Recipe #32: instant decaf lowbrow fake café au lait

Apparently this is similar to a coffee beverage that was trendy during the pandemic, providing comfort and joy to many folks during a dark time. I, being tremendously untrendy, was unaware of this. 

I think of this recipe as the café au lait introduced to me in 1991 in Nice, France, by my Canadian friend who was living there as a poor exchange student. She drank the caffeinated version of this daily with her baguette and croissants. I thought she was wonderfully sophisticated and chic, and fully trusted her knowledge of all things French.

Take all of this with a grain of sel, however, as my friend, although fluent in French and living La vie française, also confessed to me that she missed Tim Hortons coffee. Insert le eye roll.

Ingredients:

Directions:

Pour some whole milk into a cup of choice. I am using a homemade pottery café au lait cup:


Microwave on high for about 2 minutes, so that the milk is steaming hot:


Add a teaspoon or so of sugar and about two teaspoons of instant coffee (I’m using decaf here):



Stir well, and voilà!



It doesn’t get easier—or, dare I say better?—than this!

C’est si bon!

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