Spanish Latte (Café con Leche)

This Spanish latte recipe is a take on the classic café con leche drink that Spaniards often quaff during breakfast. Made with less milk than a typical latte, this drink has a forward coffee flavour and the use of condensed milk, to sweeten it, is simply sublime.

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This Spanish latte recipe is my latest coffee crush. It’s a take on the popular Spanish drink, café con leche, which is typically served at breakfast in Spain.

If, like me, you veer towards lattes and a delicate hint of sweetness to feed your coffee habit, then you’ll most likely adore this Spanish latte. The beauty of this drink is that the sweetness level can so easily be tempered to suit your own personal tastes. Oh, and the recipe is also easy to adapt to make an iced Spanish latte for liquid refreshment on hot days.

When I was a teenager, I used to serve customers on the fruit-and-veg counter in my dad’s supermarket on Saturdays. This counter also served coffee beans – whole or ground to order. What a treat it was when somebody ordered ground coffee beans. The smell was incredible. Intoxicating, actually.

It may have taken me years to get around to drinking coffee itself, but I’ve always enjoyed using it in bakes and desserts as well as cocktails and the occasional liqueur-spiked coffee drink. But I’m finally there, enjoying my coffee on a regular basis. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

What is café con leche?

A Spanish latte is a riff on the coffee drink referred to as a café con leche in Spain, which translates as coffee with milk. Apparently, if you’re in Spain and ask for a Spanish latte the barista will have no idea what you are trying to order. So be wise and stick with the local terminology instead.

Anyway, language technicalities aside, a café con leche in Spain is a blend of strong espresso coffee and scalded (or steamed) milk in roughly equal measures. If sweetener is added, it will be sugar.

Outside of Spain, it’s common to use a little condensed milk to sweeten the café con leche instead, giving rise to the coffee drink I’m presenting today.

Why latte lovers should make this drink

Here’s a handful of reasons to make this Spanish latte recipe:

• The coffee flavour is bold as the ratio of coffee to milk is approximately 1:1 whereas the typical latte ratio is 1:2 (i.e. ⅓ coffee and ⅔ milk).
• There’s a subtle sweetness about it, but this drink is not as sweet as perhaps a vanilla or caramel latte flavoured with syrups (unless a crazy amount of condensed milk is added).
• On that note, the exact level of sweetness can be varied according to the preference of the individual coffee drinker. Just add more/ less condensed milk or forego it altogether for a classic café con leche.
• There’s a lovely creaminess inherent in this drink that’s imparted by combining the coffee with condensed milk.
• As far as sweetened, milky coffee drinks go, this one is not too high on the calorie front.
• This is one drink you won’t find on the menu at Starbucks or Costa.

All-in-all, a café con leche sweetened with a touch of condensed milk is a great option for coffee lovers who like to include frivolity with their daily cup of Joe. Talking of fun with coffee, have you spotted my Biscoff latte and honey latte recipes yet? I’m still crushing hard on them both.

Ingredients notes

With only 3 ingredients needed to make this café con leche drink, it’s imperative to use the best ingredients you can afford (I’m thinking about the coffee in particular).

Espresso coffee: always use quality espresso coffee when making a café con leche as the coffee flavour in this drink is pronounced. Spanish espresso coffee, freshly ground from the bean, is the ideal selection, but failing that any decent ground espresso coffee will suffice.

Milk: whole (full-fat) milk is my preferred option here as it has a great level of creaminess about it which gives the milk its great taste.

You can swap this for semi-skimmed milk to cut fat and calories, if desired, but I don’t recommend using skimmed milk. There’s just not enough flavour or creaminess about it to make it a worthy ingredient for a Spanish latte.

Condensed Milk: this is cow’s milk that has had water removed from it and (typically) sweetener added to it. This ingredient is commonly used in baking to make goodies such as millionaires shortbread. But the rich, creamy and sweet taste of it makes condensed milk a great addition to drinks. Pick it up either in a tin or in a handy squeezable container that can be stored in the fridge once opened.

Step-by-step instructions

Making this recipe for coffee with condensed milk is a quick and easy process. It takes around 5-10 minutes:

1. Pour hot water into 2 coffee glasses to warm.
2. Heat the milk in a small pan, swirling every 15 seconds to prevent it from burning on the bottom of the pan. Use a probe thermometer to keep track of the temperature and remove the pan from the heat when the milk reaches 83C/ 181F.
3. Brew the coffee.
4. Optional: froth the milk using a milk frother or a stick blender.
5. Empty the coffee glasses then share the brewed espresso between them.
6. Put a tablespoon of condensed milk into each glass and stir until melted.
7. Top with the scalded milk and enjoy immediately.

What is scalded milk?

Quite simply, scalded milk is milk that has been heated to 83C/ 181F. Cooking the milk to this point reduces some of the sweetness naturally present in the milk.

The easiest way to scald milk is to pour it into a small saucepan (a milk pan) and heat it gently on the stovetop, swirling the pan every 15 seconds to stop it from burning on the bottom of the pan. A food thermometer should be used to keep track of the temperature as it heats.

It’s important not to let the milk boil as your Spanish latte will then be too hot to savour straight away.

Note that scalded milk is hotter than steamed milk which is more typically used in latte drinks. Scalded milk is also used to make a French café au lait.

Incidentally, although scalded milk is frequently cited as the one to use when making a Spanish latte, some baristas dispute this, instead preferring to steam the milk to 65C/ 140F. Their reasoning is that this protects the sweet flavour of the milk and means that the latte is the ideal drinking temperature when made.

Expert tips

This is a very straight-forward drink to make but here are a handful of tips to get the best out of this Spanish latte recipe:

• Make sure that you brew strong espresso. This is not the drink to play shyly with the punchy coffee flavour. I use 15g ground espresso to produce a 60ml double shot of coffee. And the recipe (serves 2) calls for 3 double shots.
• Do heat your serving glass/ cup by filling it with hot water as you make the drink. This helps ensure that your latte is served at a great temperature.
• Do measure the condensed milk and be prepared to adjust the amount used in accordance with your own taste preferences. I’m all for vaguely sweet coffee rather than in-your-face sweetness, so 1 ½ tablespoons is ideal for me. Hardcore coffee enthusiasts may prefer to halve this amount. And those who find themselves lovestruck for very sweet drinks may like to double the amount used.
• Fancy some latte art? It’s fine to foam the milk. Your drink will be slightly less hot but the joyfully artistic foamy top will easily compensate.

Frequently asked questions

Variation: iced Spanish latte

Do you struggle to fully enjoy your daily coffee fix on hot days? Then swap your warm and toasty mug for a deliciously cold one instead. An iced Spanish latte is a great option for summer.

Simply prepare your espresso coffee as instructed in the recipe and stir the condensed milk in. Now divide this sweet coffee into two tumblers filled with ice cubes and top up each one with the cold milk of your choice. Use equal amounts of coffee and milk to keep the latte ratio at 1:1

More coffee drinks to try out

Have you made this Spanish latte recipe? Please do leave a comment or rating – it really does help other readers know that they can trust my recipes when they see comments from fellow readers.

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