It's cold outside and inside you can enjoy a hot coffee or cocoa with delicious milk foam.
In this context, you surely know “latte art”? The art of pouring the milk foam in such a way that small pictures are created in the milk foam. These can be, for example, hearts, leaves, flowers and much more. But latte art is not that easy.
Decorating the milk foam with small motifs is also easier with motifs made from fine cocoa powder. All you need is stable milk foam, cocoa powder and of course a stencil.
Using the stencil, you can conjure up very individual motifs or messages from cocoa powder onto the milk foam. You don't need much to make your own winter coffee stencil for milk foam.
Material for your winter coffee stencil for milk foam
In fact, all you need is 3mm thick acrylic and your Mr Beam.
Depending on the motif, you can also choose thinner acrylic. However, the thinner acrylic breaks much more quickly and the motifs or letters must never be too delicate.
Mr Beam Acrylic Suitable for [x] Various Colours, 3mm, A3
Sale price
CHF 16.00
Mr Beam Acrylic, suitable for [S] and [x], 3 mm, DIN A3, various colours
Sale price
From CHF 16.00
Mr Beam Acrylic Bo[x]
Sale price
CHF 181.00
Create your DIY coffee stencil for milk foam
To make your own DIY coffee stencil for milk foam, start your Mr Beam and open the Mr Beam software in your browser.
In the Mr Beam Design Store you will find the file for this tutorial with two finished coffee stencils for milk foam with winter motifs.
In this file you will also find a template for your coffee, which you can design yourself.
You can use “Download” to download the coffee stencil to your PC so that you can then insert your own individual motifs or messages into your graphics program. After editing, you save your template and then simply drag & drop it back into the workspace of the Mr Beam software.
You can also find very simple shapes for your self-designed coffee stencil, such as stars or circles, directly in the work area of the Mr Beam software under “Shape”. In the design store you can also find other beautiful motifs that you can use for your milk foam stencil for your coffee.
Laser milk foam stencil for coffee made of acrylic
Place the acrylic in the Mr Beam. I always recommend removing the film on the acrylic only after lasering. This way you prevent unsightly laser marks and have clear-cutting edges afterwards.
The colour of the acrylic for your coffee stencil for milk foam doesn't matter, and you can choose it according to your taste. You align your stencil on your material using the camera preview. In order to get the most accurate preview image possible, it is important to set the material height.
You can then access the laser settings via “Laser”.
There you choose “acrylic”, as well as colour and thickness.
After focusing the laser head, you can get started: Start the laser job and watch as your very own DIY coffee stencil for milk foam is created.
After lasering, take the acrylic out of the Mr Beam. For the elements that don't fall out of your stencil on their own, you can use a pencil or something similar to help push them out. Then remove the foil and clean the acrylic with nail polish remover to remove any residue from lasering.
And your very own DIY coffee stencils for milk foam are ready.
But there are still a few things to consider for the perfect milk foam.
The perfect, long-lasting milk foam for your coffee stencil
Which milk is best?
There is no clear answer as to which milk or milk alternative is best for frothing your coffee stencil.
Of course, cow's milk, lactose-free cow's milk or goat's milk can be used for milk foam.
But vegan alternatives such as oat milk, soy milk, hazelnut milk and many other types can also be frothed well into milk foam.
The protein and fat content is important. Two essential building blocks for the formation of bubbles when frothing milk for your coffee stencil.
For cow's milk it should be around 3g and for plant-based alternatives around 1g.
A quick look at the nutritional information on the milk packaging or milk bottle provides information.
The best way to froth milk alternatives for your coffee stencil is with the so-called Barista Editions. This means that frothing works even with almond milk or coconut milk, which is quite watery, because stabilizers are added.
And how do I get milk foam for my stencil?
The basic rule is: the milk foam should be warm, otherwise it will cool the coffee down too much. However, the milk or the vegan alternative should not be heated above 65–68 degrees when heating, because if the milk gets too hot, it will burn and the protein will curdle.
The milk foam then collapses and the taste also suffers.
You can froth the milk or milk alternatives using a steam nozzle on a fully automatic coffee machine or a prefilter machine. Here, the milk is frothed and heated at the same time.
Then there are manual and electric milk frothers. Here you get cold milk foam. You can then simply warm the cup again briefly in the microwave.
Induction milk frothers are better. They heat and foam at the same time. In addition, induction is very energy-saving.
And what about the cocoa for your winter coffee stencil
Side fact: In the past, cafés and restaurants used the decoration of the milk foam to cover up the less good taste of a coffee with the cocoa note.
Instant cocoa has large sugar crystals that would simply destroy the fine bubbles if they hit the milk foam.
Highly deoiled cocoa is best suited for sprinkling on the milk foam using your DIY stencil. You then sprinkle this through your stencil through a very fine sieve, and you have a delicious hot coffee with perfect milk foam and a great cocoa decoration.
I hope you have fun imitating it - and playing barista ;-)
Your Rina
