Directions:
1. Brew coffee and chill. (For K-Cup brew on  8 oz setting.) After brewing, I put my coffee in the freezer until it was almost frozen.
2. Into a blender or bullet add chilled coffee, ice cream, and creamer. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour into glass and top with whipped topping and candy pieces.

Optional: Drizzle with some chocolate syrup.

Tips:
You can freeze coffee in an ice cube tray ahead of time. That way you won’t have to wait the 45 – 60 minutes for the coffee to chill when you want to indulge yourself with this delicious drink.

Espresso Ice Cream!

An affogato (Italian for “drowned”) is an Italian coffee-based dessert. Like many great Italian dishes, the affogato is a lesson in simplicity. A classic Affogato recipe features creamy vanilla ice cream topped with a shot of hot espresso.

How to Make a traditional Affogato:
Place a scoop of gelato or ice cream (vanilla, coffee, or chocolate) in a coffee cup or glass, then pour a shot of espresso or 3 tablespoons strong brewed coffee over. Top with shaved dark chocolate and chopped hazelnuts.        – Source Food Network

Basic Vanilla Gelato Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups (500 ml) milk or equal parts milk and cream
3/4 cup (150g) sugar – superfine sugar is best, but regular granulated will do.
4 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod split open down the side

Directions
STEP 1
Pour the milk, half of the sugar, and the vanilla pod into a saucepan and bring the milk nearly to a boil. When the very first bubbles begin to appear, take it immediately off the heat, cover, and let it cool. When the milk has cooled remove the vanilla.

STEP 2
After the milk has cooled, put the egg yolks into an electric mixer together with the other half of the sugar. Beat at a high setting until the egg yolks and sugar have been totally combined and develop a creamy quality. You will be able to see ripples as the mixer turns.

STEP 3
Lower the setting and slowly add your cooled milk. Mix until everything is well combined.

STEP 4
Now begins the tricky part of the process. For this step, I suggest using a double boiler or bain-marie technique, place the saucepan with the mixture over a saucepan of simmering water, to soften’ the heat. Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and heat the mixture gently until the eggs thicken it into a thin custard. You want to get it thick enough to coat a spoon lightly but not so much that the egg curdles. 

Above all, never let the mixture reach the boiling point. As an extra precaution, you can keep a bit of cold milk or cream at the ready, and add just a bit to the saucepan if you feel that the mixture has gotten too hot.

If you are very attentive, increasing the heat very gradually from low to medium or medium-high. Stirring constantly until you begin to ‘feel’ the mixture beginning to thicken—you will notice slightly more resistance to the movement of your spoon or whisk—and then lower the heat immediately to low you can do this step without a double boiler or using the bain-marie technique. 

STEP 5
Once the mixture has thickened, remove it from the heat and pour it through a sieve to remove the vanilla seeds and any possible bits of coagulated egg into a bowl. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for about an hour. Stirring from time to time to prevent a film from forming on the surface of the mixture. When chilled, you will notice that the mixture will have thickened even more.

STEP 6
WITH AN ICE CREAM MAKER: Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and proceed to churn per the instructions that came with the machine. Typically, for 20-30 minutes, which results in a ‘soft serve’ texture. If you want a firmer gelato, freeze it for an hour or two before serving. 

WITHOUT AN ICE CREAM MAKER: Simply put the mixture in a large, covered container into the freezer. After about an hour, take the container out and mix it vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. Repeat the process every 15 minutes. By the second hour, your gelato should be ready to eat.

NOTE: If you will not be serving right away and are keeping it in the freezer, remove it from the freezer about 15 minutes before serving. The texture of gelato should be firm but not hard.