Make a pumpkin spice latte

A pumpkin spice latte is a mug of warm milk with pumpkin, spice and coffee. You can make one in about ten minutes, with real pumpkin, as sweet as you like it. It costs a fraction of the café version, and you can drink it in pyjamas.

What you need

This makes one large mug.

• 1 cup milk, any kind
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin purée (plain pumpkin, not pie filling)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar or maple syrup, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
• 1 shot of espresso, or 1/4 to 1/2 cup strong coffee
• Whipped cream and a pinch of spice to finish (optional)

Make it

1. Put the milk, pumpkin, sugar and spice in a small saucepan. Whisk it well, since pumpkin needs a bit of persuading to mix in.
2. Heat over medium-low, whisking now and then, until it is steaming and hot. Do not let it boil, because boiled milk can form a skin and taste scorched.
3. Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
4. For a frothier latte, blend it for 15 to 20 seconds with an immersion blender, or whisk hard. Do not shake hot milk in a closed jar, because it is a burn risk.
5. Make your coffee or espresso and pour it into a mug.
6. Pour the pumpkin milk over the coffee, holding back the foam with a spoon, then spoon the foam on top.
7. Add whipped cream and a dusting of spice, if you like.

Make it your way

The sweetness is yours to decide. Start with a tablespoon of sugar, taste it, and add more. Maple syrup, honey or brown sugar all work in place of white sugar. A pinch of salt rounds out the flavour. If it tastes flat, a little extra spice or a drop of vanilla often fixes it.

Which coffee

Espresso is the most like the café version. If you do not have a machine, a moka pot or an AeroPress gives you a strong small shot. Otherwise, brew regular coffee at double strength, and use less of it than you think. Decaf works fine if it is evening.

Ways to change it

For a smaller sugar hit, use a teaspoon of maple syrup and let the pumpkin and spice carry the flavour. For something less like dessert, skip the whipped cream and use only 1 tablespoon of pumpkin. You can also make a chai-style version by adding a pinch of black pepper and ginger. If you drink it decaf in the evening, nobody will know. And if you want a hot chocolate version for a friend who does not drink coffee, leave the espresso out and whisk a spoonful of cocoa into the milk.

Why make it at home

Making it yourself means you pick the sweetness, the milk and the strength of the coffee, and you know what is in it. It also takes about as long as queueing at a café. Once you have a can of pumpkin open, a spoonful or two goes into each mug, so it is easy to make a few over the week.

If something goes wrong

• It is gritty. The pumpkin did not mix in. Whisk it into a little of the milk first until smooth, then add the rest, or blend it.
• It tastes like pumpkin pie, not coffee. Use less pumpkin and spice, and a stronger shot.
• It is too sweet. Make the next one with less sugar, or add an extra splash of coffee to this one.
• The milk has a skin or tastes burnt. It got too hot. Keep the heat medium-low and watch the pan.
• The milk split. Plant milks can separate if they get too hot or meet very hot coffee. Heat them gently and pour slowly.

Keeping it

A latte is best fresh. If you have leftover pumpkin purée from the can, keep it in a covered container in the fridge and use it within about a week, or freeze it in tablespoon-sized portions. The latte itself is best made fresh each time, since it only takes ten minutes.

Make it a fall evening

Make one on the first properly cold morning, or two on a Sunday while you do a puzzle or read. If you have a half can of pumpkin to use up, pumpkin bread is the obvious next thing.