Here in Korea, September doesn't include the colorful leaves, sweaters, and pumpkin spice everything that I am used to. Indiana still has some warm days in September, but it's nothing compared to the consistently 80-90 degree days here, with almost oppressive humidity. However, is that going to stop me from Pumpkin Spicing everything? No. No it will not.
To Korea's credit, it does have an actual fall season, it just comes later than in the mid-west. And I've heard that it's beautiful.
Anyway, to celebrate the coming of fall, I've decided to share my recipe for pumpkin spice lattes. It's carefully made with real pumpkin and homemade pumpkin spice. You might be used to big, orange pumpkins, but in Korea they look like this:
Even when they are larger, they remain the same green color. However, when cut, open they look, smell and taste the same as a regular old pumpkin. If you want to see my recipe on how to steam this and use instead of canned pumpkin, check out the instructions here.
Now, back to the good stuff.
If you have a latte maker or milk frother, then this will be even easier for you. However, at the moment I am limited to a whisk. Confession: A latte maker is at the top of our list to buy as soon as possible.
Supplies (if you have a latte maker you can skip this part):
Mixing bowl
Whisk or mixer
Coffee maker
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon fresh or canned pumpkin
1 cup strongly brewed coffee
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice (you can add more if you want a stronger flavor)
Tiny splash of vanilla extract
1/2 cup warm milk + 1 Tablespoon sugar OR about 3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (my recent obsession)
I like to warm the milk so it doesn't cool off the coffee too much. If you have a latte maker, it will heat the milk for you, please excuse me while I turn green with jealousy. As green as a...Korean pumpkin? Anyway, combine all of the ingredients into a bowl, and whisk for about 2 minutes, or until the spices and pumpkin have dissolved. There might be some settling of spices after a while, but just swirl it around a few times.
Pour into a mug, and you've got the very essence of fall in a glass.