1 x drowning please? Yes, with pleasure! Affogato is derived from the Italian affogare, which means to drown. The drowning part of the affogato is a scoop of ice cream, which is poured over with coffee. The correct order in Italy is an affogato al caffé. Espresso affogato is grammatically incorrect – it would mean drowned espresso.

Ultimately, however, affogato is simply a scoop of ice cream and espresso. So this is how simple an Italian specialty can be with just two ingredients. But what kind of espresso and what ice cream? Read more in our ingredient check!

Recipe

1 cup of espresso
1 scoop of (vanilla) ice cream

PRO Tip: To prevent the ice cream from melting immediately, you can freeze glasses/cups for serving. If necessary, you can also pre-portion ice cream scoops and freeze them right away.

Preparation

Either serve the fresh espresso separately with ice or place the glass/cup under the portafilter and let the espresso run fresh over it.

Ingredient Check

That the preparation of an Affogato is very simple is clear. The secret of the perfect affogato lies elsewhere – namely in the ingredients.

Affogato ingredient no. 1 espresso

Freshly brewed and preferably fresh from the portafilter. A typical Italian espresso with a medium to dark roast and well-integrated bitterness perfectly balances out the sweetness and creaminess of the ice cream. Espresso Majestro Pepe from Caffé Gemelli harmonizes perfectly with its dark chocolate notes. In our test, the espresso from the portafilter was preferred.

An alternative is to use the strongest setting on a fully automatic machine or coffee from a mocha pot. Cold brew can also be used as a coffee component, for example with a bold, fruity single origin such as Papua New Guinea from Inndie Beans.

Affogato ingredient no. 2 Ice cream

With ice cream, the difference is in the ingredients. In Italy, fior di latte is often used. This simple milk ice cream is particularly fine and goes perfectly with espresso. The difference from the cream ice cream is that the milk ice cream does not contain egg. During the blind button test in the office, the result was clear: milk ice cream. Although the cream ice cream was a bit more “creamy”, it drowned out the coffee and didn’t harmonize as well. In the milk ice cream, both ingredients came out well and complemented each other. Of course, good quality ice cream is also noticeable!

So feel free to try out here what personally tastes best. Other flavors such as hazelnut are also welcome.

Affogato is also available “alla viennese” (Viennese style) with whipped cream and a waffle or a hard cookie. Of course, there are many variations, whether a different type of ice cream, with cocoa powder, sauce or amaretto.

So you can’t go far wrong with Affogato! Which combination will you try out first?