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Coffee has become a must in my life. Every day includes a delicious, full-bodied, pour over, which I drink black…unless I’m treating myself!
Long gone are the days when I’d order a grande mocha frappe or an extra sweet and creamy latte. I have to admit…I’ve become a coffee snob, but I still believe everything has a time and place, even Coffee Jelly.
Yes, delicious deep flavored coffee, sweetened with sugar, solidified into a jiggly mass and topped with a lightly whipped vanilla cream belongs in any coffee lovers life for dessert.
My Coffee Jelly recipe comes from the ever-popular The Detroit News Menu Cook Book, which was published in 1933. I found this seemingly odd recipe in my favorite vintage cookbook. It was a new idea to me (really…coffee in jelly form?) but it happens to be a popular Japanese dish.
Coffee Jelly was invented during the Taisho period (sometime between 1912 and 1926) in Japan.[note]White, Merry I. Coffee Life in Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012. http://bit.ly/1YsMy6J.[/note] It seems to be eaten in many different forms, from tiny cubes placed in coffee or topped with condensed milk. There are many other recipes online and I encourage you to see all the other ways you can serve it!
Coffee Jelly has been popular for so long, and I’ve jumped on the bandwagon…you should as well. It’s so fun to eat and reminds me of being a kid eating gelatin jigglers after school…but this time with grown up flavors.
It would be a fun dessert to serve at a 1930's themed party! You could serve my Wilted Dandelion Greens Salad and Chicken Filled Pancakes as the main course followed by Coffee Jelly...your party will be a hit.
If you decide to join me on this Coffee Jelly train let me know what you think of it in the comments below and include#cupofzest with your Instagram pics! I’d love to see how you like it!
TIPS
-Use any kind of coffee you have on hand as long as it is brewed strong. I actually used some delicious cold brew I had in my fridge and just heated it up to just under boiling. It worked great.
-If you want to make coffee jelly jigglers, use a 9x13 dish and once the jelly is set, unmold it from the dish and cut out cute shapes with cookie cutters.
Recipe
How to Make Coffee Jelly
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup sugar divided
- 1 tablespoons gelatin
- 2 cups hot strong coffee
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Reserve 1 tablespoon sugar and mix the remaining sugar and gelatin together thoroughly in a medium bowl.
- Add the hot coffee and lemon juice to the sugar and gelatin. Gently stir until the sugar and gelatin are fully dissolved.
- Pour into a 9 x 9 inch serving dish.
- Chill until set, at least 2 hours.
- Before serving, whip heavy cream, the reserved 1 tablespoon sugar, and vanilla extract together until soft peaks just begin to form.
- Distribute coffee jelly into small serving bowls and top with the slightly whipped cream and eat up!
Cindy Lodge says
My grandmother made this for us in the fifties, and for her family, before we came along. One of our favorites! (No lemon juice, though). She used Plymouth Rock Gelatin. She said it was more “tender” than Knox. You can put a little chocolate flavor into it, if you want to go mocha…🥰
Michelle Weiner says
Thank you SO MUCH for sharring your story Cindy! It means the world to me and I love the idea of putting in some chocolate flavor!
Monica says
This was so good! I added a little kahlua. I also put mini chocolate chips on top of the whipped cream. Yummy!!
Michelle Weiner says
So glad you enjoyed it! It sounds like the additions were delicious! Thanks for the comment, it really means a lot! 🙂
Aurora says
This is my first time making coffee jelly and both me and my family were pleasantly surprised! Thank you for this recipe!
Michelle Ferrand says
YAY! So glad you enjoyed it and you're welcome 🙂