Sweet jelly with a bright coffee aroma was invented by the British and gained popularity in the USA. However, the recipe was borrowed by the Japanese, who took coffee jelly to a new level. The dish is easy to buy in supermarkets and is offered by almost every restaurant in the land of the rising sun. In some schools, coffee jelly is an integral part of lunches.
Origin of the dish
In the cookbooks of Great Britain, the first mention of the recipe dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. In the first versions, coffee was mixed with veal jelly and isinglass. At that time it was not yet possible to buy gelatin separately. Then it was recommended to add gelatin to hot coffee, and then pour the mixture into a certain form.
A hundred years later, society began to think about the dangers of coffee for the body. Gelatin was supposed to absorb excess acid in the stomach, so coffee jelly became more popular. In 1918, the Americans released a new line of jelly, but its popularity was limited to the state of New England.
Nowadays, the dish is popular in the territories of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. One of the Boston restaurants is truly famous for its coffee jelly. The establishment, opened in 1827, is still open today. Coffee that didn't sell that day magically turns into jelly the next day.
The Japanese product, which has gained worldwide fame, was developed between 1912 and 1926. The Japanese tried to repeat the European analogue on their own. Young people, often interested in the fashion of other developed countries, were especially enthusiastic about the idea of coffee jelly. The product successfully competes with the coffee industry to this day.
Starbucks has even released something new - Frappuccino-based jelly. The idea was invented specifically for Japan.
Cooking tips
In a small saucepan, combine gelatin with water and heat over moderate heat, remembering to stir, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. After this, add sugar, coffee and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Next, pour the coffee jelly into beautiful molds or another container. Using a spoon, remove excess bubbles from the surface of the dessert. After the dessert has cooled completely, cover it with cling film on top and put it in the refrigerator for four hours. When serving, if desired, decorate with whipped cream, mint leaves and a small coffee bean.
Subtleties of cooking
To make coffee-flavored jelly at home, you will need simple ingredients, there are not many of them, so it will not be difficult to prepare a Japanese dish. The main ingredients are coffee, sugar and thickener. The latter can be agar-agar or gelatin.
Agar recipes are also present in vegetarian menus. Agar-agar is a gelatin-like substance that is made from algae. This is what the Japanese combine with sweet coffee. The dessert is topped with whipped cream.
About coffee
In our country, this tasty, aromatic, invigorating drink is loved no less than tea. It is believed that coffee appeared in Rus' in the “time of Peter the Great.” Peter I brought it to our country from Holland. After which he began to instill the culture of coffee drinking among the St. Petersburg nobility. However, from ancient chronicles it is known that coffee appeared much earlier and was used by princes for medicinal purposes. Until the beginning of the 20th century, coffee was considered exclusively a drink of aristocrats due to its high price. Later it became more accessible and is now a regular breakfast item. Currently, coffee beans are imported into our country in large quantities from Brazil, India, Argentina and other countries. By the way, biologists planted an experimental plantation with this crop in Sochi.
We have prepared for you three of the most original dessert recipes, where coffee is the main component! Let’s say right away that to obtain a high-quality dessert, you should adhere to the given recipes. Otherwise, the products may be too liquid in consistency or, conversely, thick.
Agar-agar recipe
To prepare a delicate dessert, you first need to place 600 ml of water in a small saucepan and add 5 g of agar-agar powder. The liquid must be thoroughly mixed with a spoon until the thickener dissolves. The container is placed on the fire and brought to a boil.
As soon as the water boils, you need to turn on the gas. Add 5 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of instant coffee. The contents are stirred for about 2 minutes. Then the pan is removed from the stove and left for 5 minutes. There is no point in letting the liquid cool for a long time. Agar hardens well at a temperature of 40 degrees, so room temperature will mean one hundred percent effect.
Next, you need to prepare 4 identical containers for coffee jelly. The liquid is spread and left to harden. When the thickening process has already begun, wrap the dishes in cling film and place them in the refrigerator for several hours. Before serving, the dish is decorated with whipped cream. Some people add canned fruit. The jelly can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than two days.
Coffee jelly: “Milk Dream”
Ingredients for jelly:
- milk of any fat content - 250 ml; — coffee – 250 ml (instant); - sugar - to taste; — instant gelatin powder – 15 g; - cold water - 3 tbsp. l; - coconut flakes - for decoration; - grated chocolate or cocoa - for decoration.
