There is something very comforting about a colorful mug full of hot coffee topped with white froth. Holding it between your palms, curled around the cup and, ideally, tucked beneath a blanket, it’s a recurring position when the weather turns cool, then cold, then frigid. It’s a happy place for me, one of the lovely aspects of the darker months of the year. With the holidays, those mugs of coffee and frothy tops are multiplied as is the company. It’s the best! This year, for our family gatherings, I wanted to add a little “handcrafted-ness” to our cups of Jo. While not exactly coffee art, these coffees with holiday stencils are much easier to handle and are just as smile-inducing. I am super excited to have a gorgeous coffee pic to add to my ‘gram. Especially since it’s homemade!
To get my supplies, I headed to Target, the same place I got my mugs this past summer. I couldn’t believe how perfect they matched this holiday paper I had in my collection. The coffee aisle is one of my favorite places because it smells so wonderful. I picked out 1850™ Brand Coffee for its bold flavors (and classy packaging). 1850™ Brand Coffee is made with fire-roasted, steel-cut coffee beans for a bold and smooth taste. Honestly, when deciding which roast to buy, between Lantern Glow, Trailblazer, Pioneer Blend, and Black Gold, I wanted them all. Seriously, drinking Black Gold would be an amazing, motivating start to the day.
The secret to these festive mugs is, of course, the white froth. Because we regularly choose dairy-free “milk” products, I grabbed So Delicious Dairy Free Coconutmilk Creamer from Target. It’s delicious and made with organic and non-GMO Project verified coconuts. After a bit of Googling, I was well on my way to the beautiful white froth of my dreams. This is how I did it. First, I poured some creamer into a glass measuring cup and warmed it. There is some science element about the stability of warm froth, especially when paired with hot coffee. Cool, right? Once the creamer was warm, I used my immersion blender with the whisk attachment and whipped up some froth. Then I spooned it into our mugs. That’s it! I’m thinking of adding froth to everything now.
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Then it’s on to stenciling. First, you have to make your holiday stencils. Using cardstock, I created mine with text and shapes in Cricut Design Space. If you have one, you can download the PNG files below. If you don’t have a Cricut, download this PDF and cut them out by hand (gonna need an Xacto knife for these!). Or make your own! I think a set of hand-cut snowflakes would make really cool drink-topper stencils.
Christmas Star – Holiday Hearts – Joy – Merry – Peace
Then, to use the stencil, lay it over the cup filled with hot coffee and frothy bliss. Place cocoa powder or cinnamon in a small mesh strainer. Hold the strainer above the stencil-topped-cup and gently tap it to dust the stencil. Cover to your desired thickness and then remove the stencil. Too much or too little dusting can make for an unclear stencil. Also, avoid too much froth. It will stick to the paper stencil and wreak havoc on the design.
As I said, I feel like I need to start topping all my drinks with froth. A white froth mustache would be an acceptable look for the holidays. So let’s snuggle down and enjoy our mugs and company.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Danone and The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine.
