Amaretto Coffee

This is the after-dinner coffee drink that costs eight dollars at any restaurant and takes five minutes to make at home. Hot coffee gets a generous pour of amaretto liqueur and a cloud of whipped cream that melts into the dark coffee as you sip.

The recipe uses instant coffee crystals heated in the microwave, which works fine for this kind of dessert drink. If you have brewed coffee on hand, use it. But don’t let the lack of a coffee maker stop you.

The amaretto-to-coffee ratio in this version (a third of a cup of liqueur for 1.5 cups of water) makes it a real dessert drink, not coffee with a splash. Bring it down to two tablespoons per cup if you want something subtler.

Variations

• Swap amaretto for Kahlúa for a coffee-on-coffee mocha lean, or Frangelico for a nuttier hazelnut version
• Use brewed espresso instead of instant for a stronger, restaurant-style amaretto coffee
• Top with shaved chocolate or a dusting of cinnamon over the whipped cream for visual flair