Coffee Jelly Is My Favorite Caffeinated Dessert

by Cindi Sutter, Founder & Editor Spirited Table® - content provided by JARRETT MELENDEZ, BON APPÉTIT—June 22, 2021

A cup of jiggly coffee jelly is the perfect boost for when it’s too hot for drip and cold brew isn’t extra enough.

Photo By Isa Zapata, Food Styling By Micah Morton

The only thing better than a good recipe? When something’s so easy to make that you don’t even need one. Welcome to It’s That Simple, a column where we talk you through the process of making the dishes and drinks we can make with our eyes closed.

Years ago, when I was living in Japan, I became obsessed with a dessert called コーヒーゼリー(coffee jelly). My friend Yuko ordered it for me at a small café that specialized in trendy desserts, and I was delighted when our server brought it to the table: a glass dessert cup filled with jiggly cubes of sweetened, gelatinized coffee topped with a dollop of soft whipped cream. It was love at first spoonful. The coffee taste was surprisingly strong, complex, and natural, as if someone had taken a particularly well-brewed cup of rich, chocolaty dark roast coffee and turned it into Jell-O (not terribly far from the truth!). Each cube was surprisingly firm with just a little chew. My favorite way to eat it is to let each block melt in my mouth so that the coffee flavor gradually washes over my palate. (Fun fact: While I’ve always considered coffee jelly a Japanese dessert, I learned that it actually originated in England in the early 19th century.)

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