Cappuccino — Recipes

Name: Cappuccino
Cook time: 25 s
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 7 g Ground coffee; 100 ml Fresh whole milk

Parameters

Ground coffee: 7 g
Yield in cup: 5.1 fl oz
Water temperature: 190 °F
Pressure: 131 psi
Extraction time: 25 s
Cup: 5.4 fl oz

Grind: The same as for espresso: a cappuccino starts from a Certified Italian Espresso.

Served in: White feldspar porcelain cup, 150–160 ml

The extraction time does not change: for two cappuccinos you use the double basket and steam the milk in a single jug, not in two goes.

Ingredients

7 g Ground coffee — For the espresso base
3.4 fl oz Fresh whole milk — Cold, 3–5 °C · protein ≥ 3.2%, fat ≥ 3.5%

Method

Pull the espresso

25 ml into a cappuccino cup, to the parameters of Certified Italian Espresso.
Steam the milk

100 ml of cold milk in the jug. Introduce air only at the start, then sink the wand to create the vortex.
Stop at temperature

Take the milk to around 55 °C: beyond that the foam separates and a cooked taste covers the coffee.
Pour and close

Pour from the centre, then lift the jug to close the dome. The cup is served full.

Common mistakes

The foam separates from the coffee → the milk went past about 55 °C: the protein can no longer hold it.
Large bubbles instead of microfoam → the wand is too deep, or air was introduced for too long.
No dome → milk too low in protein, or steamed in a jug too large for 100 ml.
Never re-steam leftover milk: it will not emulsify a second time.

Certified Italian Cappuccino has existed since 2006 and is as codified as espresso: 25 ml of certified espresso, 100 ml of cold milk steamed to about 125 ml, in a white porcelain cup of 150–160 ml, served full with the dome clearly visible.

The least known constraint is on the milk: protein ≥ 3.2% and fat ≥ 3.5%. Below those thresholds the microfoam will not hold, and no amount of technique fixes it.