Cappuccino Alpino
Aug 11, 2007 | From the kitchen of Rose
that’s what elliott calls it after my having called attention to the fact that i have foamed the milk for my cappuccino to a new height resembling the matter horn. i’ve written before on this blog about my preference for foamed milk made with a foamer without the injection of steam produced by the foamers on some espresso machines. but i now have some new information that i think will be of use.
first of all, i found that not all foamers are created equal. if using a hand-held battery operated foamer, aeorlatte is the one that produces the finest, most stable foam. if suddenly the foam seems less impressive it’s time for two new batteries. for ease in use, and a finer foam still, i use the nespresso aerocino which plugs in and makes the process mostly and blissfully automatic.
fellow blogger hector made the important discovery that when chilling the aerocino the foam is still more voluminous. i now keep the aerocino in the frig always at the ready!
but there’s another vital factor to the production of ideal foam and that is the milk. you can have the best apparati and still achieve inferior foam if the milk isn’t right.
non-fat milk probably foams the best but has no flavor. next best is 1% so when i use that, i add a little heavy cream to the espresso. whole milk will also foam well but you have to experiment to find the best brand. i’m sure it has to do with something in the milk production and/ or ingredients added. in my area, cream o’ land whole milk and tuscan 1%, work the best.
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hector
08/16/2009 04:08 PM
here is the cappuccino remolino.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=56663&l=1eca3ef03d&id=100000084691742
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hector
02/24/2009 04:32 PM
Rose, I have been holding off to make this recommendation, because you know how much we love our Nespresso Aeroccino.
So, till now, let me tell you that the grass can be greener with the Bialetti Mukka Express Cappuccino Maker. Luca have just converted, so it is serious business!
There are 2 models, the stovetop and the electric (built in electric base). Both are the same size, except the electric has a narrower water reservoir, thus rated as 1 cup. The stovetop model is rated as 2 cups. My tests indicates that what this really means is 1 large cup or 2 small cups.
The 2 cup model (non electric) gives you a slightly less strong coffee. The 1 cup model (electric) seems to be just right! Luca has the electric model and he loves the fact that it is auto-shut off. But it is the taste of this cappuccino which Luca loves. The foam is huge and so tastefully slightly blended with some coffee already. It is also several degrees hotter than any espresso machine can achieve at home.
Not till now, spending near twice as much for the electric model, seemed non-reasonable, but let me tell you, if you ask me today what is the best cappuccino maker for a single serving: THE BIALETTI ELECTRIC MUKKA EXPRESS.
On my 2 trips to Italy, the past 3 years, the Mukka Express were sold EVERYWHERE in Italy. All colors, including a pink one and a lovely tweetie bird yellow!
Mukka Express away.
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Hector
11/30/2008 12:44 PM
Here more results on my quest of cappuccino perfection and trying to do everything Rose does!
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/aeroccinoDuo.html
No lid, running it twice for two, and rinsing it with plain water from my refrigerator prior each run.
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Rose
09/30/2008 04:57 PM
i also noticed that i can add more milk and it foams better without the lid BUT neither the aeroccino nor the aerolatte are foaming my usual milk well at all and i suspect it could have something to do with fall and the cows feed changing. really weird.
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Hector
09/21/2008 11:41 PM
How many times you noticed that the aeroccino works best when making cappuccino for only ONE; the second time is never as good!
Rose, here is more for you to science on this 'no barista can do it better'. The idea is to replicate as close as possible how milk frothing is done by an Italian barista!
For Elaine's wedding, I was making cappuccinos NON STOP, with my francis francis x5 which performed magnificently pulling single shots continuousy, via ILLY pods. For frothing, I needed to show off the aeroccino, so I used the science and I wrote a one page instruction manual on how to operate my ILLY bar at the wedding! Here as follows:
1- Milk, 2 percent, store in a tall/narrow glass jar (old fashined milk bottle or refrigerator friendly juice jar woks), and sitting on a bucket filled with ice and water. Glass keeps milk colder, and milk must be cold to froth, you know this!
2- Now, you need a second glass jar with just ice and water. Use for rinsing the aeroccino after each use. Fill/empty a few times the aeroccino, dumping back the used ice water into the glass jar. See, the aeroccino must start cold (as previously published on this blog!). This is the fastest way to chill your aeroccino!
