There’s a local coffee shop near here called Forbidden Flavours. The owners are good friends of my brother and sister-in-law, so we went to check it out.
We’re now regulars, known by name. We have “the usual” (2 large decaf melanges) waiting for us when we get to the counter. It’s wonderful to have a place like that in this day and age. Personalized service, where the owner knows our kids and we hear all about hers. The baristas all ask about how school is going. That in itself is enough to keep us going back.
Unfortunately, the “Forbidden Flavours” line item on the budget is quickly climbing. $7 for 2 large drinks adds up pretty quickly. So, we figured out how to make our own version of “the usual”. We still go to the shop often, just not quite as often as we used to.
A Melange is a drink made with real chocolate milk (not white milk with syrup added), steamed and frothed, with a shot of espresso. No whipped cream or any other garnish, so it’s not very sweet, just flavourful. One of the reasons I love them so much is that they aren’t sweet; it’s not like hot chocolate, more like a cocoa latte.
Warning: This drink is the crack of the coffee world. Everyone we’ve taken to Forbidden Flavours for a melange has fallen in love. Our home version is close, but you have to try the real thing. Trust me.
Recipe for Home-Made Melange
makes 2 Melanges
1 1/2 cups milk (we use skim)
2 heaping teaspoons – 2 tablespoons cocoa (adjust for taste)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups very strong hot coffee (I use 1 and a half or even 2 times as much grounds as usual)
Heat the milk to near boiling. We do this in a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave, but a pot on the stove would work.
Transfer the milk to a tall narrow container. We find that a large pickle jar works perfectly. Add the cocoa and sugar. Use a hand blender to blend the cocoa and sugar and milk together. When they are mixed, slowly lift the blender while it’s still spinning, so the milk gets whipped into a froth on top. This is the part that needs the tall container. If you use a normal bowl or pyrex cup you’ll get milk all over the walls. I speak from experience.
[edit: Thanks to Ash's comments below we tried using our French press to foam the milk and it was wonderful! We just poured the heated chocolate milk mixture into the French press and pumped until the foam was twice the volume of the milk. We will use this method now instead of the hand blender. (As a bonus, it's more environmentally friendly!)]
Pour the milk into 2 coffee mugs, just over half full. Add coffee to fill the mugs. Enjoy.
If this recipe has any appeal at all, and there’s a Forbidden Flavours near you, I strongly urge you to check them out.
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6 comments ↓
We once read somewhere that heating any milk products in the microwave may not be a good idea, because it changes the chemistry of the milk somehow (molecular structure? don’t remember). so now, over to you Mrs. Pages, the expert at digging out myths vs. legit health concerns!
We are so kindred spirits! I have been doing this myself with our wedding-present-cappucino maker (gotta love it!). I do like a decaf mocha at Starbucks but it is pretty sweet. So the cocoa powder/milk/espresso combo is pretty great. So now you can come for a melange instead of tea. How exciting! Now if only you could find a recipe for the fried cheese you enjoyed while on mission MrPages….then we’d have a visit!
I’d bet that the subtle differences that you’re tasting are all milk related.
It might have something to do with heating the milk then frothing it. At the store they’ll have a steam wand with which they heat and froth the milk at the same time. Steam is shot into the cold milk at extremely high pressure which both heats and incorporates air into the milk at the same time. The one step process might account for the flavor difference. Milk is funny that way (and you should hear the one about the cow in the bar!).
It could also be that most stores use 1% or 2% for their milk. The extra fat really changes the taste and feel in the mouth.
Also, you’ll notice that every cafe has a thermometer clipped to the side of their frothing pitcher. The milk temperature should never go above 77degC (with a minimum of 65C for steamed milk), apparently after that the taste changes. I’ve never personally tested that one, but I believe it’s true.
AND!!! Did you know that you can froth milk in your French press? They say to put the hot milk in a clean one and use the handle like a butter churn. Also, they say for making stove-top you should whisk/blend it the whole time you’re heating it. The minimum to know when you’re done is temp and at least doubled in volume for both methods.
How’s that for unsolicited semi-expert information!
Ooohhh! I tried foaming the milk in the Bodum, or French press, and it was awesome! Lots more froth than with the hand blender.
I also heated the milk for our normal time and found the temperature about 75C or 167F.
I think from now on we’ll use the French press! We changed the recipe to reflect our new version!
Thanks for the tips, Ash.
fried cheese??
The closest thing we’ve been able to find here is Halloom, which we get at Extra Foods.
It fries up VERY well (follow the instructions on the package), and is dangerously delicious!
http://www.presidentschoice.ca/FoodAndRecipes/GreatFood/ProductDetails.aspx/id/18682/name/PCHalloomSemiSoftUnripenedCheese/catid/184
or
http://preview.tinyurl.com/363hxa
[...] week) and so I set about making the espresso and steaming the chocolate milk for our version of a cafe mocha. One of my children asked to take over. Apparently my husband is training them all to make him [...]
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