Affogatos with the CoffeeMeister

by Erin Meister, Posted Aug 4th 2009 @ 1:00PM

Affogato al caffé. Photo: Erin Meister

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series of tips for the caffeine-addicted.

Picture this: New York City, August, 2009. It's hot -- I mean really hot. Like, stick to the seats on the subway hot. You're feeling mighty low and mighty steamed, and all you want is a belt of something quick and cool to keep you moving. Something that'll put the spring back into your step.

You know what you need, buddy? A caffeinated dessert. An affogato al caffé.

When you finally get one and it does the trick, turn your re-energized self toward Italy and give 'em a salute: Not only did our friends on the boot give us both the espresso and gelato that make up this icy indulgence, but they did us one better by putting them together. The resulting dessert, often shortened to simply affogato -- literally "drowned" in Italian -- is heavenly in its traditional form (a scoop of vanilla gelato topped with freshly brewed espresso), so even tiny tweaks (chocolate ice cream) or additions (Frangelico) can make it sublime.

Vanilla gelato and espresso. Photo: Erin Meister

At a café or restaurant, the dish is often served in two parts, as with coffee and cream, to be combined by the person who ordered it. I like to drizzle my espresso slowly, letting some of the gelato melt into a chilly coffee goo. Others dump and drink, downing the whole shebang at once -- kind of like a boilermaker.

Back in your kitchen, homemade ice cream and fresh espresso is naturally nice but not necessary: Try pouring strong, fresh drip coffee -- either cold or hot -- on a scoop of whatever's in your freezer. Because honestly, is there anything ice cream can't improve?

Filed Under: Drink Recipes, How To
Tags: affocato al caffe, affogato, coffee, coffeemeister, espresso, gelato, summer

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-04-2009 @1:52PM RobynT said... yum... i once had a coffee float in okinawa, japan. this was when i was in high school--only a very occasional latte drinker at the time (and never a real coffee).

i've seen starbucks in barnes and noble advertise that their drinks can be served "affogato style" but i'm wondering if they define it differently... as they are apt to do.
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8-04-2009 @4:25PM Greg Sherwin said... IMO, when coffee starts to have recipes -- it's no longer coffee anymore.
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8-05-2009 @1:56PM Johnny Bravo said... Greg: Since when is pouring espresso onto ice cream a recipe? That's about as involved as pouring steamed milk into espresso!
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