Ready to be drenched in this simple but delicious Italian delight? Affogatos are a perfect combination of two of America’s favorites – ice cream (or gelato) and coffee. Our affogato recipe calls for our own homemade vanilla ice cream and an umami-filled coffee today – read on to find out what!
Raise your hand if you thought you heard “avocado” when you first heard of the “affogato” dessert. Anyone? I certainly did! I was delighted, however, when I discovered it was a delicious dessert instead of the healthy green fruit (that I also love, by the way)!
In true Umamilogist-fashion, I had to make sure this recipe screamed umami! Which is why we first had to perfect the very base of our affogato – the ice cream! If you’ve checked out our Vanilla Bean Ice Cream recipe, you know you’re in for a treat. This is the best vanilla ice cream base you’ll need to pour your favorite hot espresso shot over.
In addition, we use the a Nespresso coffee pod for our special affogato. It’s perfect for this winter season and will be the best way to end any holiday meal!
If you feel more adventurous, you can also pull out your Baileys Chocolate Liqueur and add to your affogato bowl or try our Matcha Affogato recipe!
What is Affogato?
Affogato is a coffee-based Italian dessert where you start with gelato (or ice cream) in a bowl then hot espresso is poured over the gelato. That’s why you usually see this dessert where they have espressos or ice cream!
Key Elements Of This Recipe
- Espresso coffee: We use a hazelnut flavored coffee from Nespresso – the Roasted Hazelnut. Be sure to pick an espresso you love and enjoy!
- Vanilla Ice Cream: We made our own vanilla bean ice cream at Umamiology because we think it’s better than any store-bought ice cream. Even if you don’t end up making the ice cream, make sure you buy a vanilla ice cream or gelato you love!
Affogato Meaning
So what does Affogato mean? Affogato is an Italian word that means “drowned.” In this case, the ice cream is “drowned” in espresso!
More important than the meaning of affogato is the final product of the drowning action. The drowning of vanilla ice cream in espresso creates a perfectly creamy new dessert that’s not too sweet and not too bitter – yum!
For Umamiology’s affogato, we pull out our trusty Nespresso machine. This season, we indulge ourselves in two of Nespresso’s seasonal barista creations – Roasted Hazelnut and Peppermint Pinwheel – and the limited edition Almond Croissant.
Of these, we found that the Roasted Hazelnut flavored coffee paired the best with our affogato, so you’ll see this in our recipe. It added the perfect hazelnut flavor to our affogato.
Best Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Recipe
Since we’re making our vanilla ice cream for our affogato, I have to tell you about the best Cuisinart ice cream maker recipe!
Yes, it’s an Umamiologist recipe and I had to test out different ingredients to get to the perfect ratio for it… there were some failed attempts along the way.
But with enough trial and error, I’m proud to present my homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream recipe as an integral part of this recipe! It’s the most amazing ice cream recipe for the Cuisinart ice cream maker!
The Ingredients for Affogato
There are two essential parts to our perfect affogato: (1) the vanilla bean ice cream and (2) the espresso coffee.
- Umamiology’s Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (or store-bought ice cream/gelato)
- Nespresso’s Roasted Hazelnut Coffee
The Equipment Needed for Affogato
The Ingredients for Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base of the Affogato
First, let’s dive into the vanilla bean ice cream! I have a full recipe dedicated to the Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. So for more details, you can check it out there. You’ll find an abridged version in this recipe!
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 2 Tbsp Condensed Milk
- 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 pod Vanilla Bean
- 1 pinch Salt
Pro Tip: This recipe yields about 5 servings. However, depending on the size of your ice cream scoops, it could fluctuate to 3-7 servings.
The Equipment Needed for Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base of the Affogato
- Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
- Stainless Steel Bowl
- Whisk
- Silicone Mixing Spoon
- Stainless Steel Breading Pan or other freezer safe container for ice cream
- Cutting Board
- Knife
How to Prepare Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base of the Affogato
An important step in prepping is to freeze the Cuisinart ice cream maker’s freezer bowl in the freezer for at least 1-2 hours. I have to admit that I missed this step when I was new to the whole ice cream making business!
Pro Tip: For best results, I recommend freezing the inner freezer bowl overnight.
First, we have to extract the vanilla seeds out of the vanilla bean pod. Do this by splitting the vanilla bean pod in half with a knife. Then, scrape out the seeds with your knife from the pod.
Next, pour the whole milk and condensed milk into a bowl, adding sugar and salt. Whisk together the mixture in the bowl to allow all ingredients to dissolve.
After the ingredients have dissolved, mix in the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds into the same bowl. If you don’t prefer the vanilla beans, you can omit from the recipe altogether – you’re still left with a delicious vanilla ice cream!
Pro Tip: We’ve tried using half & half instead of heavy cream – it doesn’t produce the right consistency! Stick with heavy cream for the most perfect creamy texture.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or overnight – this will allow the mixture to get extra cold!
