While enjoying a hot cup of coffee at espresso bar, many times you have thought how to make coffee froth designs with perfection? Making designs with coffee froth is an art by itself. Latte art or the froth design refers to patterns prepared in the foam topping espresso drinks.  These simple froth designs will help  you  take baby steps into latte art because it is a critical skill, which is perfected over years of practice. Given below are two froth designs one with and without espresso machine

Technique 1: Making froth using espresso machine

Things you will need

• Whole milk
• Espresso
• 14 ounce (400 ml) latte cup
• Espresso machine with a powerful steam wand
• Straight walled steam pitcher with a sharp spout
• Thermometer

Method of preparation

• Pour milk from one cup into the steam pitcher
• Place the steam wand at the bottom of the pitcher, and attach a thermometer to it.
• Boil this milk till it attains 80 degree Fahrenheit (27 degree Celsius).
• Don’t allow the steam to escape from the cup and remove the steam wand and thermometer from milk.
• Allow the milk to settle for some time.
• Twirl the milk vigorously

Here comes the important aspect of latte art:

• Pouring milk into the espresso

  For creating flower pattern: Pour the milk about an inch (2 cm - 3 cm) from the bottom. When cup gets half filled, lightly shake the pitcher back and forth and move it backwards. The flower design will move up as you keep filling the cup. For better effects keep moving your wrists back and forth.  

  For creating heart pattern: You start making the heart pattern, in the same way as the heart design but here instead of wrists you keep moving your hand in one particular way. Concentrate on making a ringed circle.

• Continue frothing till it reaches to the top of the cup
• If you want to customize your coffee then you can use stencils, powder and milk foam. Suppose, you want to write love on your coffee then pour melted milk chocolate and using a pin keep on dragging the melting chocolate over the foamed milk.

   

Technique 2: Making froth without Espresso machine

Things you will need

• Whole milk
• Battery operated gizmos
• Tall narrow glass

Method of preparation

• Freeze the tall narrow glass the night before
• Take the glass out of the freezer, and fill it with 1/3^rd cup of cold milk.  Try to use non –fat milk for frothing.
• Whisk the milk using battery operated whisker.
• Keep the whisker near the bottom, and watch as the milk continues to froth.
• When the milk is little taut, stop whisking.
• Place this cold frothed milk into the microwave and nuke for 30-45 seconds
• Slowly pour espresso into the middle of the glass.
• Spoon the froth from the top of the glass and add little more drizzle of espresso. 

Image courtesy: letslearnonline.com.au