Affogato with chocolate gelato (and amaretto)

When I made this affogato the other day, it was late afternoon after a fairly long, hot, and busy day. I was tired but wanted to put one together so I could take a few clicks while it was bright out. Well...let me just tell you that I dug my spoon in, took one bite, and the world was right again.  I think I felt the earth shift back into place like a puzzle piece slotted into its proper home.

Maybe it was just the caffeine-sugar-chocolate-slightly boozy hit that I needed that late afternoon but I put the camera down and just sat back and enjoyed my first affogato - which translates into "drowned" in Italian.  It is simply gelato (or ice cream) topped with a shot of espresso.    

I highly recommend adding a splash or two of liqueur.  I'm not automatically one for alcohol in my desserts but the amaretto liqueur I went with works really well here.  The combination of rich chocolate gelato with the almond flavor of the amaretto, together with the hot espresso and teeny bit of fresh whipped cream created a little bit of magic in a glass.

I asked myself: How have I not only never made, but never had, this before?!

The marvelous thing is this is very easy to make.  I used homemade chocolate gelato, a wonderful recipe I blogged about here but you (and I) could certainly use store-bought gelato or ice cream, and any flavor at that.  For me, chocolate reigns supreme and we all know how wonderful the combination of chocolate and coffee is!

Once your gelato/ice cream is in place, all you need to do is pour a shot of hot espresso over it.  To make my espresso, I simply used espresso powder, which I always have in my pantry for baking. I'm no coffee connoisseur and while I realize that a true espresso with that coveted crema on top would make a far better affogato, taking this necessary shortcut more than sufficed (in fact, was excellent) for me.  Espresso is normally way too strong for me to drink straight-up but in this dessert, it's a whole other happy story.

Next, I added a healthy splash of amaretto liqueur and topped the affogato with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.  If you have any biscotti, ladyfingers, or amaretti cookies lying around the house, this is a great place to serve one alongside.  

Everything melds together - it's cold, it's warm, it's smooth and soothing.  It's sweet yet a little bitter.  It is a wonderful grown-up dessert.  As you can probably tell by now, I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.  I love a happy discovery!  My husband agreed with my assessment; when I made him his first one that night, his only complaint was that his portion was "too small"! 

I waited too long to have my first affogato but now that I'm in on the secret, I'm quickly making up for lost time.  Better late than never!

Breaking in the new ice cream maker - chocolate gelato

I think I knew all along it was inevitable.  Yes, I am now the owner of an ice cream maker!  I tried to hold out, knowing that having one could/would lead to excessive ice cream consumption and an expanded waistline.  But in the end, I couldn't resist.  Those  homemade ice creams I made without a machine were delicious and I kept thinking how easy and better it would be if I had a machine.  I was also swayed by the idea of all the flavor possibilities and frozen treats I could explore for years to come.  So it's a good investment, right?

For my inaugural batch of ice cream from my new ice cream maker, I actually went with gelato - something a little lighter.  It's chocolate gelato, to be exact.  It may be nothing new but on a recent road trip to Vermont (Hello, Ben & Jerry's!) and Quebec, Canada, I kept noticing ice cream, or actually, gelato, everywhere.  In the hot touristy spots (it was "hot" literally), there was an ice cream/gelato/crème glacée shop on every block and every other person seemed to be carrying a cone or cup of it around.  That's what I love about summer vacations: ice cream!  And the blanket approval to indulge.

These days, gelato is as common as ice cream.  And the difference between the two?  "Gelato" is the Italian name for ice cream and the lines blur between the two but I've learned that, in general, gelato has a lower fat content (yay!) than ice cream, which allows the flavor to stand out and shine.  It is a little denser than ice cream, churned at a slower pace to give it a velvety texture despite the lower fat content, and stored at a slightly higher temperature than ice cream (at a gelateria).  Some gelato have egg yolks in them, some don't.  When gelato is thickened with starch instead of eggs, you might find it has a somewhat sticky texture.

Now what I personally like about gelato is the flavor choices.  I love a basic dark chocolate, like what I made here, but I'll usually find other favorites like gianduja (hazelnut and chocolate) and pistachio.  On a recent vacation in Quebec, we ate lunch in an airy self-service style cafe one day.  After our sandwiches, I made a beeline for the dessert and gelato offerings in the front of the shop.  I had a great dessert fix that afternoon.  The gelato was divine.  I was excited to score a scoop of chestnut gelato (the light-vanilla colored part of the cup below)!  I love chestnuts and it was my first taste of chestnut gelato.  It was subtle yet distinctly chestnut; I thought it was wonderful.  The other flavors I picked were dark chocolate and gianduja - the flavors really popped, a real trademark of good gelato.  Did I mention there was a slice of opera cake involved too?  It was a good afternoon...

This chocolate gelato recipe I made comes from the dessert/ice cream whisperer, David Lebovitz (of course!).  This batch I made was gobbled up in two days by the 3 of us.  We loved how it was rich but light at the same time; it truly is the lighter version of the chocolate ice cream recipe I made previously.  This gelato only contains milk, no cream, relative to its ice cream cousin.  I dare say we actually preferred this gelato to the richer ice cream but ask me next time I taste the ice cream and I might give a different answer.

Do you go for a cup or a cone?  I love sugar cones and I think a cone helps with portion control at home.  A cup is less messy though.  My son is strictly on the cup side.  He can be a surprising purist at times.