Preparation:
Before adding gelatin to milk, fruit juice or coffee, you need to turn it from a powder into a liquid substance. This is done as follows. Pour the gelatin into a small bowl that can be heated in a water bath. Pour in 3 tbsp. l. cold water and immediately mix with gelatin. It will quickly absorb water and swell.
But in this form it will not dissolve in a large amount of liquid; it needs to be heated so that the gelatin melts. 10-12 minutes after mixing the gelatin with water, put it in a water bath (on some kind of ladle with water) and heat it until the gelatin becomes liquid. Under no circumstances should gelatin be brought to a boil! It will immediately lose its gelling properties and the jelly will not harden. Stir with a spoon; as soon as the mixture becomes liquid, remove from the water bath.
Let the gelatin cool slightly. During this time we will prepare coffee and heat the milk. Mix sugar and instant coffee (take both to taste, make the coffee the way you like). Pour in 250 ml. hot water, stir. For now we set it aside.
Heat the milk until warm (it should not be very hot). Add half the gelatin. Mix quickly so that the gelatin is distributed evenly throughout the entire volume.
Pour the remaining gelatin into warm coffee. Stir. Now we have everything ready, we can pour the jelly into glasses.
We take glasses with a volume of 250-300 ml. Pour milk and gelatin into the bottom of one (about 3 cm). Pour coffee with gelatin into another glass. Place the glasses in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes, the layers should harden. Then pour coffee onto the milk layer, and milk onto the coffee layer. And put it in the refrigerator again until the layers harden. So we alternate layers until we fill the glasses to the top, after each layer we cool the dessert. You can do it easier and faster - for example, fill the glasses halfway with coffee jelly, cool and fill with milk.
Leave the milk-coffee jelly in the refrigerator until it hardens completely, this will take 3-4 hours. Before serving, sprinkle the top with coconut and grated chocolate or cocoa. You can take the jelly out shortly before serving and let it warm up a little, but then the taste will not be as contrasting.
Coffee jelly with chocolate and vanilla
Place 400 ml of milk, 300 ml of water and 4 tablespoons of sugar, preferably brown, into a saucepan. The contents are heated on the stove until the sugar is completely dissolved. After this, you need to add 100 g of broken dark chocolate, vanilla essence and 2 tablespoons of instant coffee.
20 g of gelatin should be made liquid and placed in the same container. The components must be thoroughly mixed and strained. Coffee jelly is poured into molds and left to harden in the refrigerator for several hours. In the microwave you need to make liquid marshmallows (6 pieces) and place them on top of the jelly. You can decorate the dish with frozen cherries and mint.
More: Introduction to Frappe coffee, recipes
Coffee jelly (Japanese dessert)
To prepare a Japanese dessert in the form of coffee jelly, it is best to use natural ground coffee, as it gives the jelly a deeper and richer taste. Ideally, choose coconut milk that contains 84% coconut extract or higher, as this milk thickens when cooled and takes on a creamy consistency, or use coconut cream.
Measure instant gelatin into a small container, add 50-70 ml of cold water. Stir and let the mixture sit for a few minutes while you prepare the coffee to allow the gelatin to swell.
Measure ground coffee into a Turk, add sugar, cardamom and 500 ml of cold water. Stir and bring the mixture to almost a boil over low heat. When the coffee starts to boil, remove the Turk from the heat for a few seconds, and when the coffee foam settles slightly, resume heating, allowing the coffee to almost boil 1-2 more times. Then turn off the heat, stir the coffee again and let it sit for 1-2 minutes to allow the coffee grounds to settle.
The sweetness, strength and spiciness of the coffee can be adjusted to suit your taste. Just keep in mind that when chilled and combined with sauce, its taste will be weaker. If in everyday life you drink weak coffee without sugar or sweeteners, in this case make an exception and prepare sweet and strong coffee with a hint of bitterness. In contrast to the sweet milk sauce, it will sparkle very appetizingly.
Strain the coffee into a saucepan or small saucepan. Boil the coffee again and turn off the heat. Add prepared gelatin to hot coffee and stir until completely dissolved.
Pour the coffee into a mold or small container. Cool to room temperature and then place in the refrigerator for another 2-3 hours, or until the coffee jelly is completely set. Also place the coconut milk in the refrigerator to cool and thicken.
Cut the cooled jelly into small cubes or bite-sized pieces.
To serve, distribute pieces of coffee jelly into serving molds or glasses.
