Giangi's Kitchen

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Affogato al Caffe. A delightful and super easy dessert to make.

Perfect at any time of the day and year, this Italian dessert has been gracing our lips with delight for years. Steaming hot Italian espresso poured over vanilla ice cream. The ice cream turns into a perfect cream.

With each spoonful, you have the cold hot combination that awakens your senses and gives you instantaneous pleasure to your palate.

What does Affogato al caffee mean? Translated into English, means: drowned coffee. You literally drown the coffee with ice cream.

 And who does not like a good strong cup of espresso?

This recipe is an Italian summer favorite. Almost all coffee shops and gelateria in Italy offer this sweet dessert,  A freshly brewed espresso, prepared in the Italian caffettiera preferably, thus poured over fresh vanilla ice cream.

What is a caffetiera?  and how do you make espresso?

A caffetiera is an Italian coffee maker that is used over a stove and gives you back this most delightful strong coffee

The caffetiera is made of three components:

• The lower chamber where cold water is placed. Upon the water being heated and brought to the boiling point, it is propelled into the funnel.
• The funnel is as the word describes it, a funnel where the water is pushed thru and starts brewing with the coffee grains. You need superfine coffee grains to enjoy espresso.
• Lastly, once the coffee is brewed with the water, thru the process of pushing it upward, the now coffee is going up this small funnel of the upper chamber to come back down into a container with the most delightful cream forming on the top.

This all process is not long. Quite the opposite. But the delightful coffee that you will get to enjoy is just perfection in my books.

I love Lavazza Rosso coffee. The perfect blend between Arabica and Robusta.

Below is my own caffetiera, not the prettiest but my constant companion.

TIPS

• Serve the ice cream in a glass or cup that can accept and sustain the heat. You do not want to have your container to shatter due to the hot-cold combination.
• Make your coffee first thus your ice cream will not start to melt before pouring the coffee over it.
• If you do not have an Italian coffee maker, the caffetiera, you want to make a very strong coffee. I mean strong! Nescafe granular blended with a little hot water is perfect in this case and in lieu of the maker.

I have used no sugar is used while preparing this dessert. I called it a healthy dessert. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

In conclusion, I also have tried it with chocolate and coffee ice cream and I do not know which one I prefer as they all are a pure delight to your palate.

If you enjoy this dish, check out those flavorful recipes as well:

Banana Bread with Cranberries and Chocolate

Strawberries with Vanilla Ice Cream

Pumpkin Tiramisu – A No-Bake Dessert For You

Equipment and products used to make this dessert

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Originally published on August 14, 2010. Updated on March 26, 2022