Vanilla Syrup for Coffee

Mochas are fairly easy to mix up at home if you happen to have some chocolate or cocoa powder lying around that can be stirred into hot coffee. Drinks that are vanilla-based, although so popular at coffee shops, tend to be a little bit more elusive to the at-home barista – especially if you don’t want to buy the bottled stuff.

This vanilla simple syrup is easy to make and far better than anything out of a bottle. It is two parts sugar to one part water, with a real vanilla bean used to infuse the flavor. You can scale it up to make a huge batch, bottle it yourself and keep it in the fridge for flavoring your own lattes and coffees – not to mention lemonade, iced tea or anything else you might like to sweeten – any time. Using a real vanilla bean, as opposed to vanilla extract, really gives the syrup a great flavor. It may not look that impressive on its own, but it both smells and tastes delicious.

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Spiced Cinnamon Mocha

I’ve had plenty of Mexican hot chocolates that incorporate almond, vanilla and spices like cinnamon and cayenne pepper in with chocolate, and will vouch for the fact that they are – by and large – very delicious. The spices really add a lot of dimension to the chocolate and the overall spiciness of the drinks is addictive. I’m open to adding spices to other drinks, so when I saw a recipe for a Spiced Brazilian Mocha, I knew I had to give it a try. I tweaked the recipe slightly by adding more chocolate, less sugar and using a cinnamon stick as garnish/additional flavoring, as well as by scaling it down to make a single serving.

The result was delicious! Cinnamon, dark chocolate and coffee make a great combination, especially when the drink is topped with whipped cream. This is also simple enough that I would whip it up in a single batch just for myself in the mornings. Quadruple this recipe if you want to make a batch for a small crowd.
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