Affogato and Cinnamon-Sugar Swirls

      Coffee, ice cream and whipped cream! A combination of the three things I like. I saw a picture of this in the internet and got very curious and was very amused when I saw the recipe because it wasn't that complicated. Affogato, which literally means "drowned" in Italian is a coffee drink consisting of a scoop of ice cream and a shot of espresso or the strongest coffee you got. Place the scooped ice cream in a mug or a cup then drown the ice cream scoop with a shot of espresso. I just added the whipped cream on top.The sweetness from the ice cream will compliment the bitterness of the coffee.

      I partnered the affogato with the cinnamon-sugar swirls that I made earlier. Served this to my mom and my grandmother - with my mom laughing and telling me that my grandmother might end up awake the whole night with sugar and caffeine given to her.
I had this served an hour before dinner and as luck would have had it, with my son sleeping - otherwise I'll have to think of something to substitute the coffee to give him without worrying if he'll stay up all night or climb through the ceiling.

     I got the recipe of affogato from the foodnetwork website courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis. But instead of using chocolate flavored ice cream, I used vanilla instead. Try it yourself:

 Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup cold whipping cream
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 tablespoon espresso powder
• 1 pint chocolate gelato or ice cream

Directions:

       Using an electric mixer, beat the cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Cover and refrigerate the whipped cream.

      Whisk the boiling water and espresso powder in a 1 cup glass measuring cup until the powder is dissolved, or use an espresso machine to make 4 shots of espresso. Scoop 1/2 cup of the gelato or ice cream into each of 4 dessert bowls or glasses. Pour 2 tablespoons or 1 shot of hot espresso over each. Top with the whipped cream and serve immediately.

    For the swirls, it wasn't any trouble at all. As long as you got a sheet of puff pastry, sugar and ground cinnamon, you're good to go. Lay the sheet of pastry flat on a surface, sprinkle with sugar covering the whole sheet then dust with the ground cinnamon. Roll the sheet with the dusted part inside, cut pastry crosswise 1 inch apart and put in a lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 °F for at least 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Best served warm and partnered with the affogato.

Enjoy!