Skip to main content

Affogato


If the frappuccino recipe is too much work for you, then try a affogato. What is an affogato?  It is a traditional Italian espresso-based treat that is on many Italian restaurant's and cafe's menus in Italy.  The full name is really "affogato al cafe" or "drowned in coffee" - in Italian.  What is drowned in coffee?  Gelato or ice cream, of course!  This is a very simple recipe, just mix iced coffee with a scoop of gelato!  A simple way to get that frappuccino fix on a hot day.


First, you have to have some iced coffee on hand.  To get good quality iced coffee, it involves a little more than just brewing regular coffee and adding ice, although you can do it that way, too.  I use the cold-brewed coffee method which makes a coffee concentrate that's much less bitter than normal, has low acidity (so it seems naturally sweeter), and it has a very rich coffee flavor - perfect with some vanilla gelato.


Cold-Brewed Coffee Concentrate (makes about 2 -3/4 cup)

2/3 cup very freshly ground coffee (medium to coarse-ground coffee)
3 cups cold water


Add the ground coffee into a large glass container



Add the water and mix together.



Cover and let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours.




Strain the coffee through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth.  Strain this two times to be sure a get all the sediment.




In a tall glass filled with ice, fill with equal parts coffee concentrate and water, or to taste.




To make affogato al cafe, you can use gelato or ice cream, or you can experiment with various flavors.  I use vanilla gelato, the basic.  Add 1 or 2 scoops of gelato and as much coffee concentrate as you like (I like equal parts)




Stay refreshed this summer!




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of  meatloaf .  This must be meatloaf season.  It was surprisingly similar to the  Pioneer Woman's version  who was also recently on.   I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book,  Food Matters .  His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese!  I must be doing something wrong.  The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life.    If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health.  He tells his story in Food Matters and provides a plan for responsible eating that covers a no-nonsense rundown on

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free.  But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one.  My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations  and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends.  We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop.  She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots.  We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.)   The views are always quite lovely, too.  Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception.  I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, there was a big party go

Waking Up in Vegas

and just like that...we were Waking Up in Vegas.   Just like the Katy Perry song. We went to her 78th performance which was her second-to-last Las Vegas residency show entitled "Play".  That was perfect for us because we went to Vegas simply to play.  Her concert was a great finale for us because it was high energy and full of silliness, just the way Katy Perry is.  And we were feeling it after three nights in Las Vegas. "Get up, and shake the gutter off your clothes now, That's what you get for waking up in Vegas".    Here's what she said about her show: "I created this show after the birth of my daughter, Daisy Dove. When I met her, it was like all the love I was ever searching for finally showed up. This show is for everyone’s inner child and for the hope that maybe if we could all see life through the eyes of a child, we would be free. Because never forget, love is and will always be the key,” she said. We went to Vegas spur of the moment because Br