Affogato al Caffe

Affogato pouring One of my favourite treats in the whole world is the Affogato al Caffe, and I just wish that more people knew about it! After all, it combines two of my favourite things – coffee and chocolate. If I make an affogato with chocolate ice cream, it includes three, although vanilla would be the more popular option…

Affogato al caffeIn any case, the name Affogato means “drowned in coffee,” referring of course to the ice cream, and when I came across it, I thought I was in heaven.

To make it, you simply take a scoop of ice cream (we like to serve it in a small coffee cup) and pour over some espresso (we use a single shot run long, in other words, an espresso lungo). In the shops, we serve the shot of espresso on the side and let the customer do the pouring.

I think I must do more research now, and have another one!

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13 thoughts on “Affogato al Caffe

  1. Hi Kieran! This sounds heavenly! The ‘do-it-yourself’ approach is a neat idea – and the coffee cup is so appropriate! Lovely!

  2. Kieran,

    Is this called something else in the States? Can you add booze, such as Godiva liquor?

    Becky says she’s had this, but I can’t say that I have. I will soon, though . . .

    Zac

  3. I love booze over ice cream, and I wish we had a license that allowed us to serve cognac, port, baileys, etc. over ice cream. But it doesn’t look likely!

  4. Hi Kieran, I had the pleasure of experiencing your affogato last weekend in Killarney and it was great ! I’ve long been a fan of the vanilla/expresso combo after spotting it a few years ago in a Nigel Slater book .. but somehow my homemade versions just never taste as good. For anyone else reading, if you haven’t tried one yet you don’t know what you’re missing.

    Paul

  5. I am South African – living in USA for 5 years and now Starbucks are bringing in the Fraggato in 2008…addition of berries on top…..

  6. It appears that Starbucks now will be making this in the states. Sounds yummy. Can’t wait till it comes to D.C.

  7. One of my favorite cocktails uses the affogato as a base. Simply add a shot (or more) of advocaat and a little vanilla syrup. I wish I could claim this recipe as my own, but I cloned it from my favorite cafe in Atlanta called Cafe Intermezzo, they call the drink “Joe Cartwright”.

  8. Doesn’t affogato just mean “drowned” in italian. I’m not so sure it means “drowned in coffee”. Still I could be wrong.
    (I was wrong once before, april 4th, 1973. I remember cos it was raining:)

  9. Affogato is good at any time of year and it is an incredibly easy dessert to prepare. Choose the best vanilla ice cream you can find and make sure you use good, strong espresso (regular brewed coffee will not work here). The recipe for the biscotti makes about 30 but they keep very well in an airtight container.

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