Coffee Jelly 101 – Best Uses For Coffee Jelly

Coffee jelly is a well – known dessert beloved by both the young and old alike. It is an extremely versatile dessert and is often used as a topping for other desserts.

Here are some things you need to know about coffee jelly:

What Is Coffee Jelly?

To put it simply, coffee jelly is a gelatin – based dessert that is infused with coffee flavour. It is mostly composed of coffee, sugar, and of course gelatin.

This dessert is theorised to have first been invented in Victorian England around the beginning of the 19th century. Since then, coffee jelly has spread across the world and become a classic dessert loved by everyone. It is most popular in Asian countries, especially Japan.

Locals making coffee jelly in Japan do not use a widely accepted recipe. They tend to vary the amount of each ingredient and may even add, remove, or change ingredients. Everything from brewed coffee, instant coffee powder, and even Arabica coffee grounds are used to make coffee jelly. Pure black coffee is said to be by far the best coffee for making this dessert, but sweetened black coffee is also a good option.

Coffee Jelly Recipe

Ingredients you will need to make coffee jelly:

• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1 ¾ cup of strong freshly brewed coffee
• ¼ cup of cold water
• 2 tbsp of liquid sugar or sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tbsp of granulated sugar
• 2 ½ tsp of powdered and unflavoured gelatin

Steps to make a perfect coffee jelly:

1. Start by pouring your water into a small bowl
2. Add the gelatin and mix until they combine
3. Allow the gelatin to sit for a while (5 minutes ~) at room temperature to absorb the surrounding water
4. Pour the liquid sweetener into the hot coffee and let it dissolve
5. Simmer the sweetened coffee in a saucepan over medium – high heat
6. After the sweetened coffee has started to boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the gelatin mixture
7. Let the gelatin dissolve in it completely and let it rest for around 15 minutes
8. Pour the resulting mixture into a baking dish, before then letting the baking dish chill in the refrigerator for around 4 to 6 hours
9. After the mixture cools down and sets, use a spoon or knife to dice it up into small cubes and let it sit
10. Whisk your heavy cream with a stand mixer until it becomes thick
11. Now you can add the powdered sugar into the thickened heavy cream and continue mixing. After a while, you will reach the consistency you commonly see for whipped creams
12. Pour the coffee jellies into a bowl and top them with whipped cream when you want to serve

Tips For Making Amazing Coffee Jelly

1. It is highly recommended for beginners to use gelatin powder rather than gelatin sheets. Using gelatin powder is much easier since the small granules disperse and dissolve easily in water without much need for intervention. On the other hand, gelatin sheets will only dissolve later in the cooking process and would require gentle manoeuvring.
2. There is a possibility for the other ingredients in the jelly to dilute the coffee flavour. In order to avoid this, we suggest using a strongly brewed coffee or espresso. It does not matter how you brewed it or if it is cold, hot, or made from instant coffee powder. Just make sure it has a strong flavour so that you can taste the coffee in the final product.
3. Sweetened condensed milk is the best sweetening agent for coffee jelly. It not only mixes better than the more commonly used granulated sugar, but it also improves the creaminess and richness of your coffee jelly.

Best Uses For Coffee Jelly

Here are some of the best uses for coffee jelly:

• Milk tea: you can use coffee jelly as a topping when drinking milk tea rather than tapioca pearls (boba). The coffee taste from your coffee jelly compliments the flavour of milk tea very well, so it is certainly a great pairing to try.
• Ice cream: adding coffee jelly to your ice cream not only balances its sweetness, but also creates a dynamic texture which just elevates your eating experience.
• Desserts: you can incorporate coffee jelly in numerous dessert recipes. This includes things like tiramisu, cheesecake, and many others.