Aldo Coffee Company

GodShot Cannoli

Every experienced barista worth their salt knows that pulling a perfect shot of espresso is extremely difficult to do on a consistent basis.  Try as one might to repeat every step that went into pulling a perfect shot, inevitably the next shot just is good, in fact very good, but just not as good as the one a minute ago.  And then we try to reproduce that perfection. 

There are many factors that go into why some shots are better than others - perhaps the equipment or ambient temperature or humidity changes imperceptably in the last minute... maybe it was an imprecise tamp because of an inconsistent grind... perhaps a half-second difference in the brew time... or a half degree off the desired boiler temperature... a hair off the ideal water pressure... or a couple of lesser beans in the hopper just dragged down the rest.   

Espresso equipment is fussy and people not robots, so even under the best conditions, repeating the steps that go into a perfect shot is extremely difficult.

That's why baristas call those rare perfect shots "GodShots". 

Cannoli Forensics

A customer came in today to return a cannoli she bought two days ago.  It was dry, she said. 

When it's your money, the only opinion that matters is yours.  So we refunded her money and took the half eaten shell and filling she'd brought in.  We knew it was ours because of the color and texture.

Rather than freak out, we took a look at possible causes for the excess "dryness".  And it turns out she may have been onto something.  For whatever reason earlier in the week somebody took it upon themselves to start packing cannoli filling into the pastry bags until they were virtually bursting.  It was "more convenient than having to refill the bags all the time." 

Hey, we're all for process when it improves the customer experience.  But this didn't.  The effect of increasing the cream volume in the pastry bags is that more cannoli cream gets exposed to the air, thus it dries out quicker.  As we use a recipe that's drier than most to begin with, the result is probably something that's more like cannoli caulk than cannoli cream. 

Up until now it's been our unwritten rule of thumb that no more than a cup goes into a pastry bag at a time.  Now it's our written rule.  Call it a learning experience.

Introducing the "Fostermisu"

Earlier this Spring, one of our regular customers, Giovanni from Brooklyn, who most recently was plying his chef's trade down at The Firehouse Lounge, said he'd like to work with us on creating a unique dessert he'd been thinking about. 

Today he came in and made it.  The Fostermisu.  A traditional Tiramisu construction from Siena except using ingredients common to the traditional Bananas Foster, created by Brennan's in New Orleans. 

Caramelized bananas atop a cream filling of mascarpone, creme fraiche and flavorings on a bed of savoriardi soaked in a non-alcoholic banana liqueur.  After setting for a few hours, at 5pm tonight it was ready to serve for the first time.

We invite you to try some - to the best of our knowledge, there is nothing else like it being served in Pittsburgh.  Unfortunately we do not have a bottle of Bacardi 151 on hand so we won't be doing traditional tableside flambé a la Brennans.  And please don't try to flambé it on your own, thanks!

Btw, we thought of naming it Bananamisu or Tirabanana orTirafoster, but Fostermisu just sounded right.  If you have a better name suggestion please let us know.

Dessert Season Back On

Lent is officially over.  For those of you who gave up desserts (and we know who you are!) you can indulge again.

  Since you've been avoiding our dessert case, next time you visit you'll find a ridiculously rich chocolate cake, an assortment of lemon and fruit tartlettes and an apricot torte have joined the cheesecakes, cannoli, sfogliatelle and other desserts that have been pining for you in your absence.

If you listen closely, you can hear them calling for you...

New Cheesecakes and Desserts

We have a new local baker who is making our regular and chocolate cheesecakes to specification. We're also adding brownies, an unbelievably moist carrot cake and a gooey turtle cheesecake.

We were considering doing our desserts in-house but there's simply not enough room in our kitchen, storage in our refrigerators nor enough time to do what we wanted, considering we're baking muffins, cinnamon rolls and sfogliatelle first thing every morning, doing panini right after that and then mixing fresh cannoli filling on a regular basis.

But for the record, Rich can turn out a mean authentic ricotta pie. We just don't think we could work that into our routine at this time.  So it makes sense to find someone really good who we trust to do the baking outside the store. Even if we're not making them ourselves, the cakes are fresh and unique to our store.

Cannoli Bar Now Open

As was mentioned in the Mt. Lebanon magazine article, we've opened our Cannoli Bar.  You can now make your very own personal cannoli. 

Aldo's Cannoli Bar:  How It Works

- Pick your shell (traditional or chocolate-coated)

- Pick your filling (traditional white ricotta or chocolate)

- Pick your topping (chocolate chips, coconut, crushed pistachio or smashed Oreo® crumbs)

- Pick your dusting (powdered sugar or espresso dust, or a drizzle of creme de menthe)

Voila, you have your own personal cannoli!

Desserts, Cookies & Cannoli

"Leave the gun.  Take the cannoli." - Clemenza (The Godfather)

OUR DESSERTS

Cheesecake
Always one, sometimes two.  Traditional, chocolate, pumpkin or other, baked locally.

Carrot Cake*
So moist you could actually cut it with a carrot!

Fruit Tart*
Kiwi, cherries, orange and other fruits in a vanilla custard tart.

Chocolate Fudge Cake*
Rich, moist and really chocolately.  A dense chocoholic experience.

Amaretti Biscotti Cake*
Amaretto-flavored cake with a cappuccino-cream icing and lots of almonds.

Brownies
Richer than a typical brownie - almost a fudge square.  Baked locally.

Biscotti
Three or four varieties daily from Angela's Biscotti and Mediterra Bakehouse.

Cookies
An assortment of Italian cookies.  Order a dozen and we'll toss in an extra.

Pizelle
Plain or chocolate. We'll dust yours with powdered sugar on request.

Sfogliatelle
Baked fresh in-store daily.  See our breakfast menu for more on this legendary Italian pastry.

Aldo's Cannoli Bar
The only one of its kind in the South Hills.  Build your own cannoli!

*At least two of these will be available on any given day.