How to create heart latte art this Valentines Day

With the season of love approaching, why not add something extra to your lattes to spread the love. Latte art is a great way to add a creative twist to your drinks and is especially useful in showing someone you care.

Latte art is not limited to expert baristas and by following some simple steps, you can create a heart on your own lattes this Valentine’s Day.

A cup of silky smooth espresso is a great foundation for your drink and adds to both the flavour and appearance of your finished result. Equally, having a cup of smooth steamed milk is necessary to achieve a creamy latte and smooth base to blend your latte art into. To ensure maximum smoothness, tap your steamed milk on the edge of your counter to pop any air bubbles.

When pouring in your steamed milk, the speed, height, and position of the pour are key factors in what make your latte art crisp and bold instead of creating a segmented and unclear image.

To start with, pour the milk from a height of four inches above and move your pitcher (milk frothing jug) around to ensure the contents beneath the top froth are blended well. The pour from this height will enable the majority of the steamed milk to go beneath the surface leaving behind the froth in the pitcher.

When the cup is between half and three quarters full, bring the pitcher close to the surface of the cup and when the froth starts to appear on the surface, adjust your speed to a steady pour. Once a circular shape starts to form, keep pouring the milk in that one spot until your cup is full and then in a steady motion, move your pitcher through the middle of the shape to create a heart.

To create a more detailed heart design, after the foamy circle starts to appear, shake the pitcher while adding in the remaining milk to create a multiple circle effect and finish the same way.

For a pink coloured heart, you could add some red food colouring to the frothed milk and pour into a heart shape.

This simple method will allow your lattes to have a bespoke personal touch and the extra effort will certainly be appreciated by whoever may receive your work of art.