Hello beautiful cats! How are you? Have you celebrated Halloween this year? To be honest, I wasn’t feeling very festive, but I still wore my “Black Cat Appreciation Society” shirt, because I am a witch, and love black cats (obviously I love ALL cats, but black cats have a special place in my heart – and on my blanket, sofa, chairs, coffee table, bed etc.).

It’s been an okay week, and I’m trying to keep the promise (to myself) to do less/take less commitments for the last two months of the year, so next week has a couple of events planned but nothing too crazy.

To prepare myself, both mentally and physically, I am currently joyfully sipping a homemade chai latte – I didn’t know that making chai tea is quite easy, can be made with spices that probably are already in your cupboard and it takes very little preparation. And it’s the most comforting drink for autumn! So here is the recipe for a Vegan Chai Latte (& Chai Spice Mix) by Bakerita.

Ingredients

For the chai spice mix

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

For the latte

• 2 cups almond milk, or dairy-free milk of choice
• 2 bags black tea
• 1–2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, to taste

Instructions

For the chai spice mix

1. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the spices until fully incorporated. Transfer to a spice jar.

For the latte

1. In a small saucepan, heat the almond milk until scalding. Turn off the heat and add the black tea bags, let steep for about 5 minutes and then remove the tea bags.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of the chai spice mix and 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup and whisk to combine. Taste, and add more spice/maple syrup as desired. You can also transfer the mixture to a blender and blend to combine, which will add some foam, or mix with a hand frother.
3. Serve in one or two mugs, topped with some dairy-free whipped cream and a dusting of chai spice mix, if desired!

[Just a note, that if you have cardamom pods, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks and cloves at hand, you can quickly toast them and add to the black tea – just remember to strain!]

Enjoy!

Love,

TVCL xx