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When I hear the words Fall or Autumn, these images pop into my head:

Also, I am more inclined to use my oven to make vegetable roasts, poultry, and pumpkin pie. This time of the year, I like to try out new jams and experiment with anything that has pumpkin in it, except for pumpkin lattes at cafes. I remember paying $5 for a small pumpkin latte a few years ago and I threw it out after 5 sips. I couldn’t stand the flavors and haven’t been so inclined to mix pumpkin with espresso since then. However, Satish has a homemade espresso everyday and almost everyday I am tempted to make a specialty drink. However, he likes to keep it rather simple when it comes to his basic staples (coffee, cereal, rice) and prefers that I leave the experimenting to myself. I have waited a whole year to buy pumpkins, pumpkin purees, pumpkin spices, and pumpkin butter and I have been determined to make the best use of all my newly acquired pumpkin products. So when I woke up to rainfall yesterday morning, I knew that it was the day to make a pumpkin latte.

Indian-Spiced Pumpkin Latte

Serves 2.
Ingredients:
2 cups  milk, organic preferred
2 tablespoons Pumpkin Butter*
1-2 teaspoons sugar, unrefined, unprocessed preferred**
1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder, fresh if possible
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3-4 strands of saffron,  soaked in 1 tsp water for 15-30 mins (optional)
2 shots espresso or 1/2 cup brewed coffee***
1/4 cup milk to create a foam with espresso machine  (optional)

1. Add milk, pumpkin butter, cardamom powder, soaked saffron with its water, and ginger in a saucepan. Gently whisk to combine all of the ingredients and make sure the Pumpkin Butter is mixed in well (no lumps). Taste the mixture and add sugar if needed.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil on  medium heat. Remove from the stove, and give the saucepan a whirl. While the mixture is coming to a boil, make the espresso or coffee. Also, make the foam using the milk steamer on your espresso machine or a foamer. Keep an eye on the mixture, though.

3. Pour into two mugs and add espresso on top. Add foam from steamed milk on top if desired.

**If using store bought pumpkin butter, read the ingredients! Simple, unprocessed pumpkin butter has the following ingredients: pumpkin, spices, apple cider or lemon, and sugar.

**The pumpkin butter is really sweet, so hold off until adding sugar until you taste all of the ingredients. Also, white sugar is highly processed and I encourage you to try alternatives, such as unrefined Muscovado sugar.

***Read why Fair Trade coffee is a better option and how you can help poor farmers by making the better choices here. This latte can be made completely Fair Trade by using Fair Trade coffee, sugar, and spices.

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