Welcome back to QCK!
I’m so excited to share today’s recipe, I’ve been working on it for a couple weeks and it’s finally perfect. Horchata Iced Latte. These are such a treat. They’re not too sweet, not too bitter, loaded with cinnamon, and super creamy despite being dairy free. Yes, I said DAIRY FREE! I’ll admit the process is slightly lengthy, there’s a lot of downtime, but this is a big batch recipe that can hang out in your fridge for about a week, so it’s totally worth it.
So, this horchata is (obviously) rice based, but the natural creaminess comes from almonds, which are blanched and then soaked with the rice, coffee and cinnamon. If you can’t do nuts or don’t want to, you can of course omit the almonds and simply mix in your favorite dairy or non-dairy milk/cream AFTER blending and straining. I would suggest just adding the cream as you pour each glass.
Like I said above, this isn’t a super sugary recipe, you can add and take away sugar according to your personal preferences. When blended, the rice and almonds release their natural sugars as well as naturally sweet flavors. Almonds take on an almost cherry like (amoretto) flavor when blended and it’s a really nice compliment to the coffee. But the star of the show is the cinnamon, it brings really warm, sweet notes and a really nice aroma to the drink.
Subsitutions and Add Ons
- Cinnamon Sticks can be substituted for 3 TBSP of ground cinnamon.
- Coffee Grounds can be substituted with iced coffee, just add it at the end.
- Almonds can be omitted, cut the amount of water form 10 cups to 6 cups and add your favorite dairy or non-dairy milk/cream at the end.
- Brown Sugar can be substituted for granulated.
Tips and Tricks
- The longer you allow the mixture to blend, the smoother it will be during straining. You’ll also get a stronger almond and rice flavor.
- The best way to strain is to place a coffee filter inside of a fine mesh strainer and let it drain as slowly as possible. This will ensure a creamy, smooth texture.
- The mixture will settle and separate when left to sit in the fridge, it’s perfectly fine and natural, just give it a shake before you pour.
Recipe
| Prep: 30 Min | Downtime: 5-12 Hours | Category: Drinks | Servings: 6-8 |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 C Raw, Unsalted Almonds
- 2 1/2 C Long Grain White Rice
- 1 1/4 C Brown Sugar
- 1 C Ground Coffee, I use medium roast
- 2 Cinnamon Sticks
- 2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 10 C Filtered Water
Directions
- Start by blanching the almonds. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, add the almonds, continue to boil for one minute, then strain and run under cold water.
- In a large bowl or pitcher, place almonds, rice, brown sugar, coffee, cinnamon sticks, vanilla and water. Stir well.
- Cover and refrigerate 4-12 hours, I try to aim for about 8 hours.
- Remove from fridge and set up a work space that consists of your unblended horchata mixture, a ladle, a blender, and a large bowl or pitcher fitted with a fine mesh strainer and a coffee filter placed inside the strainer.
- Using a ladle, fill the blender about 3/4 full with the horchata mix. In each ladle, try to get some rice, almonds, coffee, and water. It doesn’t have to be perfect because it will all get mixed together in the end, but it works best the more evenly everything is distributed.
- Cover and blend on high until smooth and creamy, 4-5 minutes.
- Turn the blender off and let the mixture settle for a minute or two.
- Slowly pour the contents of the blender over the coffee filter. The slower you pour, the less time you will need to let the mixture strain because the grainy solids will come slower and mostly at the end.
- Allow the mixture to drip slowly, if you want to speed up the process you can gently push the solids away from the center of the strainer and firmly tap the side of the strainer with a wooden spoon.
- Discard any solids and replace the coffee filter for the next round.
- Repeat steps 5-10 until all the horchata is blended and strained.
- Serve over ice.
- Place leftover horchata in an airtight pitcher or carafe, refrigerate up to 5 days.
- Shake well before serving.
As always, I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you tried it out let me know in the comments. For more recipes check out my homepage and follow along on Instagram. Don’t forget to like, follow, comment and share. Thanks for reading!
Quarter Cup Kitchen 