The coffee foam

Article written by Michele Sergio and published in Rome on 04 August 2019

It is the Neapolitan tradition to buy the foam, the classic and ancient ice cream of southern Italy, of Neapolitan origin but widespread throughout southern Italy and, in particular, in the Salento region, in the best summer pubs of the city. Timeless semi-cold sweet of our culinary tradition, even quoted in the famous song by Renato Carosone I, mother and you:“Jamm’o bar ʼo Chiatamone, vuo’ ʼo cuppetto o vuo’ ʼo spumone?”, Has a semi-spherical shape and is made up of two layers: the first internal one, a sort of egg mousse, the second real ice cream with a cream, strawberry, chocolate, hazelnut or coffee flavor.

It is possible to make this ancient coffee-flavored recipe even at home. The steps are essentially three: the creation of the mousse, the making of the ice cream and, finally, the last step which consists in joining the two ingredients, thus creating the spumone.

To make the coffee mousse (the heart of this semi-cold drink), pour 100 grams of egg white (cold) and 100 grams of sugar into a container and blend with an electric whisk for about 3-4 minutes until when the mixture does not appear creamy. After that add 200 g of whipped cream inside the container and then whisk the two compounds. Finally, pour 2-3 cups of coffee (cold) and, after mixing it well, place the coffee mousse in the freezer.

The second step is to prepare the coffee ice cream by putting in a small saucepan (one ingredient at a time and in the following order) 200 gr sugar, 200 gr of cream, 50 gr of butter and 2 cups of coffee. With the help of a whisk, mix all the ingredients to create a coffee cream. At the same time pour 400 grams of liquid cream into an ampoule and mount it with the help of an electric whisk; once the cream is whipped add the coffee cream that we made before and mix the two compounds with a wooden spoon until they become a single homogeneous mixture. Pour everything into a container suitable for the freezer and store it there for about 12 hours

At this point, and we are at the third and final stage, take a small semi-spherical cup and spread the ice cream inside, taking care to leave space in the center to put the coffee mousse. Close with a lid and place it in the freezer for about 1 hour. To serve it, simply flip the spumone and transform it from the container.

It is certainly not a very simple recipe but it is the best way to make a Neapolitan happy. In fact, offering a spumone to a Neapolitan is a nice and sweet way to fight the summer heat.

Happy holidays to all.