How to Make Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base of the Affogato
Place the freezer bowl back in the ice cream maker with its mixer paddle, then pour the chilled ice cream mixture into the freezer bowl. Let your Cuisinart ice cream maker churn for 20 minutes or until the mixture has reached a rich and creamy texture.
The ice cream will initially be very soft – like soft serve ice cream. Freeze the ice cream further in the freezer for 1-2 hours or overnight in a freezer safe container or stainless steel breading pan.
How to Prepare Espresso Coffee for Affogato
Right before you serve your affogato is when you should prepare your espresso coffee. For us, we’re using our Nespresso machine, so it’ll be super simple.
Take your Nespresso coffee pod – we’re using the Roasted Hazelnut – and insert into the Nespresso machine. With a simple touch of the button, the machine will make our coffee! This one yields 7.77 fluid ounces, more than a regular espresso shot. So we’ll only use a portion of the coffee.
How to Make Affogato
Now to put it all together!
Take a generous scoop of your homemade vanilla ice cream and put in your affogato dessert bowl. Generally, affogato ratios call for 2 small scoops of vanilla ice cream to 1 shot of espresso. However, we’ve combined the 2 small scoops into 1 generous scoop of ice cream here at Umamiology!
Pro Tip: General ice cream to espresso ratio is 2 small scoops of ice cream to 1 espresso shot.
Pour your coffee onto your vanilla bean ice cream and observe the marvel of the vanilla ice cream melting under the hot coffee!
You can top it further with other indulgences, like cacao powder or even Bailey’s Chocolate Liqueur. Deliziosa!
Enjoy!
If you liked this recipe, you’ll love these too:
Affogato
Equipment
- Nespresso machine, (or other Espresso Maker)
Ingredients
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 2 Tbsp Condensed Milk
- 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 pod Vanilla Bean
- 1 pinch Salt
Espresso Coffee
- 1 oz Nespresso's Roasted Hazelnut Coffee, (or other espresso coffee)
Instructions
How to Prepare Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base of the Affogato
- An important step in prepping is to freeze the Cuisinart ice cream maker’s freezer bowl in the freezer for at least 1-2 hours.
- Pro Tip: For best results, I recommend freezing the inner freezer bowl overnight.
- First, we have to extract the vanilla seeds out of the vanilla bean pod. Do this by splitting the vanilla bean pod in half with a knife. Then, scrape out the seeds with your knife from the pod.
- Next, pour the whole milk and condensed milk into a bowl, adding sugar and salt.
- Whisk together the mixture in the bowl to allow all ingredients to dissolve.
- After the ingredients have dissolved, mix in the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds into the same bowl.
- Pro Tip: If you don’t prefer the vanilla beans, you can omit from the recipe altogether – you’re still left with a delicious vanilla ice cream!
- Pro Tip: We’ve tried using half & half instead of heavy cream – it doesn’t produce the right consistency! Stick with heavy cream for the most perfect creamy texture.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, or overnight – this will allow the mixture to get extra cold!
How to Make Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base of the Affogato
- Place the freezer bowl back in the ice cream maker with its mixer paddle, then pour the chilled ice cream mixture into the freezer bowl.
- Let your Cuisinart ice cream maker churn for 20 minutes or until the mixture has reached a rich and creamy texture.
- The ice cream will initially be very soft – like soft serve ice cream. Freeze the ice cream further in the freezer for 1-2 hours or overnight in a freezer safe container or stainless steel breading pan.
How to Prepare Espresso Coffee for the Affogato
- Pro Tip: Right before you serve your affogato is when you should prepare your espresso coffee.
- Take your Nespresso coffee pod and insert into the Nespresso machine.
- Start your Nespresso machine by pressing on the button – the machine will make our coffee, just like that!
- Pro Tip: This one yields 7.77 fluid ounces, more than a regular espresso shot. So we'll only use a portion of the coffee.
How to Make Affogato
- Take a generous scoop of your homemade vanilla ice cream and put in your affogato dessert bowl.
- Pro Tip: Generally, affogato ratios call for 2 small scoops of vanilla ice cream to 1 shot of espresso. However, we've combined the 2 small scoops into 1 generous scoop of ice cream here at Umamiology!
- Pour your coffee onto your vanilla bean ice cream.
- Pro Tip: Top it further with other indulgences, like cacao powder or even Bailey's Chocolate Liqueur. Deliziosa!
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is just an estimate derived by an online calculation tool.
FAQ
Is affogato bitter?
This depends on the type of espresso coffee you choose and how much of it you use to “drown” your ice cream. We use a milder coffee that’s infused with hazelnut flavors and the creamiest vanilla ice cream, so our affogato doesn’t have a bitter taste.
What if I don’t have espresso coffee?
Not to worry! The most important part is that you enjoy the coffee flavor, so pick a coffee that you enjoy to drench your vanilla ice cream with! We picked a roasted hazelnut flavored coffee – yum!
Arman
Woah – never knew I could pour Baileys on affogato. Will try that! Thanks!
Umamiologist
Nifty topping, right? Enjoy!