Bela’s Pumpkin Spice Latte, what’s your pleasure; Hot or Cold? I Got You Covered!

This drink is so good and yet you can only have it briefly sometime during the fall season. Really? Well, NO!  We need to have it anytime we feel like drinking it. Therefore, to make it my own, I tried to identify the flavors of the original and then, added my own crazy flavors. My baby girl Sienna loves it, that means I passed the flavor test with her. Now, I’ll wait for Sascha, Mara, Isabelle, Dave and Cami for the “teens” review. Hopefully, I’ll pass the test too!

Approximate Prep and Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Approximate Cost: $6.90 or $3.45 per serving
Difficulty Level:    X     Easy ____ Intermediate ____ Advanced
Servings: 2
 
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups milk (is best to use 2% or higher) ($1.00)
2 ½ tbsps. pumpkin puree (from a can) (.25)
1 ½ tbsp. brown granulated sugar (.30)
1 ½ tbsp. pumpkin spice (see my foot note if you don’t have this ingredient at home) ** (.15)
½ cup of coffee (.50)
2 large scoop of vanilla ice cream (or butter pecan or your favorite flavor) (.85)
1 tbsp. Vanilla ($1.25)
1 tbsp. Amaretto (optional only for adults) ($1.25)
Ghirardelli Caramel Syrup to-taste (to drizzle over the ice cream) (.55)
2 dollops of vanilla ice cream to garnish (or butter pecan or your favorite flavor) (.50)
2 Dollops of whipped cream (one for each cup) to top the cups before serving (.20)
½ tbsp. pumpkin spice to sprinkle on top just before serving it. (.10)
 
DIRECTIONS for the hot Latte
In a blender mix the milk, the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, 1 tbsp. of pumpkin spice, coffee, and 2 large scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Pour the mix into a saucepan in med high, stirring until steaming and foam begins to appear before a boil.
Remove from stove, add the vanilla (and amaretto if you are an adult, smile) and pour the mix into 2 mugs or cups.
Top with a generous scoop each of ice cream and whipped cream. Sprinkle pumpkin spice and drizzle caramel sauce on top.
Serve hot.
 
DIRECTIONS for the Cold Latte
In a blender mix all the ingredients listed, except the whipped cream, the caramel sauce, ½ tbsp. pumpkin spice to sprinkle on top just before serving it and 2 scoops of ice cream.
Pour into two nice glasses.
Top with a generous scoop of ice cream and whipped cream. Sprinkle pumpkin spice and drizzle caramel sauce on top.
Serve super cold.
 
 
**If you don’t have Pumpkin Spice at the moment, you can make your own from scratch. Pumpkin spice is nothing else but a blend of several spices that you already have in your pantry. I always prefer to use Trader’s Joe, but if I run out of it, I make my own blend based on what I like. You can do it too. use a mix of the following:
2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon and 1 tbsp. of ground nutmeg. That’s all I use, since I hate the ground cloves flavor.