How to Prepare Your CoffeeJapanese Coffee Jelly
What you need
Ingredients run from the top of the cup to the bottom; the last item is the bottom layer. Values are normalized to a true 100% stack.
- Grind
- Medium, for pour-over or drip, brewed stronger than a drinking cup
- Water temperature
- Coffee brewed hot, set in the fridge and served cold
- Total time
- 180 min
Coffee jelly is strong brewed coffee, lightly sweetened and set with gelatin, then cubed and eaten with a spoon under a pour of cold cream. The idea is not Japanese by birth: English cookbooks printed coffee jellies as early as 1817. Japan's first recipe appeared in the Yomiuri Shimbun's household column on 3 April 1914. In 1963 Mikado Coffee began selling it at its Karuizawa shop as 'coffee you eat', served with gum syrup, cream and a little brandy. The dessert faded from Western menus, but in Japan it stayed. Coffee shops still make it by hand, convenience stores sell it in single cups, and it is often thought of as a nostalgic summer sweet.
Steps
Brew strong coffee
Sugar, cold and a pour of cream all dull the coffee's flavour, so the base has to start stronger than a drinking cup. Japanese home recipes use about 25 g of coffee for 300 ml of water, so the finished jelly still tastes clearly of coffee.
Bloom the gelatin in a little cold water for 5 minutes
Soaking first lets every granule absorb water and swell. Swollen gelatin melts evenly into the hot coffee. Dry powder tipped straight into hot liquid forms lumps that never dissolve.
Stir the sugar into the hot coffee, then the gelatin, keeping it off the boil
Sugar dissolves easily while the coffee is hot. The gelatin goes in once the coffee is about 80 °C, short of a boil. A boil would drive off the coffee's aroma and can weaken the set.
Pour into glasses or a shallow tray and chill for 2–4 hours
Gelatin only sets once it is cold, well below room temperature, so the jelly needs the fridge. A shallow layer chills through faster and evenly. A tray gives a slab you can cut into neat cubes.
Cube or roughly break the jelly, then pour cream over it
Cutting the jelly gives the cream more surface to coat. Its fat rounds off the coffee's bitterness. Mikado Coffee has served gum syrup alongside since 1963, so each person can sweeten their own bowl.
Cup ready
Time to enjoy your Japanese Coffee Jelly
Brewed the way they do it in Japan. What next?
Tips
- Adjust the texture with the amount of coffee, not the gelatin. With 5 g of gelatin, 250 ml of coffee sets firm, 300 ml gives the classic soft wobble, and 350 ml sets very softly.
- Agar (kanten) can replace gelatin. About 4 g of powdered agar sets 500 ml of coffee, and because agar sets at around 40 °C, the jelly firms up at room temperature in about half an hour.
- Instant coffee is an accepted shortcut. Japanese home recipes dissolve about 2 tablespoons in 400 ml of simmering water before adding the sugar and gelatin.
- Keep the jelly itself only lightly sweet and serve gum syrup on the side. Everyone can then add sugar to taste, the way Mikado Coffee serves it.
Common mistakes
- Adding the gelatin to boiling coffee. The heat flattens the coffee's aroma and can leave a weaker set.
- Using coffee at normal drinking strength. Once it is sweetened, chilled and covered in cream, it tastes faint.
- Pouring dry gelatin straight into the coffee. It clumps into rubbery lumps instead of dissolving evenly.
Variations
Within the Japanese tradition, the preparation above takes these familiar shapes:
Sicilian Granita al Caffè
Italy's spoon-eaten coffee dessert. The strong sweetened coffee is frozen and scraped into ice instead of set into a jelly, and it is also topped with cream.
FAQ
Is coffee jelly a Japanese invention?
No. English cookbooks printed coffee jelly recipes as early as 1817, often set with calves' foot jelly or isinglass. Japan's first recipe appeared in the Yomiuri Shimbun on 3 April 1914. It has since vanished from most Western kitchens, but it is still eaten widely in Japan, where cafés and convenience stores sell it.
Who first sold coffee jelly in Japan?
Mikado Coffee says it did. The Tokyo roaster's founder, Keisuke Kanesaka, wanted a coffee that could be eaten. In 1963 the company's old-road shop in Karuizawa began serving it as 'coffee you eat', with gum syrup, cream and brandy. The coffee was cold-dripped overnight and set with sheet gelatin. The work was so slow that the shop made only 100 a day.
Should I use gelatin or agar?
Japanese recipes use both. Gelatin gives the soft jelly that trembles at the touch of a spoon, the texture Mikado Coffee describes. It needs a fridge to set. Agar (kanten) sets at about 40 °C, so it firms up at room temperature in about half an hour. Choose gelatin for the classic wobble and agar for speed.
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