By Halloween. Tuesday this year. Lucas in his chef costume — upgraded; Jenny had made him a proper apron with his name embroidered — and Isabella as the tree-house princess, and Mateo in his pumpkin onesie in the baby carrier on Jenny. Miguel Jr. brought them to my porch first, as tradition requires. I gave them each a bag of Puerto Rican candies.
Lucas said, "Abuela, I am a chef like you." I said, "Mijo, you are a chef like you. You are a Delgado chef. That is its own thing." He thought about that. He said, "I am a Delgado chef." I said, "Yes." He told every person we met for the next twenty minutes, "I am a Delgado chef." The word "Delgado" in his five-year-old mouth, firm, his own. The chain.
Eduardo and I gave out candy until 8 PM. Two hundred and eighty kids by Eduardo's count. We ran out of the regular candy around 7:45. I pulled out my emergency stash of Puerto Rican candies — besitos de coco, dulce de leche bars — and those went fast to the neighborhood kids who know me. By 8 PM the porch was dark. We closed the door. We sat in the living room. Eduardo poured himself a small glass of rum. I had coffee. We watched the news.
Thursday I started the coquito. Early, as always. Eduardo rolled his eyes, as always. I made four bottles. I labeled them. Three bottles in the fridge to develop. One bottle in the freezer as backup for December.
Friday was Día de los Muertos. Not a Puerto Rican holiday, technically — it is Mexican — but I marked it this year because a friend of Mrs. Pelletier had told her about it and Mrs. Pelletier mentioned it to me and I decided to make a small remembrance. I set out three photos at the kitchen table. Papi. Abuela Consuelo. Héctor. My three dead. I lit a candle. I poured a small glass of rum for Papi and a cup of coffee for Abuela and a bottle of cold beer for Héctor (he preferred beer). I said their names out loud. I sat for ten minutes.
Eduardo came into the kitchen. He saw the setup. He said, "Carmen, is this new?" I said, "I think it is." He said, "Okay." He sat down next to me. He did not say anything. After a few minutes he poured his father a small glass of rum too and added it to the table. Juan Carlos Ortiz. Eduardo's dead. We sat together with our four dead for another fifteen minutes. Then I blew out the candle. I poured the rum down the sink (never drink the offering). I kept the coffee for myself. Wepa.
I started the coquito on Thursday — coconut milk, rum, the whole ritual — and by Friday I had coconut on the brain and the dead on my heart. After we blew out the candle and I kept my coffee for myself, I wanted something that sat in between: warm and cold at once, sweet and a little serious. This affogato, with coconut milk ice cream sweetened with honey the way I like things sweetened, felt exactly right for the end of that week — the kind of thing you make quietly, for yourself, after the children have gone home and the offerings have been poured down the sink and the house is finally still.
Chai Affogato (with Honey-Sweetened Coconut Milk Ice Cream)
Prep Time: 20 min + 6 hrs freezing | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 6 hrs 30 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- For the Coconut Milk Ice Cream:
- 2 cans (13.5 oz each) full-fat coconut milk, chilled overnight
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- For the Chai:
- 2 cups water
- 3 chai tea bags (or 1 tbsp loose-leaf masala chai)
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tbsp honey, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground cardamom
Instructions
- Make the ice cream base. Shake the chilled coconut milk cans well, then pour both into a medium bowl. Whisk in the honey, vanilla, and salt until fully combined and smooth.
- Churn or freeze. If using an ice cream maker, churn according to manufacturer instructions (about 20–25 minutes), then transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 4 hours until firm. If you do not have an ice cream maker, pour the base into a shallow freezer-safe dish, freeze for 1 hour, then stir vigorously with a fork. Repeat every 45 minutes for 3–4 hours until creamy and scoopable.
- Brew the chai. Bring 2 cups of water to a near boil. Add chai tea bags, cover, and steep for 5 minutes. Remove bags without squeezing. Stir in coconut milk, honey, cinnamon, and cardamom. Keep warm over very low heat — you want it hot but not boiling when it hits the ice cream.
- Assemble. Scoop 2 generous balls of coconut milk ice cream into each serving cup or small bowl. Pour 1/2 cup of hot chai directly over the ice cream tableside, letting it melt and pool at the edges.
- Serve immediately. The contrast of hot chai and cold coconut ice cream is the whole point — serve the moment you pour.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 340 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 85mg