3- Do not use the aeroccino lid. I just wanted to avoid loosing this piece. And for some reason, foaming was incredible!
So what is it in summary? Don't use the lid and use the ice water rinse to quickly ready/chill your aeroccino when making more than one serving. After all, for Elaine's wedding, we pulled near 80 shots in 3 hours, and that is perhaps more volume that your neighborhood's coffee shop! I did tell waiting people that wanted to see the frothing action, that the 2 minutes it takes for the aeroccino is faster than walking in, ordering, and waiting in line at your neighborhood's shop!
Here is a photo of my staff, prior to reading my instruction manual!
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/Aeroccino4eighty.html
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Hector
03/25/2008 01:36 PM
http://www.illyusa.com/AB1666000/Hyper/?TSC=EMNL08
Finally, available in the USA. I've seen this new system at several cafes and restaurants in Italy, last November.
Illy is kicking the butt of all other brands with the capsule system. Sure, you are stuck with buying coffee from Illy, but it is still pennies compared to buying a cup of coffee.
The X7, for $395, excellent sale price. Reserve yours today!!!!!!!!!!!
Really, don't look any where else. Perhaps except for the Bialetti's: Moka or Moka Express (for espresso), Mukka (for cappuccino), or Cuore di Moka (for espresso). And the Nespresso Aeroccino (for milk frothing).
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JoAnne
02/09/2008 03:29 PM
Re: high altitude bread baking--475 initial temp--10 min--reduce to 425--takes forever to reach 200 internal temp--raised 425 to 450--still took at least 50 min to reach 200--also to get golden crust, I've needed to cover with foil after 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning. Help with the temp problem--I'm just learning,eating, and enjoying.
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Hector
08/15/2007 03:51 PM
just want to share this picture with you.
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/Aeroccino.html
In case you look for it, the plate is from Murano island (Italy), I picked it myself at one of the many glass shop museums during my visit to Venice. BTW, Luca was so impressed with the Aeroccino that he sent one to his parents in Schio, Veneto!
OMG, just now I've realized, that you can see on this picture the reflection of me on the Aeroccino! I make my cappuccino as I walk out the door and drink it to go in my car, so that means I am usually clean and dressed!
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Rose
08/14/2007 05:24 PM
gnarl, please note that the type of flour you use makes a great difference to the outcome of the bread.
the book i recommend is "pie in the sky" by susan g. purdy. most book stores at high altitude have it or if not, then amazon. and it's not just about pie--it covers bread as well.
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Hector
08/14/2007 01:20 PM
Rose, before my mind goes, I need to tell you that I love using my Aeroccino to top many of my soups that have cream or milk in it. Place some milk foam puddles on top of cream of celery soup, cream of mushroom soup, corn chowder, etc, etc. It makes a stunning presentation (sorry no picture yet).
Of course, if you are entertaining, it is the most perfect way to show off your Aeroccino!
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Matthew
08/14/2007 01:03 PM
I believe her name is Susan Purdy.
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Gnarl
08/14/2007 12:14 PM
One more comment: I just googled for Susan Purdee and high altitude, not useful hits and only from your site... would you be so kind as to me towards her book?
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Gnarl
08/14/2007 12:08 PM
Found it! Left you a comment elsewhere as I was unable (initialy) to find this post and your reply.
I did make the white, again without the altitude adjustments and it too came out dense, but, the flavor was fine.
I'm using bread flour as the base, and generic unbleached flour as the final flour add. ie: I use the generic flour to add to the recipe to make a dough ball after mixing the original ingredients, and as the flour I use to dust the surface.
On the altitude: I'm learning and thus kind of experimenting by NOT using the altitude adjustments. I plan on doing those adjustments next to see the difference and in hopes of gaining more knowledge. The problem I'm running in to is that I'm getting skewed results and am unsure if the results are due to the altitude or something else. After reading the Bread Bible and other material, I expected too much rise and a bread that had little form (from too much rise), flying crusts, or something along those lines, NOT something more dense. Thus my questions.
As for measuring, no, I've not been weighing my ingredients. I've been quite exact with following your recipe save in two respects: the additional flour added to get the ball to just stand away from the sides of the bowl (I add flour until it's still sticky, but, it mostly seperates from the mixing bowl) and I adjusted the salt in the white bread recipe down as I didn't have unsalted butter to work with. I went to 2tsp where the recipe called for 1Tsp (if I recall correctly). That seemed to work fine for the white as it was not salty to the taste.
