorite way to consume coffee. It’s less acidic and smoother because it has never been heated. There’s tons of recipes out there for this, but what works best for me since I like mine strong and flavorful, is a 1:5 ratio. 1 cup coarsely ground coffee to 5 cups of fresh, cold water. I’ve been using a glass pot (pictured above) because it comes with a filter to hold the grounds while it steeps. There are lots of different kinds with varying prices, but I really don’t think it matters so much what kind you use. I steep this in the fridge for 2 days for maximum strength. 😀 But I’ve tried it after 24 hours and that works too, although the 24-hour version works best black over ice rather than with cream. I love drinking my cold-brew black over ice in general, actually – especially during a heat wave! It’s just so refreshing and clean-tasting.

SO good!

If I’m not drinking it black, I like sweetening it with maple syrup/caramel syrup/or other sweetener, and then topping it with a sea salt crema. If you’ve never tried this, you MUST. This combination has been made popular by milk tea shops and then last year even Starbucks brought out their own version. But it’s so easy to make. Once you’ve got the crema mastered, I highly recommend using it to top a good strong sweetened iced Assam tea. Seriously, perfection.

Strong Assam iced tea, sweetened w maple syrup and topped w sea salt crema. <3

Okay, here are my recipes. The crema can be a bit temperamental, so I’m including a few notes for clarity. I hope you enjoy!!!

Best Cold-Brew Coffee:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup coarsely-ground coffee (dark roast is my fav for bold flavor)
  • 5 cups purified cold drinking water

Method:

  1. In a pitcher, mason jar, or cold brew pitcher, add coffee grounds and water. Do not mix.
  2. Let steep for 24 – 48 hours.
  3. Remove the grounds or sift through a cheesecloth or fine sieve.
  4. Stir.
  5. Pour over ice or sweeten and top with the following:

Sea Salt Crema Topping for Iced or Cold-Brew Coffee:

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
  • 1-2 TBSP creamer or milk (I love using the Picnik bullet-proof creamer)
  • 1 TBSP sugar or a 1:1 sugar sub (I’ve been using a blend of erythritol)
  • 1/8 to scant 1/4 tsp sea salt (I’ve been using Himalayan pink sea salt), *plus more sea salt for topping if desired.

NEEDED: a handheld milk frother, or small jar with a lid

Method:

  1. Put all ingredients in a cup or small jar, and if you have a handheld frother (which I highly recommend!), froth in a circular motion, skimming the top at times to encourage the frothing.
  2. Froth until the mixture is thick enough to cause ripples.
  3. *If you don’t have a frother, put the lid on tight and shake your mixture vigorously until it becomes a heavy, almost whipped consistency. It might not be a stiff as the frothed version, but is still good!
  4. Pour on top of sweetened coldbrew/iced coffee/strong-brewed iced tea and top with extra sea salt if desired.

NOTES:

  1. The contrast of sweet & salty works best in my opinion if your coffee or tea itself is on the sweeter side. Otherwise you’ll taste more salty than sweet – which in a drink (at least to my taste) is not preferable.
  2. The cream is meant to be a top layer to the sweet coffee/tea underneath, and the heavy cream causes it to be heavy enough to float. If you prefer it to be thinner, add the extra milk/Picnik/or even half n half. I’ve also used all Picnik since it froths so well and although lighter, is still delightful!
  3. Also, I LOVE the saltiness to be a bit prominent in my crema, but if you want to err on the side of caution for your first time, start with the less amount of sea salt and then if you want it saltier, just sprinkle a little extra on the top so you can control it.

Enjoy! <3

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