Friday 5 September 2014

Affogato


An affogato (meaning "drowned" in Italian) is a coffee-based pudding in which a shot of hot espresso is poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream or gelato.  The espresso gives the ice cream a slightly bitter flavour, but I felt that the heat of the espresso was mainly drowned out by the cold ice cream.  This recipe for affogato and the vanilla ice cream used to make it are from Coffee and Bites by Susie Theodorou, but shop-bought vanilla ice cream could be used instead (as I did), which would be a lot faster when being made in a hurry.

Ingredients

300ml (10fl oz / 1.25 cups) milk
300ml (10fl oz / 1.25 cups) double (thick) cream
1 vanilla pod (bean)
6 egg yolks
150g (5oz / 2 thirds cup) caster (superfine) sugar
A shot (approximately 25-30ml) of espresso

Instructions

  1. Ensure the bowl of the ice cream machine is well chilled for the required time in the freezer before you start (follow manufacturer's instructions).
  2. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan.  Split the vanilla pod (bean) lengthways and add to the pan, then heat the mixture to just below boiling point.  Simultaneously, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar.  Set the vanilla pod to one side, then pour the warm milk and cream onto the eggs and stir.
  3. Clean the pan and return custard mixture to the pan, straining it first through a sieve.  Return the vanilla pod to the custard mixture and cook over a gentle heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly.  At no time should the custard boil - it is thick enough when it coats the back of a large metal spoon.  Immediately pour the custard into a large clean bowl so that it does not continue to cook in the pan.  Remove the vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds into the custard, then discard the pod.  Allow the custard to cool, then chill for at least 30 minutes.
  4. Pour the custard into the ice cream machine and churn for about 10-15 minutes (the time varies between machines).  Transfer to a freezer-proof container and freeze.
  5. Put single scoops of ice cream into espresso coffee cups or bowls and pour a shot of espresso coffee over the ice cream.  It may be useful to remove the ice cream from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving to soften the ice cream slightly.  Serve immediately.

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