12 Home Cafe Drinks and Treats For Hosting 22 Guests

I had a mini home cafe event for 22 of my closest family and friends, and here’s everything I made, from drinks to desserts. Using 12 recipes perfect for hosting that not only uses simple ingredients, but are super easy to prep ahead, I spent a week recipe testing for treats like Cinnamon Buns and Matcha Shortbread Cookies with my mom, and a full day prepping the savory foods and drinks. So, here’s how I turned my house into a cafe in just one week for 22 of my favorite people.

Home Cafe Matcha Drinks

My home cafe is a matcha cafe because of my recent obsession with matcha lattes. For a slightly warmer week, I chose a menu of iced matcha drinks, with a hot ginger tea. These are drinks that I’ve made every day for the past month, and I won’t need to do extra recipe testing. Making each matcha drink by hand for my loved ones also just feels so intimate. It’s the perfect level of effort to show my appreciation!

Matcha Latte with Matcha Cold Foam

This matcha latte is my go-to pick-me-up, and there’s no better drink for my cafe event. Creamy, smooth, and umami-packed, this matcha latte make me feel like I’m starting my morning right. A creamy matcha latte, topped with fluffy cold foam, was the easiest way to impress my cafe guests. Even if it’s a simple drink, its layered presentation looks so professional!

Strawberry Matcha Latte

For those who like fruity, creamy drinks, I had this Strawberry Matcha Latte on the menu. This latte is served with 3 distinct beautiful layers: strawberry jam, milk, and matcha, and the easiest reminder of Taiwan’s Boba Shops. This easy 5 minute matcha drink is so pretty – and super delicious. Earthy, tart, and creamy…who knew strawberry was such a great match for matcha? You can make it right at home with matcha and my easy strawberry syrup, so try it today!

Yuzu Mint Tonic and Matcha Lemon Tonic

For my friends who are non-dairy, there’s tons of options too – with my Yuzu Mint Toni and Matcha Lemon Tonic. The Matcha Lemon tonic is such an easy way to enjoy matcha completely dairy-free. They’re a healthy but refreshing dose of Vitamin C and antioxidance, in the form of a fun drink. Both drinks are so easy to prep for 22 people, and can be made ahead of time to make serving drinks such a breeze!

Brown Sugar Ginger Tea

Since it is still winter, I had to add something hot to drink onto my menu. This Brown Sugar Ginger Syrup is the perfect base for a cup of hot ginger tea to warm you up while you’re curled on the couch reading a new book. It hits the spot on those cold winter days and always leaves me feeling so, so cozy. This tea is not only easy to make in syrup form, you can turn that syrup into candied ginger and ginger syrup cubes for easy storage! One sip of this sweet ginger tea feels like a big warm hug, and you’ll need this simple tea all the time during a cold winter.

All the Baked Goods for My Cafe Event

For the baked goods on the cafe menu, I had a week of recipe testing with my mom. Many of these baked goods are treats my mom learned while in baking school in Taiwan, like the shortbread cookies, or treats that I’ve been baking myself for people I love. like almond crisps. They’re easy recipes, but what I really enjoyed was the chance to really dive deep into baking for a week with my mom.

Matcha and Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

This 4-ingredient Matcha and Chocolate Shortbread Cookies recipe is fail-proof, even for beginner bakers like me, because we’ve tested it SIX TIMES. These crumbly, buttery cookies only takes butter, powdered sugar, cake flour, and your favorite flavors. With my mom’s easy shortbread cookies recipe from her baking school, you can make any flavors you like. I made matcha, chocolate, and even chocolate swirls for my cafe event, and it was so fun creating new flavors with my mom!

Fluffy Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

These Fluffy Overnight Cinnamon Rolls were the star of my home cafe event! What’s better than a delicious cinnamon sugar mixture rolled into fluffy, yeasty sweet dough and smothered in cream cheese frosting? My cinnamon rolls are kept gooey with heavy cream, and guaranteed to satisfy any sweet tooth. They can be a bit of a process to make, but they’re absolutely worth it!

Extra Thin Almond Crisp Cookies

These Crunchy Almond Cookies are perfect for my home cafe! They’re surprisingly light and relatively healthy, since they’re mostly made out of egg whites and almonds. I always make these in bulk during the holiday season because they’re really easy to put together, but also they make great gifts for friends and family. These super thin and crunchy Almond Crisp Cookies were so stress-free to make in bulk, and everyone loved them!

Best Savory Party Foods: Pasta Salads and Mini Sandwiches

For my savory dishes, I chose refreshing pasta salads and finger sandwiches for my cafe menu that not only uses simple ingredients – it also saves me time preparing! Pasta salads like my creamy chicken salad and pesto salad are always a crowd pleaser. For this cafe event, I also made my most popular Tamago Sando, and some easy chicken salad sandwiches. I love both pasta salads and mini sandwiches so much for hosting, because you can prep almost 80% of the recipe the day before. With so much prep work done, cafe day was a breeze!

Nut Free Sesame Pesto Pasta Salad

This is my go-to nut free Pesto Pasta Salad. I love making this specific recipe for large gatherings, because it’s tastes great and is friendly for a variety of diets, especially nut allergies. The homemade pesto is so healthy, and simple. People keep asking me, “how do you keep your pesto nice and green?” Don’t miss out on my trick for a super bright green pesto!

Mini Croissant Classic Chicken Salad Sandwich

These flaky Mini Croissant Chicken Salad Sandwiches were the perfect savory finger food for our cafe event. Using simple ingredients like Costco’s rotisserie chicken and mini croissants, we have a yummy bite-sized treat in less than 30 minutes. These were a hit with adults and kids alike because they’re so mini. It’s easy to prep, make, and transport – exactly what you need for any office or school party.

Creamy Sesame Soy Chicken Pasta Salad

One of my friends is dairy-free, so I made this Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad for my event, just for her! This is an easy pasta salad recipe for any potluck, or just as a simple refreshing meal. this salad has everything you need. It’s crunchy, savory, and super super creamy – without needing any cheese, cream, or milk! Don’t miss out on my ultimate party prepping tip for this salad recipe that made hosting 22 people so easy.

Japanese Egg Sandwich

Japanese Egg Sandwich is one of my most popular recipes, and an absolute must have in my mini home cafe! If you never tried it before, you are in a treat. This egg sandwich is soft and fluffy with Milk Bread. Every bite is rich and melts perfectly into your mouth. Trust me, you need to give it a try. The secret to perfect egg sandwiches? Separating the egg whites from the egg yolks to add perfect balance to the texture of the filling.