Recipe

Affogato Charlotte Russe

This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Recipe with Coffee
Chef
Heena's Notes: You couldn't separate this girl from her coffee, especially at 8 am. Combine coffee and dessert, and there is not much more I want. Affogato, the Italian dessert of ice-cream literally "drowned...
You couldn't separate this girl from her coffee, especially at 8 am. Combine coffee and dessert, and there is not much more I want. Affogato, the Italian dessert of ice-cream literally "drowned" in espresso, is one of my favorites. I concocted this dessert because I wanted greater texture contrast in my affogato. It is much less fiddly to prepare than a traditional charlotte russe. You can make everything - the ice-cream/gelato, ladyfingers - from scratch or just put everything together for a beautiful but easy dessert for a dinner party. The recipe is highly adaptable and you can adjust the flavors/quantity as per your preferences. Whichever way you go, the higher the quality of the individual components, the better will be the finished dessert.

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1/3 cup Kahlua or other coffee/hazelnut flavored liqueur (or substitute with espresso) Ask a question about this ingredient

6 scoops of vanilla ice cream or gelato (about 1.5 pints) Ask a question about this ingredient

6 tablespoons finely chopped or grated bittersweet chocolate Ask a question about this ingredient

Line the sides of 6 8-oz ramekins with ladyfingers, rounded side out. The ladyfingers will extend over the edges of the ramekins. You can trim the bottoms of the ladyfingers to get the desired height.
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Break up the extra lady fingers and line the base of the ramekins. Brush the ladyfingers generously with the liqueur (or espresso).
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Scoop the ice cream in the center of each ramekin. Sprinkle the chocolate over the ice cream.
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Pour a shot of hot espresso over the ice cream and serve immediately or serve with shot glasses of espresso and let your guests do the pouring.
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