Coffee culture

‘Affogato’ meaning ‘drowned’ in Italian, is traditionally made from only three ingredients – espresso, gelato and sometimes a shot of liqueur. We’ve made our version more decadent by adding salted caramel.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Serves: 2

80g salted caramel

4 scoops Remeo Madagascan Vanilla Gelato

2 shots espresso

To serve Biscotti, optional

1 Divide the salted caramel between two glasses and top with the ice cream. 2 Pour the hot espresso over. 3 Serve with crushed biscotti, if desired.

In Italian, one of these delicious treats is referred to as a connolo and two or more are referred to as cannoli.

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Makes: 30 cannoli

250g SpinneysFOOD Ricotta

100g SpinneysFOOD Extra Fine Caster Sugar

For the cannoli dough

300g cake flour

30g SpinneysFOOD Salted Butter, softened

15g cocoa powder

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Instant Coffee

1 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Grain White Sugar

Pinch of SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt

1 glass non-alcoholic white wine or marsala

1 egg white, for sticking

SpinneysFOOD Pure Sunflower Oil, for deep-frying

For the filling

250ml SpinneysFOOD Full Fat Milk

1 SpinneysFOOD Bay Leaf

1 clove

1 SpinneysFOOD Cinnamon Stick

20g corn starch

50g dark chocolate

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cinnamon

2 shots espresso

60g chocolate chips

To serve

Coffee beans, for decorating

SpinneysFOOD Super Fine Icing sugar, for dusting

1 Combine the ricotta and sugar in a mediumsized bowl and refrigerate while you prepare the dough. 2 To make the cannoli dough, combine the flour, butter, cocoa, coffee, sugar and salt then gradually add the non-alcoholic white wine until a stiff, pliable dough forms (the dough should be a similar consistency to pasta dough). Knead the dough until smooth and elastic then cover and rest for 10 minutes.

3 Slice off pieces of dough and roll through a floured pasta machine starting at the largest setting and work your way through the notches until you achieve size 4 thickness. 4 Using a cookie cutter or cup, cut out discs of dough, then wrap around a cannoli mould. Overlap the edges and stick them together with a little egg white. Continue until all the dough has been used. 5 Fill a large pot with oil and heat the oil to 180°C. Fry the cannoli, in batches, until deepgolden brown. Each batch will take approx. 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and allow to cool. 6 Place the milk in a saucepan along with

If you don’t have metal cannoli rods, you can either use cannelloni pasta shells, or scrunch up foil to form the rods.

the bay leaf, clove and cinnamon. Heat over a medium heat until just simmering. Add a little water to the corn starch to make a thin paste then gradually whisk the paste into the warm milk, whisking continuously until thick. Simmer for a few minutes until cooked. 7 Finely chop the dark chocolate and stir it into the milk mixture along with the cinnamon and espresso. Spread the chocolate sauce on a baking tray to cool.

8 Pass the ricotta cheese and sugar mixture through a fine sieve to get a smooth mixture. Remove the spices from the sauce and stir into the ricotta mixture along with the chocolate chips. Stir well. 9 Place the filling into a piping bag and pipe into each cannolo. 10 Dust the cannoli with icing sugar and decorate with coffee beans, if desired. Serve immediately.

This type of dessert is very common in Sicily and hugely popular in the summer. Other common versions include those flavoured with jasmine flowers, prickly pear or watermelon.

Prep time: 5 minutes (plus chilling time)

Cook time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

500ml fairly strong freshly brewed coffee

1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cinnamon

100g SpinneysFOOD Extra Fine Caster Sugar

60g corn flour

To serve

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 Rinse out a 500ml decorative mould with cold water. 2 While the coffee is still hot, pour it into a bowl, stir in the cinnamon, then add the sugar and continue to stir until cooled slightly. Sift the corn flour into the mixture and whisk to prevent any lumps from forming. 3 Strain the mixture into a pan and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly using a spatula (don’t use a whisk as this will destroy the structure). Once the mixture has thickened and the corn flour has cooked out, approx. 5 minutes, remove the pan from the heat, stir for a few seconds to cool slightly before pouring it into the prepared mould. 4 Chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. 5 Remove from the refrigerator and turn out on to a serving dish. 6 Dust with cocoa powder and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Granitas are similar to sorbets but have a much grainier consistency. The traditional flavour and texture varies throughout the island. In Catania it is very common to find granita flavoured with almonds, whereas in Messina it is often flavoured with coffee and served with cream.

Prep time: 10 minutes (plus freezing time)

Serves: 4-6

For the granita

70g SpinneysFOOD Extra Fine Caster Sugar

250ml SpinneysFOOD Bottled Drinking Water

750ml extra strong coffee

To serve

250ml whipping cream

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 Place the sugar and water in a pan over a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the coffee, stir and set aside until completely cooled.

2 Pour the mixture into a freezer-proof container and place in the freezer for 2 hours or just over, stirring every 20 minutes to give it a granular texture. 3 Whip the cream. 4 Serve in dishes or glasses. Decorate with whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.

Brew that perfect cup or flavour desserts with the coffee in stores.

SpinneysFOOD Rich Roast Instant Coffee Granules

SpinneysFOOD Italian Dark Roast Coffee – Ground

Waitrose Italian Style Instant Coffee

SpinneysFOOD Italian Espresso Coffee Capsules

Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian Coffee Bags