Iced Horchata Latte

It's been a looooong time since I have blogged. We moved houses, Damian got a new job and Maxi started school so we have been busy busy busy and readjusting to all the new changes that have been going on! My dear pen pal asked for this horchata latte recipe that I posted about on Instagram and I promised her I would post it here. So here it is. A day late but I'm sure she already knew I was going to be fashionably late just like with the letters we send each other. This one's for you Kim, Enjoy!

Iced Horchata Latte

Ingredients:

1/4 cup brown rice
1/2 cup coffee beans
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 cinnamon stick, crushed
1/4 sugar

Using coffee grinder (or as I do, baby bullet that I used twice to make baby food) coarsely grind rice and transfer to an airtight container. Coarsely grind coffee beans and place in same container as rice. Add almonds, cinnamon stick and 4 cups water. Cover and let soak in refrigerator overnight.

To make the simple syrup, that you will use to sweeten your horchata lattes, bring sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan, swirling to dissolve sugar. Transfer simple syrup to a heatproof container, cover and chill.

After your horchata latte concoction has been soaking overnight, transfer to a blender and blend until very smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a container, pressing on solids to extract all that goodness. Grab a cup with lots of ice, pour some horchata latte over it, sweeten with your simple syrup, add a straw and mix it all up. You just saved yourself a trip to the coffee shop (and some money). I like to double this recipe and have iced coffee on hand for that very much needed afternoon-pick-me-up. Don't forget to double simple syrup when doubling latte!

Shortbread Supreme + Blended Coffee

I know, I know, these cookies don't look very pretty but I promise I will soon invest in a camera.
If these weren't absolutely delicious I would not even bother with sharing the recipe with you, can you
believe you only need three ingredients? Well, make that four if you want to add in sprinkles like I did.

You know those delicious cookies that come in a tin box? These taste exactly like that. Enough Said,
here's how you make them:

Recipe slightly adapted from allrecipes

Shortbread Supreme:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in flour and sprinkles by hand and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes (optional).
4. Roll out dough on slightly floured surface and cut into squares with a knife, if refrigerated you can use cookie cutters.

*You can also add nuts or chocolate chips instead of the sprinkles

It's been TOO hot lately so hot coffee in the morning has been switched out to blended coffee.
It's so simple that you really can't beat this way, why bother with Iced coffee.

Simple Blended Coffee:

4-5 Ice cubes

1 cup of your choice of milk

1/2 tablespoon instant coffee

1/2 tablespoon sugar or condensed milk

Blend all ingredients for about a minute, pour and enjoy!

XOXO

Lidia

Iced Vanilla Coffee

This is one of those things I had been wanting to try for quite some time...
Cold Brewed Iced Coffee. I finally decided it was time when I came across
this simple recipe for iced vanilla coffee from Call me cupcake.
If you haven't checked out the blog, I highly recommend it.
It is a beautiful blog with a unique dark photographing style.

I've made this iced coffee a handful of times since I discovered it and it
never disappoints, I will definitely be making it more often now that I get to
enjoy warm sunny days (my favorite kind of days). I love what the touch
of vanilla does to the coffee, it makes all the difference.
Make yourself a cup, pick up a book and enjoy on your front porch/ backyard.

Iced Vanilla Coffee


- strong coffee
- lots of ice
- milk or cream
- vanilla syrup or vanilla extract w/ sugar

1. Put ground coffee, (use few extra spoons to make it extra strong) and
cold water in a french press, stir well, put lid on and refrigerate for a few hours,
best overnight.

2. When coffee is ready, gently press on the lid to get rid of coffee grounds.

3. Fill a tall glass with lots of ice. Pour cold coffee over ice, filling the glass
a little more than halfway. Add sugar to your liking with a little vanilla extract, stir.
Fill the rest of the cup with your choice of milk or cream and enjoy!

xoxo