Ice cream is a dessert that is gaining more and more popularity. Gone are the days when you had to wait for a hot summer to enjoy a cold treat. The Italians went the farthest and came up with a dessert, perfect for a Christmas table with your family. Affogato (Affogato) - a mixture of the most delicious inventions in culinary history: gelato and coffee. This union of aromas and the fantastic contrast of coolness and warmth will make you forget about the burden of accumulated problems.
What it is
Affogato is not a kind of ice cream coffee, as many people outside Italy believe - it is a separate, independent dessert. The classic version is a ball of usually vanilla ice cream that floats in hot espresso. Hence the name of the treat, literally meaning "drowned."
Unusual dessert is often served as an alternative to gelato in the cold season. It can be decorated with coffee beans, chocolate chips, berries, whipped cream or cookies. Depending on the season, the taste of affogato is enriched with fresh fruits or spirits.
A variation of ice cream with cocoa is ideal for those who love the union of the rich taste of chocolate with the tenderness of milk cream. For this combination, choose vanilla, chocolate or coffee gelato. It is decorated with whipped cream, which is powdered with cocoa or sprinkled with crumbs of white or dark chocolate.
There are quite amazing versions of affogato. For example, ice cream with whiskey. "Drowned" in an alcoholic drink is generally considered a bestseller of Italian restaurants. High degrees are ideally complemented by the creamy aroma of real ice cream. Such a treat is decorated with cream and served in a cup with the addition of cookies.
For those who pay great attention to their health and follow the principles of a healthy diet, an affogato with fruits or berries is suitable. The desired ingredients (cherries, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, etc.) are whipped in a blender. Instead of a fresh base, you can choose fruit yogurt. In an ideal “sea” they heat a gelato ball and decorate it with fruits or syrups. Sweet lovers order dessert with whipped cream or waffle.
Recipes
It is absolutely impossible to dwell on any one affogato recipe. Amazing and gentle world literally makes you drown in its diversity. We bring to your attention the most popular varieties.
With coffee
Affogato with coffee - a classic version of the Italian dessert. You can make it easy and fast. Make sure you have at your fingertips:
- Ice cream;
- Whipping cream;
- Coffee;
- Alcoholic drinks (optional).
First of all, you need to choose the taste of ice cream, depending on your preferences. The ice cream, nut, pistachio or chocolate cold treat will be optimal for combination with coffee.
We take out the selected ice cream from the freezer for a few minutes to make it a little soft. We prepare strong coffee and pour it into glasses for serving. To taste, you can add a little alcohol to it (liquor, rum). Put the balls of ice cream in the drink and decorate with whipped cream in advance. It is important that the coffee is still warm to create the classic effect of a drowned dessert.
With chocolate
Affogato with chocolate is much more nutritious than the classic version. Therefore, it is used not only as a dessert option after lunch or dinner, but also as an independent snack. You need:
- A bar of chocolate (35% cocoa) - 1 pc.;
- Whipping cream - 200 ml;
- Butter - 100 g;
- Ice cream;
- Nuts
- Cookies for decoration (1-2 per cup).
For combination with chocolate, preferably pistachio, strawberry or cherry cream ice cream.
Once you have decided on the taste of dessert, melt a bar of chocolate with butter in a water bath. At the same time, ice cream is not waiting for us in the freezer.
Remove hot chocolate from a water bath and vigorously mix with a spoon, add whipped cream and mix again. We spread the ice cream in cups and pour it abundantly on a cooled, but not cold chocolate mass. In the center of the dessert we place a nut (without shell) and cookies. To taste, you can replace the last waffle. Chocolate affogato is ready to please you.
With fruit filling
If you prefer lighter desserts, then affogato with fruit filling is your option. Favorite fruits or berries (preferably juicy) are chosen as the “filling”, but we will focus on the Affogato all'amarena cherry delicacy, popular among Italians.
To make cherry affogato you will need:
- Egg - 1 pc.;
- Milk with a fat content of 2.5-3.2% - 300 ml .;
- Flour - 1 tbsp. l .;
- Cream - 300 ml;
- Sugar - 70 g;
- Cherry syrup - 200 ml;
- A pinch of vanillin;
- A pinch of salt;
- Cherries for decoration.
So, pour milk into the pan, add flour and bring to a boil. Remove the container from the heat and, stirring, pour the vanilla.
While the milk mixture cools, covered with a transparent film, we beat the egg with sugar and a pinch of salt until a light, fluffy texture is formed. We combine the two bases and again send to low heat. When the mass thickens, remove from heat and let cool.
In anticipation of cooling, without wasting time in vain, we whip the cream, while leaving a couple of tablespoons for decoration. Gently inject whipped cream into the cooled milk and egg mass and place it in the freezer for several hours.
To get airy ice cream, you need to mix the freezing mixture every 20 minutes. Things are easier if you have a freezer. With it, it takes about 30 minutes to prepare a frozen dessert.
Arrange the finished gelato balls in cups, drown them in cherry syrup and decorate with whipped cream and cherry. Affogato all'amarena at your service.
Calorie content
Affogato calorie content certainly depends on many factors (type of ice cream, filler, decoration). The chocolate version is more caloric than the coffee one. Although coffee overtakes the fruit variety in nutrition. At the same time, dessert with sorbet will be the easiest product.
The nutritional value of home-made ice cream affogato depends on the components that make up it. It can be calculated as follows: add up the approximate caloric content of all components, divide by the total mass in grams and multiply by 100. Thus, the number of calories per 100 g of affogato is obtained.
If we consider the usual portion (162 g) of a classic affogato with coffee and vanilla gelato, then the calorie content of such a treat is 240 kcal, consisting of:
- Proteins 4 g;
- Fats 15 g;
- Carbohydrates 22 g.
The saturated fat content in the dessert is 45% of the total, which may not affect your figure very well. Yes, and 150 mg of cholesterol per serving suggests that people with health problems need affogato in limited quantities.
We also note that the carbohydrate composition of the goodies consists entirely of simple sugars. Therefore, suffering from diabetes is also worth keeping yourself.
Despite the warnings, the affogato still has benefits and it is mainly in ice cream. In our article about Gelato, you can read about how this or that dessert option will enrich your body. Although the affogato with alcohol is more likely to have a taste pleasure than a health benefit.
That's all about affogato. Now you have a great trump card in your hands to go to the kitchen and make a culinary feat in the spirit of a modern Italian. And then visit to Italy and compare your masterpiece with the original. Love warmly, live soberly, travel forever and remember: "All ages are submissive not only to love, but also to affogato!"
