Barraquito, a Canarian Coffee Speciality

First fill approximately quarter of the glass with sweet condensed milk, not less than 10% fat

Now put hot, fresh espresso on top of the condensed milk

At last top everything with milk froth

Sweet condensed milk is made from cow's milk from which water has been removed and up to 45% of sugar is added. The result is a very thick and very sweet product.

Nowadays sweet condensed milk and condensed milk have become synomymous although there has been an unsweetened product before as well. Nowadays it is almost not used anymore.

Sweet condensed milk is used in a huge variety of dessert dishes as well as for sweetening cakes and cookies.

Don't mx it up with evaporated milk. It is processed in a different way and not sweetened.

Espresso is a coffee that is made with pushing very hot water under high pressure through very fine, almost powdery, grounded coffee. The result of this process is a very concentrated coffee which is often used as a base for other beverages.

There are three ways of preparing espresso:
an automatic coffee and espresso center
a manual espresso machine
a stovetop espresso maker

For preparing a tasty espresso you can use any kind of coffee bean or roast level. It is a myth, that just some special beans or roasts can be used. Try different beans and different roasts to discover your preference.

You can use any type of fresh milk to froth although the quality and consistency will vary. While whole milk makes a richer, finer foam, skimmed milk tends to make it more stiff.

Heat the milk in a saucepan or even in the microwave until it is almost boiling and pour it in a cup which is not much wider than the diameter of the frother to use.

Let the frother twirl until the desired amount of froth is reached.

If you don't have a frother handy, you can also use a simple wire whisk.

Sometimes you will find barraquito with a lacing of Tia Maria or Licor 43 and some lemon zest, which is usually called barraquito especial or barraquito completo.

Also you will find it reffered as zaperoco, which is usually taken after the food as a kind of dessert, cause of its very sweet taste.