Prepare the sauce. Add sugar/powdered sugar to the cooled coconut milk to taste. Stir until dissolved.
Pour the resulting sweet milk sauce into glasses with coffee jelly, in such an amount that the sauce barely covers the top layer of jelly. If you prefer more sauce, prepare more sweet milk in advance, serve in a separate container and add more as needed.
Japanese coffee jelly is ready. Bon appetit!
Coffee jelly with liqueur
1 teaspoon of instant coffee should be prepared in the standard way - pour boiling water. There should be at least 300 ml of water for the drink. You can also use freshly brewed coffee, but you need to strain it so that no particles of grounds get into the jelly.
2 tablespoons of gelatin need to be poured into 100 ml of water. The contents are mixed and left for 10 minutes to swell. After this, the gelatin is placed in a saucepan, 3 tablespoons of sugar are added. The mixture is placed on low heat.
It is important to prevent the gelatin from boiling.
In addition to sugar, you need to add prepared coffee to the saucepan. The components are mixed until the sugar dissolves. Pour in 2 tablespoons of any coffee liqueur and 400 ml of cream. The optimal fat content is 20%. The mass is mixed one last time.
The jelly is poured into cups and placed in the refrigerator for several hours. For complete thickening you should wait about 3 hours. The finished dessert can be decorated with whipped cream and grated chocolate. Adding spices will also enhance the flavor. Jelly is consumed with a teaspoon.
Jelly dessert “Coffee with milk”
Coffee with milk - how much flavor there is in these words. This delicious coffee jelly with milk, the recipe for which will be a godsend for many, is not difficult to prepare.
To prepare the jelly dessert “Coffee with milk”, you will need to spend about 2 hours. Since you will use gelatin, within 4 hours you will be able to please your guests and family with delicious jelly.
Ingredients for jelly:
- gelatin - 2 tbsp. spoons, - milk - 180 ml, - black coffee - 10 grams, - water - 300 ml, - sugar - 3-4 tbsp. spoons, - banana - ½ pcs.
Preparation:
To make jelly from coffee and milk, pour a tablespoon of gelatin into a deep plate. Pour hot water (100 ml) into gelatin. It is best to boil the water and pour it in immediately. Mix gelatin with water well with a whisk and add sugar (2 tablespoons). When it dissolves, leave the plate for 7 minutes.
At this time, pour a bag of black coffee into a cup (200 ml). And pour boiling water until the mug is full. Stir well, add a tablespoon of sugar and leave for the coffee to brew. Pour the milk into a saucer and pour 2/3 of the gelatin. Stir. Pour the milk mixture into glasses, leaving a third of it.
Pour the remaining gelatin mass into a cup of ready-made coffee. Pour the coffee mixture into a clean glass until it is half full. Add a little coffee to one of the glasses with milk. Get coffee with milk. Place all three glasses in the refrigerator until completely frozen. When the jelly has hardened, cut the banana into cubes.
Place banana in glasses, on top of jelly. And now pour coffee on top of the glass with milk to create a contrast. Pour coffee into a glass of “coffee with milk” too. Place sliced bananas in a glass of coffee. And pour in the remaining milk. Place all the cups in the refrigerator and wait for the jelly to harden. It will take approximately 1-2 hours. Coffee jelly with milk and banana can be served.
Jelly according to Dukan
In the modern world, there are a huge number of different diets, but the diet of Pierre Dukan, a well-known French doctor, is one of the most common. Today we offer a recipe for milk-coffee jelly, which is within the limits of this diet. To work we will need:
- a glass of milk;
- 2 tbsp. l. coffee (solvent);
- 20 g gelatin;
- 3 tbsp. l. sweetener;
- glass of water;
- vanillin - on the tip of a teaspoon.
Step by step recipe
For preparation:
- Take cooled boiled water and soak gelatin in it. Then dissolve it in a water bath until it has a homogeneous consistency, without lumps.
- Let the milk boil (do not boil for too long), add all the vanillin and ½ part of the sweetener. After it has cooled, add half the amount of gelatin.
- To prepare coffee jelly, first brew the coffee and add the remaining gelatin and sweetener to it. Let the resulting mass cool. To prepare dessert, it is best to use natural and freshly ground coffee. But if you don’t have this in stock, packaged ones will do.
- Take a nice tall glass or a glass and pour multi-colored jelly one by one, while you need to let the previous layer harden a little. Their thickness and quantity can be adjusted as desired.
