Drown my ice-cream, please 21 May 2007

This has got to be one of the easiest desserts! Gelato affogato is ice cream “drowned” in espresso. It’s like drinking liquid tiramisu. And it’s very similar to drinking a frappucino at Starbucks with the added plus of the ambiance of your own home.

Got the recipe as we were watching David Rocco’s Dolce Vita (an episode on a boy’s night out) and he made this in about 5 minutes - that’s about how long it takes to make the espresso in a stovetop coffee maker while scooping vanilla ice cream into glasses.

Since it’s so easy, who could pass on trying it out? So we got our trusty Bialetti a-espresso-ing and cracked open the freezer for our Selecta vanilla ice cream. Voila! Instant dessert!

The only thing we did differently was to divide in 2 all 6 shots of espresso (capacity of our Bialetti, and YES, all SIX shots!) and had only one scoop of vanilla ice cream each. I was slow on getting the camera, so my gelato affogato looked really drowned, as compared to David’s picture perfect serving. I do know I was faster on the take after dessert what with all that caffeine and sugar!

David Roco’s gelato affogato
For 4 persons

8 scoops premium vanilla ice cream
4 shots hot espresso, unsweetened

‘Affogato’ literally means ‘drowned’ in italian and that’s exactly what you do - submerge the ice cream with hot espresso. A one step dessert for those lazier days.

1. For each serving, place 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream into a glass.
2. Pour hot espresso over ice cream and serve immediately before the ice cream melts.