I'll research Susan Purdees comments here and thanks for the replies!
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Rose
08/13/2007 02:22 PM
re the hi altitude bread question, you understood correctly about the over-rising and then collapsing. i suggest you reread that section in my book about hi altitude and about the baguette as that is the trickiest bread to produce even at sea level.
since your bread was too salty i have to wonder about the amount of flour you are adding since it doesn't appear that you're weighing. you also don't mention what type of flour which is critical to the success of the baguette.
good idea to try the basic white as a point of reference.
also do a search on the blog for high altitude as susan purdee has a great website and surely will be helpful. i live at sea level and can only hypothesize.
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Rose
08/13/2007 02:18 PM
kiki! i hope you found the posting of my visit to germany with a lovely photo of you.
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Anonymous
08/13/2007 10:14 AM
Thanks for the response Rose. I was figuring on lowering the salt next try, but, am unsure how to fix the density. It's just not as airy as I expect French bread to be. We're trying the basic white today (without the high altitude adjustments) to see if it comes out too dense. By rising and falling, do you mean that it will rise too quickly, then fall and the end result will be more dense?
Is there a better way to post this, other than commenting on a previous entry in the blog?
No matter what... many thanks!
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Kierstin Powers
08/12/2007 09:20 AM
Rose!...its kiki[kk]-your nephew alex's sister-in-law,that you met in Germany!i'm so glad i can finally get in touch with you.your work is beautious!
miss you.hope you are healthy,safe,inspired,and on fire with creativity!
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Rose
08/12/2007 08:33 AM
jeff, i have never had bread stick to parchment. you could try flouring it first .
grarl, high altitude will cause the bread to rise too much and then collapse. as to the saltiness, i don't think you're weighing your ingredients bc as you can see from the percentages at the bottom of the recipe the salt is not excessive BUT if you prefer less just use less.
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Gnarl
08/11/2007 11:24 PM
I've recently tried the French Bread recipe from the Bread Bible twice. Both times the bread has been dense and salty... the salty taste is evenly distributed through the bread, so, I'm sure that I'm getting an even mix, but, it's definitely more salty than needs be. Granted, the bread is edible as is... just a bit on the salty side... am I getting redundant?
The first time I do not believe I kneaded the bread thoroughly enough, and the bagette came out fairly flat, dense with a good crust. The second time I decided to just go with a boule and it did rise more, had a good crust, but, the bread was again, fairly dense. None of the holes and light airy feel I expect from a French bread.
One other observation: I am at about 5000 feet altitude so I know I should go for the high altitude changes but have not tried that yet. I thought if anything, I'd get a lighter less dense loaf, not a more dense loaf, from our altitude and not using the high altitudes changes. The first rise seems to be somewhere between 2 to 3 times the original mass, but, when I form the loaf and leave it to rise (loosely covered under plastic wrap) it does not rise much for the second rise... I'm wondering if this is part of the problem with the density of the final loaf.
Any suggestions you can give will help.
Many thanks,
Gnarl
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jeff
08/11/2007 05:49 PM
rose,
quick question - i have followed your practice of baking dough on a sheet pan with parchment for the first 20 minutes, then transferring to the stone for final baking. i understand this will help delicate dough, but the issue i have been having is that the parchment becomes adhered to the bottom of the bread. (i hope the small amounts of parchment paper i have been consuming will have no long term affects!) i have decided to switch back to just putting the dough directly on the stone, and it seems fine.
i was just curious what was going on...
thanks,
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Hector
08/11/2007 12:15 PM
now, that is what call heights!
Try this when assembling your cappucino. Of course, first fill your cup with espresso. Second, put the foam on your cup: use a spoon to scoop the foam from your nespresso aerocino without touching the milk on the bottom. Second, pour the milk. As you pour the milk, the foam will rise into a dome the shape of your cup!
You need to use a cup that is just big enough to hold the final product, like on the picture. You don't want a cup too big, you want the foam to be above the rim. When you pour the milk, don't pour right on the middle of the foam, it will make a hole! Pour the milk on the side right by the rim of your cup.... when you photograph, put this 'milk hole' on the back!
Magic!
P.S. I think if your capuccino cup is well prewarmed, the foam rises better or stays high longer on the cup. But this, I will let you test it and publish!
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