Puddin's and Creams

In the words of Buddy the Elf, "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!!" What you see above is to die for. And soooooo simple. Allow me to explain.

As suggested by the title of this post, we are now in the "Everyday Creams and Puddings" section of the "Everyday Dolci" chapter. Honestly, how can you NOT be excited about that (well, maybe because YOU don't actually get to eat it, and I do). Tonight, I made Affogato. Don't be fooled by the tricky name. According to Giada, this is the Italian version of a hot fudge sundae. In my opinion, it's the adult hot fudge sundae. No, it does not contain alcohol of any sort, it contains COFFEE!!

Here it goes. Giada's recipe asks you to make your own homemade whipped cream. I opted for the healthy version and bought some Cool Whip Free (you are not surprised by this). Next, you boil some water, then dissolve one tablespoon of espresso powder in it. Considering I was only making one serving of this, I microwaved two tablespoons of water rather than boiling it. I was a little concerned about buying espresso powder (you'd be surprised about what you CAN'T find in stores around here), but luckily, my campus just got a Starbucks. A Starbucks that sells Via! Did I mention that it accepts the $1000 of declining balance that I need to use up before the end of the semester?

I dissolved the Via into the water and made it quite strong (I absolutely love strong coffee). I then poured the coffee over some chocolate ice cream. No, this was not regular chocolate ice cream or chocolate gelato as suggested (if I knew where to find gelato around here, believe me, I would've splurged), it was Perry's Fat Free No Sugar Added chocolate ice cream.

You may be thinking "that diet crap doesn't taste anything like the real stuff." Well, you are wrong. This ice cream is just as good as any full fat kind, and you know what? I can eat more of it without feeling guilty. What's not to love?

I topped this off with my Cool Whip Free and dug right in. You know that song "Just One Look" by Doris Troy? I swear that was playing as I took a bite. This. Is. AWESOME! It's like a mocha, but better especially since it's somewhat healthy. I never thought to pour coffee over ice cream. It's just so obvious. Obvious and delicious.

So that's it. That is Affogato. Easy, right? Come back tomorrow night when I take on another easy appetizer in a new section of the chapter, and start my EIGHTH cycle through the book!

Shameless plug: Check out my side project music blog! http://thesoulkitchenmusic.blogspot.com/