I hosted an At Home Candy Cafe for a cozy fall Sunday at home with family and friends. The menu featured both lattes and treats that were inspired by Halloween candy classics but made with just simple ingredients in my own kitchen. This was such a fun yet relaxing day and I can’t recommend hosting one for yourself enough!
At Home Candy Cafe
For this cafe, I wanted to keep things simple, so I only featured a few menu items and invited under 10 people. I usually go all out when I host, but lately it has felt a bit overwhelming. Instead of calling the whole thing off, I took myself back to the point of gathering, paired down my ideas/plans and ended up having such a great Sunday at home making lattes and eating homemade candies.
That being said, this cafe can come together super quickly! Also, you can most definitely just opt to make the recipes, or pick and choose just one, of course.
Coffee Essentials:
- Milk Frother
- Espresso Machine
- Nespresso Espresso Machine (so great for hosting!)
- Ice Mold
- Pebble Ice Machine
- Syrup Jars
- Hyperchiller (a must for chilled drinks!)
THE TIMELINE
Hosting and parties of all kinds can seem intimidating or stressful, but I make sure to plan for them in a way that creates the most low stress hosting experience possible so I can actually enjoy the event alongside my guests.
However, I kept this at home cafe was more simple than normal so that I didn’t overwhelm myself during an already very busy season of life. When it all comes down to it, hosting is about getting together with your favorite people, not about having every single event being over the top. Honestly, I considered canceling this cafe, but brought myself back to what is important and just simplified my decor and menu. It made everything much more realistic and it ended up being such a nice, relaxing fall day.
Here is a rough outline of how I would recommend preparing for this specific at home cafe!
Month-Week Prior:
- Invite your guests (of course!)
- Draft a menu and grocery list, inclusive of dietary needs and taste preferences of your guests
- Take inventory of plates, linens & serve ware to ensure you’re covered based on the amount of guests and types of dishes/drinks
- Order any supplies or ingredients that need to be purchased online
- Test out your recipes
Week Of:
- Main grocery shop of everything that can be purchased in advance
- Make crafts/complete DIYs (in this case, the drink menu for display, the coffee cup stickers and the embroidered cafe sign)
- Decorate your space in all the ways that can be done in advance
- Gather and organize all serve ware so it’s ready to be set out
Day Before:
- If needed, secondary grocery shop as soon as the store opens to get any final needs and so you have as much time as possible
- Prep all of the recipes and ingredients that can be made in advance, such as the peanut milk, coffee syrups and treats, in this case (everything can be made in advance!)
- Any final decorating
- Clean and prepare your space so that it’s ready for the final set up
Morning Of:
- Finalize setting up your space and of course, get yourself ready!
- Finish any recipes you saved for the day of
During:
- Take the orders from your guests, make the drinks and have fun!
Bonus Tips:
- Have food made in advance throughout the week that you can eat while prepping because you probably won’t want to be cooking when prepping multiple dishes for your party, plus it saves time!
- Run and empty your dishwasher before the party so you can load everything instead of hand washing and taking up counter space. The easier the cleanup the better!
- Clean your spaces the night before hosting then do last minute touch ups prior to guests arriving
THE MENU
Below is everything that I included on the menu. There are only a few recipes to make and overall is super customizable and in turn dietary inclusive. I always aim to make everything super easy to prepare when hosting so you won’t be stressed putting these together!
Plus, as mentioned, I wanted this cafe to be a little more simplified than normal for my own sanity, haha! But of course, you can really be as intricate or as paired back as you’d like.
Click on the name of the recipe below to be taken to it!
The Drinks:
Reese’s Inspired – Peanut Butter Cup Latte
- 2 oz espresso
- 2 oz chocolate sauce (click here for the recipe!)
- 1/2 cup peanut milk (click here for the recipe!)
- adjust flavors as you wish and enjoy hot or iced!
Snicker’s Inspired – Chocolate Caramel Latte (recipe coming soon!)
- 2 oz espresso
- 2 oz chocolate sauce (click here for the recipe!)
- 2 oz caramel sauce (click here for the recipe!)
- 1/2 cup peanut milk (click here for the recipe!)
- adjust flavors as you wish and enjoy hot or iced!
Apple Orchard Inspired – Caramel Apple Latte, click here!
Pumpkin Patch Inspired – Pumpkin Spice Latte, click here! (I didn’t include this on my menu, but it would be a perfect addition!)
The Treats:
Copycat Reese’s Halloween Shapes, click here!
Butterfinger Inspired Chocolate Covered Honeycomb, click here!
Date & Chocolate Covered Apples (to make, simply smash dates all over the apple in an even layer, then melt together some chocolate with either coconut oil or avocado oil and dip the apple in it!)
Chili (because we needed some protein! I doubled this recipe and added 12 oz of beef bone broth to make it less thick)
A NOTE ON CALORIE COUNT, NUTRITIONAL INFO AND SERVING SIZES
Due to my past experiences, I do not include most of the above information within my recipes as it is unsafe for me to do so personally. While I try to share a rough estimate when it comes to the serving size, please note that it is very subjective as we all have different hunger levels both from person to person and even from meal to meal.
If any of the above information is important to you, I understand! We are all different and have various goals and needs. If you’d like, you are welcome to calculate the information needed based on the ingredients you use when making one of my recipes.
I hope you understand! This comes from a place of love and protection both for myself and others like me. If you ever have any questions, send me an Instagram message for the quickest response time! Thank you for being here!
MORE Hosting/PARTY IDEAS
I LOVE to throw a dinner party and host my family and friends! Click the links below to find some hosting inspiration!
- Italian Summer Themed Dinner Party
- Garden Dinner Party
- At Home Steak Dinner
- Mediterranean Dinner Party
- Nancy Meyers Inspired Dinner Party
- At Home Pizza Parlor Dinner Party
- Witching Hour Wine & Candy Pairing Night
- Farmers Market Cafe
- Not Your Nonna’s Dinner Party
- 80’s Prom Murder Mystery Party
FOLLOW ALONG
Be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok to see all of the behind the scenes of recipe creation as well as how to videos to watch them come to life! You can also head over to my Pinterest to save all of my recipes in one spot that you plan whip up in the future.
PS – If you make any of my recipes, I would be so grateful if you left a review so I can hear what you think! I also am happy to answer any questions you may have on here, but if you want a quicker response, be sure to shoot me a message on Instagram. Thank you so much and talk soon!
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