I think most people like Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte, right?  But lately, there’s been a flurry of articles about how bad the ingredients are in the famed PSL.  I’m not exactly scared to drink a PSL, but reading about carcinogens in a tasty drink doesn’t make me want to buy one immediately either.  So what if you told me I could save money and drink a healthier, more natural beverage in my very own home?  That’s a win.

Maybe “healthier” isn’t the right word for the homemade version of this drink.  There’s sugar and heavy cream.  There’s also pumpkin and spice.  Real pumpkin.  I don’t often find a tasty beverage that includes veggies from our very own garden.  No known carcinogens there!  I’ll let you decide if you’ll call this healthier or not.

We don’t have espresso hanging out in our cupboard, so I used strong coffee instead.  The recipe from The Kitchn calls for 1 or 2 shots of espresso.  We used over half a cup of coffee (the actual mug, not a measuring cup), then filled almost to the top of the cup with the cream mixture and heaped in the whipped cream on top of that.  Next time, I think I would go with 2/3 a cup of coffee and 1/3 a mug of creamer.  Anyway, it was delicious.

The best part was the homemade whipped cream.  Along the edge of the cup, it melts into the coffee and makes the most perfect whipped cream texture ever.  It’s like a fluffier, more grown-up version of the perfectly melted marshmallow in a perfect cup of hot chocolate.  I don’t even think I’m exaggerating here.  Try it, maybe on a special occasion when you don’t mind whipping out the blender and the mixer for a morning drink.  Our special occasion today was free time.

Happy homemade breakfast dessert in a cup!