The Story
Science fiction + cooking + the near-maniacal desire to find out what the heck’s going on here. These have been the most permanent-ish things in the swirl of my impermanent life.
Over the past twenty-five years, I’ve been developing and honing recipes for a semi-secret café project. I used to think I would start and manage said café. I have loads of restaurant and café experience from my younger years. I’ve worked as a server, a bartender, a barista, a pastry chef, a prep cook, a line cook, a one-person kitchen cook, and a caterer.
But as Jaya Kula took up more of my bandwidth, I abandoned that idea. Now I’m still holding out hope that some folks will come along who want to actually do the thing with me as a silent (but opinionated) partner. 🤞🏼
In the meantime, here’s a treat from my ever-growing roster of café drinks. This one is named after Kristi, a student and a subscriber to Kindred 108. She loves peanut butter. And caffeine. 👋🏼 Kristi!
Ingredients
Dollop of unsweetened, soft-whipped cream
1 + 1/4 cups hot milk of choice. I don’t recommend using solely store-bought nut milks. They are very thin in consistency. Rather, make your own nut milk or mix store-bought nut milk with a bit of whole cow’s milk. Or just use whole milk if you can digest it.
2 shots of espresso. I have to plug my favorite espresso beans here. And Here’s my favorite stovetop moka pot. Not quite espresso-grade result, but delicious. And here’s a sweet new gadget I bought through a Kickstarter that makes something close to espresso, but it’s pricey. I don’t own an actual espresso machine.
1 tablespoon smooth roasted peanut butter or nut butter of your choice
1-2 tablespoons rose syrup according to your taste. Rose syrups vary wildly in sweetness and “rosiness.” Be sure to get rose and not rose hip syrup. The tartness of rose hips does not go well with this recipe.
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. I like Vietnamese.
1/2 teaspoon multi-colored chocolate sprinkles - optional, of course. Add more if you like. Of course.
Instructions
Whip your heavy cream until it thickens, but is still somewhat pourable.
Make your espresso shots.
Heat your milk.
Put the milk and espresso in a blender. Add the nut butter, rose syrup and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.
Pour the blended drink into a mug or glass. Top with the whipped cream and sprinkles.
Innovations
Make your own rose syrup and top the latte with extra rose petals.
Add some vanilla syrup or extract.
Top with shaved chocolate, or put a layer of melted chocolate on the bottom of the cup or glass before you pour in the blended latte.
Add a tablespoon of organic coconut oil or coconut butter to the blend.
Adorable!