How to Make Pumpkin Puree + Home-made Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe

Hi y'all! In the past two weeks I've been extra busy with a trip home to Miami and midterms, so I haven't been able to update. In fact I still have one more midterm to go, but I decided to take a break from the studying to make myself a pumpkin spice latte!
A few weeks ago, I got some pie pumpkins because I couldn't find any canned pumpkin. I wanted to make pumpkin puree with these fresh pumpkins but I kept putting it off. I finally did it today and it was nowhere near as annoying or time consuming as I thought it was! Here's a step-by-step guide:

I started off with 3 pie pumpkins. This yielded A LOT of pumpkin puree so some might want less. The good thing is that you can freeze the puree and use it later!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the pumpkins in half.

With a large, metal spoon, take out the seeds and stringy parts.

Then, cut the halves in fourths and place them inside down in a roasting pan.

Add a cup of water into the pan.

Place in oven and bake for about 45 mins or until tender enough to stick a fork through the skin and have it go through easily.

You can see that I poked all of the chunks with my fork. Some of them were less baked than others, I put those pieces back in the oven until the inside was a dark orange color.

Place on a plate to cool for 5-10 mins and then scrape the inside off of the skin. It should come off very easily.

Place the pumpkin chunks into a food processor or stand mixer bowl and mix until it reaches desired consistency!

Using that pumpkin puree, I made my very own home-made pumpkin spice latte!

Home-made Pumpkin Spice Latte

What you'll need:

• 2 cups milk
• 1-2 shots of espresso, depending on how strong you like your latte
• 1.5 tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 1/8th teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8th teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons sugar

First, make your espresso through your desired method (I use a stovetop bialetti mocha thingy or my Nespresso machine)
Then, in a small pot over medium heat, pour in milk and add pumpkin, spices, vanilla extract and sugar. Stir with a whisk until the milk has reached 140 degrees (or hotter if you'd like, but not over 160).
Pour the espresso in a mug and pour pumpkin milk mixture over it. Top with whipped cream if you'd like and enjoy!

• a dash of ground ginger