Affogato

Now that summer has finally arrived in NZ (sorry for those in the Northern Hemisphere), it is time for my all time favourite Italian desert: Affogato.  It is so simple that it'll be a crime not to go and make it right now! Affogato in Italian means "drowned", basically you just drown the ice cream or gelato with a shot of hot espresso. Some people like to make this with a shot of liqueur like Amaretto or my personal favourite Baileys, and obviously this is the"big kids version". Yes I know what you're thinking, what can go wrong with the combination of ice cream, coffee and liqueur :D

To be honest, I love eating Affogato even on a cold wintery night...while sitting very close to the heater or a fire place of course! I know not everyone has a fire place at home or have the luxury to crank up the heater in the middle of winter to enjoy a tasty late-night treat, but oh boy, this is so worth it!

Fear you may not sleep afterwards, then why not use decaffeinated coffee? It is fun to try out different flavours of ice cream, you may be very surprised by how some weird combinations works like a charm, for example: mint chocolate chips ice cream with espresso - weird huh! But I assure you, if you love mint like I do, this combination is the great union of strong flavours! With this recipe, you never have to slave hours in the kitchen to make a WOW ending for your dinner parties!

Affogato

2 generous scoops of ice cream 1 shot of espresso 1 shot of liqueur (optional)

Place the ice cream in a cup. Add espresso (and liqueur if you choose to). Done! Now eat it before the ice cream melts!

Enjoy :)