You may want to slide your go-to espresso martini off to the side after tasting Giada De Laurentiis’ unique cocktail recipe. Borrowing from the Italian caffé shakerato, a foamy espresso-based drink commonly served during summers, this foamy delight is everything you want in a sweet sipper. Yet instead of the usual ingredients to make a classic shakerato – espresso, sugar, and ice – De Laurentiis puts her own boozy spin on the recipe. The result is not only pretty to look at but also delicious to taste, so you can easily impress friends at your next party.
Making the drink mirrors how it sounds — shaking ingredients to frothy, foamy perfection before straining the cocktail into glasses to serve. Similar to the Greek Freddo espresso, typical shakerato ingredients are poured over ice. De Laurentiis enhances her recipe with limoncello liqueur and vodka, and rather than espresso, her boozy drink calls for cold brew coffee. Combining limoncello and coffee offers a surprisingly refreshing and sweet sip, as bright, zesty lemon flavors balance out some of the richer, bitter notes offered by the coffee. “[It’s] liquid dessert,” De Laurentiis explains on her YouTube channel.
A delicious drink with a side of theatrics
With no dairy in the limoncello shakerato recipe, this sweet cocktail can be perfect for catering to guests with dietary restrictions. Without milk or cream, this texturally satisfying drink is simple to make, plus the provided entertainment of shaking up the ingredients in a cocktail shaker is sure to impress any curious houseguests.
Many baristas and bartenders use simple syrup to sweeten shakerato orders, but De Laurentiis uses agave instead. Purists may want to make their own limoncello to use in the drink, and drinkers with a persistent sweet tooth may enjoy experimenting with making the drink using flavored vodkas, like vanilla or chocolate, for an added boost of flavor. This delicious yet unexpected flavor combination may inspire you to drizzle limoncello over your next dish of coffee gelato. Similarly, you can experiment with creating a different cocktail recipe by swapping the limoncello out and using Amaretto to shake a nuttier flavored shakerato to pour and serve.
