quick and easy and fancy

Affogato. A dessert I never indulge in because I don't drink coffee. And though I've used Pero as a coffee substitute for many recipes, for some reason it never occured to me to use it in this simple application. So though I admit that this in not a from-scratch recipe (though now I'm tempted to post about homemade vanilla ice cream and how it really IS worth the time and money), I wanted to share. I made this for dessert last night and my kids loved it! My 3 year old asked for more. And my "I don't like bitter food" husband even liked it. Without any added sweetener of any kind. This is coming from a guy who wants me to add sugar to his hot chocolate, so I think it was definitely a success.

And here's how simple it is. 2 ingredients. Vanilla ice cream & pero. And since Pero acts like instant coffee, there's no brewing involved. And even if I'm all about the labor intensive process of food, I also like a quick fix once in a while. A good one. And this is. I feel like I'm far away in a tiny street café in Italy. Because, afterall, this is an Italian dessert.

Coffee-free Affogato
serves 4

1 C hot water
1 tablespoon Pero (I make it extra dark for this particular recipe. For drinking, I use 1 teaspoon)
4 scoops of your favorite vanilla ice cream

1. Place one scoop of ice cream in 4 seperate serving dishes. I like to use little cappucino cups for this, but any small dish will work.
2. Stir the Pero into the hot water until dissolved and pour about 1/4 cup into each serving dish. Serve immediately.