Affogato al Caffè
Two ingredients, made correctly only if both of them are good and one of them is hot enough to still be steaming when it hits the other.
Ingredients
- 4 scoops good vanilla gelato or ice cream
- 4 shots hot espresso, freshly pulled
Serves 4.
Cookware Required
- la macchina per il caffè (an espresso machine)
- piccoli bicchieri o tazze (small glasses or cups)
Method
Place a scoop of gelato in each of four small glasses or cups. Pull the espresso, and pour it over the gelato immediately -- tableside, if you can manage it, since the show is half the point of this dessert. Serve at once, with a small spoon, before the ice cream has any real chance to melt.
Quando Va Storto
If the gelato melts into soup before anyone can properly eat it, the espresso was poured too far ahead of serving, or the gelato was already softening on the counter instead of going in properly frozen. If the espresso isn't hot enough to make a real contrast against the cold, it was pulled too far in advance and cooled while it waited. And if the whole thing tastes weak and watery, brewed coffee was used in place of a real, concentrated shot of espresso -- it simply doesn't have the strength to hold its own against cold cream, and this dish has nowhere to hide that shortfall.