Kevin's Cinnamon Spiced Caramel Mocha

Kevin the Bacon slowed things down for this one — a cinnamon stick simple syrup steeped low and easy, strained clean, then swirled into a rich caramel-cacao mocha for a warm, spiced sip that tastes like fall in a mug.

▶ Watch the video

Ingredients

• •1 cup water (for the cinnamon syrup)
• •4 cinnamon sticks, broken (for the cinnamon syrup)
• •1/2 cup white sugar (for the cinnamon syrup)
• •1 cup heavy cream (for the mocha)
• •1 tablespoon cacao powder (for the mocha)
• •1 teaspoon caramel (for the mocha)
• •1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract (for the mocha)

Steps

1. Make the cinnamon syrup: Combine the water, white sugar, and broken cinnamon sticks in a small pot and bring to a boil.
2. Steep: Remove from the heat and let the cinnamon syrup steep for 1 hour, then set aside.
   1:00:00 Start ↶
3. Whisk the mocha base: In a separate pot, whisk together the heavy cream, cacao powder, caramel, and chocolate extract. Mix everybody up and let everyone get to know each other.
4. Bring to a boil: Bring the mocha base to a large, bubbly boil, then take it off the heat.
5. Strain the syrup: Run the steeped cinnamon syrup through a fine sifter to strain out the cinnamon sticks and any impurities.
6. Infuse and finish: Stir the strained cinnamon syrup into the hot mocha base to infuse the flavors, then serve warm.