It is with much ado that I’ve decided September is by far the shittest month in the calendar. Yeah, yeah, January is cold and wet, but September is just rubbish, full of the optimism of an Indian Summer, yet in reality it’s raining every day, the mornings are bleak, and dark nights are here by 8pm.
The one good thing about it is that Pumpkin Spice Lattes—the most delicious sip on the planet—are back in Starbucks. The sweet smell, the spiced taste, the whipped cream, all serve as a little get-me-through-this-shit-September-day-pick-me-up. It’s only until we realise that we’ve spent our entire daily food budget before 9am that we start to resent it slightly.
So to make everyone’s lives better, we flew to Seattle, snuck into the Starbucks HQ under a cloak of darkness, and risked our lives to steal the top-secret PSL recipe, so that you can save your pennies on its disposable cup fulls and make the delicious brew at home instead. Okay we didn’t really, but we have got a pretty damn identical tasting recipe right here. PSL pick-me-ups at home everyone!
Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe
Ingredients:
Tin of pumpkin puree (in the baking aisle at Waitrose)
Sugar
Vanilla essence (expensive, but worth it)
“Pumpkin spice” mix (that being a combo of ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg—aka, the spices you never use in your cupboard)
Milk (whole, for full-on, screw-the-calories taste)
Whipped cream in a can
Nutmeg for sprinkling on top
What to do
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Brew your coffee like you would on any other day. Maybe not instant coffee. And if you’re using a cafetiere rather than espresso machine, make it stronger than you usually would.
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Seperately in a Pyrex jug, add a big dollop of pumpkin puree to half a cup of milk (that being your full fat milk if you want full on flavour, or semi-skimmed if you’re thinking about your waistline)
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And a teaspoon of sugar.
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And a teaspoon vanilla essence.
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Make your pumpkin spice combo by putting a dash of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in the bottom of a cup. Mix it up and add half a teaspoon of this to the milky mix.
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Mix this all together, and put it in the microwave for a minute or so until it’s hot and frothy. Try not to let this boil over, though if you’re anything like me it will...every time. Give it one last stir, then pour it into a mug (preferably the Starbucks one your Secret Santa got you last year to simulate the proper PSL experience)
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Assuming the milky mix fills ¾ of the mug, pour in the brewed coffee for the final ¼. Taste it, and add a little extra sugar if you fancy it a little sweeter.
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The best bit—whipped cream. Obligatory giant spray in mouth first (is there anyone out there who doesn’t do that when they’ve got a can of Anchor cream in their fridge?), before squirting it atop the pumpkiny brew. The more the better.
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If you’ve got it to hand, sprinkle a dash of nutmeg on top (pretending you’re at the Starbucks sugar station as you go). Voila— doesn’t that taste better knowing you haven’t paid a fiver for it?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.