Tiki “Affogato”

We drink even more coffee than rum – which is probably a good thing – and one of our favorite coffee desserts is an affogato. The word affogato means “drowned” in Italian and the dessert that the name refers to is a scoop of ice cream that has a shot of espresso poured over the top of it. Coffee isn’t the only beverage that you can use to produce an affogato-style dessert, though. We think that rum works just as well.

Our Tiki Affogato is a scoop of pineapple sorbet with dark rum poured over the top of it. The dessert can be eaten with a spoon or sipped straight from the cocktail glass it is served in. The pineapple sorbet starts to melt as soon as you pour the rum over it, infusing the rum with flavor while it mellows out the straight spirit. It is absolutely delicious – and it makes a very elegant looking dessert without much effort!

Pineapple and dark rum are always an amazing combination and we highly recommend sticking with dark rum when you make your affogato. We used Plantation Dark in the dessert pictured here, but many dark rums that have a good molasses note to them will work well, so feel free to experiment with what you have in your bar. We also used a homemade pineapple sorbet, however you can use your favorite brand of sorbet, gelato or ice cream with good results, as well.

Tiki “Affogato”
1 1/2 oz dark rum
pineapple sorbet or pineapple ice cream

Place scoop of pineapple sorbet in a coupe or other cocktail glass. Top with 1 1/2 oz of dark rum.
If your sorbet scoops are very large, increase the rum to 2 oz.