Affogato!

The first time I had affogato was at Il Fornaio restaurant in Burlingame. I remember it was a stormy, winter day and I had met one of my oldest friends, Vanessa, for lunch.

I love ice cream and here was this dessert: ice cream dunked in espresso! Wow! The taste remained with me and a long, long time ago, I would make it with my mom at home for a nice, out-of-the-ordinary treat. Well tonight, I made some again. Here's how to make some on your own:

Place a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream or gelato in a dish. Pour warm (not hot because it will melt the ice cream) espresso over the ice cream, just enough to cover it. Top with whipped cream and enjoy! Easy!

Remember to use plain ice cream; vanilla works best. This is nice to make when you're bored with your vanilla ice cream stash in the freezer. You really don't want to use rocky road and have pieces floating in this dessert. It's not meant to be like that! Also, I don't have espresso at home, so I just made half a cup of instant decaf coffee. The coffee turned out too warm, so I placed a couple of ice cubes in it to cool it down. I barely used half of my half cup of instant coffee for this serving.

Affogato is an Italian dessert. What better way to enjoy plain vanilla? Plain, no more!