Affogato: A perfect union
Ever since Ronald Reagan announced that the United States of America should celebrate ice cream with “appropriate ceremonies and activities”, our transatlantic friends have dedicated an entire month to the frozen dessert. Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge we haven’t been bestowed with a similarly glorious thirty-one day affair.
Luckily for us however, the coffee world does embrace ice cream. Given that the British Isles is currently basking in a period of glorious sunshine – and not to mention the fact it is July in case anybody hasn’t noticed – we feel it is the perfect time to discuss the affogato, a perfect union of espresso and ice cream.
Writing for The Guardian back earlier this year, Juan-Carlo Tomas noted that “few things are as simple yet so fulfilling” as this shot sized pudding. We’re inclined to agree.
The affogato is an unassuming dessert, one that can be whipped up in a matter of minutes and is easily accessible to all no matter their levels of culinary expertise. But when it’s made it is, to use a slightly colloquial turn of phrase, a taste sensation.
All you need create a basic affogato all you need is an espresso and a scoop of vanilla ice cream; with minimal expenditure needed, it will provide café and restaurant owners alike with a healthy profit margin throughout the summer months and beyond.
Some people like to tinker around with the standard recipe; examples of such constructions include the addition of a shot of alcohol or the addition of crumbled biscotti. Some like to experiment with different flavours of ice cream and even one celebrity chef advocates starting off with slices and segments of leftover pies and puddings.
But we’re going to keep things simple.
When creating an affogato it’s important to use a bean that’s well suited to milk-based drinks. If you’re looking for a commercial blend then you can’t go wrong with a shot of Super Crema, but if you want to create your dessert with some speciality coffee then we recommend trying our Brazilian Chapadao de Ferro micro-lot.
Whilst brewing your espresso add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to an ice-cold glass or tumbler. Then, when you’re ready, pour the fresh espresso directly over the ice cream.
photo: coffeegeek (Creative Commons)