Shark Week is finally here! This is one of my all-time favorite weeks of the year where we get to celebrate anything and everything SHARK! For this week’s Literary Cooking Adventure, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show tribute to one of my favorite books/films, Jaws by Peter Benchley.
I decided to do a combination of ice cream float recipes for the summer heat, something sweet and lovely and rather simple. The first one is the classic Root beer Float (which I meant to add a shot of Kahlua to and forgot) and the second is Affogato, an Italian dessert of coffee poured over ice cream with salted caramel on top. Yum! Even I managed to mess up very little this time.
Of course that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t in danger. Mini Bruce, the Great White Stuffed Shark, was patrolling the neighborhood and came to visit the kitchen. This was much to the surprise of Chief Brody, Hooper, and Quint who had all come to help with the float making.
Below are the very simple directions for how to make these two floats. Enjoy!
Classic Root Beer Float (with Kahlua)
Ingredients
Two or three scoops of your desired ice cream (I chose Golden Vanilla. You use whatever you like…although I’d avoid weird flavors like pistachio or rum raisin. Blech.)
Root beer (I chose a generic store brand: Super Chill. For pure excellence, I recommend A&W. Or if you want to get fancy, try using Moxie. It’s pretty delish.)
1 shot of Kahlua (This is, of course, optional. I forgot to use it in the video, but it does make a pretty tasty treat.)
Whipped Cream
Chocolate or Caramel Sauce
Directions
Chill a tall glass in the freezer for at least twenty minutes.
Place two scoops of desired ice cream into the glass.
[Optional] Pour Kahlua (or Bailey’s if you prefer) over the ice cream.
Fill glass with root beer.
Scoop whipped cream or apply via can to top of the glass.
Add sauce.
Viola. Really not all that hard. Enjoy and think of sharks as you drink.
Next…
Affogato (fancy word for “Ice cream drowned in coffee”)
Ingredients
1 pot of coffee (you can make whatever kind you like. I used a drip maker but if you want it to be really strong, I suggest making it via an espresso maker. Nice and dark and with good flavor.)
Salted Caramel Sauce (Easiest thing to do is just make your own with sugar, butter, and water heated in a pan on the stove top. Add however much salt you want. You could also buy salted caramel candies and melt them down in a double boiler.)
Ice cream (Again, use whatever flavor you want. I kept it classic with vanilla. You can use coffee if you want it to have an extra kick, chocolate for a mocha affogato, or caramel ice cream so you can avoid making a caramel sauce!)
Directions
Brew your coffee.
Place two or three scoops of ice cream in a mug or a bowl. It’s better if the mug/bowl/glass hasn’t been chilled. The combination of hot coffee in a cold glass can cause a rapid temperature change and might shatter the glass. That’s why I don’t use glass for these kinds of things…just in case.
Once coffee is ready, pour hot coffee over ice cream. The less you pour, the better. You don’t want to be drinking ice cream soup.
Drizzle your caramel topping over the affogato and eat!
Stay tuned for more Shark Week Cooking Adventures in the next couple of days!
~KSilva
The Kat At Night 