DIY: Cappuccino Heart Stencil

I've been on a major coffee kick - because I now have a Nespresso Machine in my office - thanks to Nespresso who gifted this gorgeous machine to me for Christmas! So grateful!

Speaking of coffee, I decided to get creative today & create an easy DIY heart stencil for your next cup of cappuccino.  This is a creative way to bring a SMILE to anyone's face this Holiday!  It's like 1-2-3 .......that easy, so here we go!

Step 1: Fold a piece of paper in half, then using a scissor, cut a heart shape on the folded end like I did above. You are going to use the cut out - not the heart.  So don't worry too much about the heart shape at this point, just throw that part away.  The cut-out you can be perfected by using your scissor & making it more shapely if you wish.  Make it pretty because... that will end up being your stencil.

Step 2: So, here it is below, my heart stencil!  It's exactly the shape I want it - so now we can bring on the coffee & the cocoa powder.  I'm using Nespresso coffee for this project along with Scharffenberger sweetened cocoa powder.  You can use un-sweetned too, doesn't matter.

Step 3: I then take my heart stencil & place it over the cup of foamy cappuccino & while holding it with one hand, I sprinkle the cocoa powder all over it, making it nice & dark!  Best to use a shaker tin so the powder comes out slowly & even.

Remove the stencil carefully & ta da!!! There you have it - a beautiful heart cappuccino!! Neat huh?

P.S. Don't forget to enter our Nespresso machine giveaway here.

-images by jen ramos

Food: Cappuccino-Cocoa Nib Popsicles

My husband is the coolest. 

He loves making great meals (slash) desserts for me. Lately one of my favorite things he's made are popsicles. He is DETERMINED to make as many different types of flavors! So far, he's whipped up some blueberry yogurt, cappuccino, coconut & plum flavors! 

Today I wanted him to guest post on MadeByGirl & show you how cute this recipe is. Enjoy!

Hello ladies (& guys) - Jen loves both coffee & chocolate so I thought this would be a neat way to get both into a nice, cool treat for her.  Love when I can make her smile. 

Here's how to make these delicious popsicles.

 

Ingredients:

4 shots espresso

1 1/2 C vanilla soy milk

1/4 C agave

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp coffee extract

1/4 C cocoa nibs

Ok, let's make it:
 

While making the espresso, froth the milk. We made these using a Nespresso with the Aeroccino on the cold setting but you can also make them with a hand frother or even whipping the milk with a whisk.  Put all the liquid ingredients into a small pitcher and mix together.  Fill each mold half way with the mix, then add 2 tsp of nibs.  

Fill the molds up the rest of the way and freeze. Note that this method, most of the nibs will eventually sink so they will be at the top of the popsicle. 

If you want to have them mix evenly, first freeze the mix until it becomes slushy, add the nibs to the mix and then pour or spoon it into the molds for final freezing. Makes 6 popsicles.

By the way - these are Tovolo molds that we got at Basics Plus.

Let me know if you end up making these & how you like them.

You can see more of the goodies my husband makes for me on his blog- MadeForJen & on my Pinterest!

-images by jen ramos
-post by Mat