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Coffee Jelly

A gelatin dessert made with milk, eggs, sugar, and strong coffee.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Gelatin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,778 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Coffee Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Soak the gelatin in tepid water to cover it.

  2. In a double boiler, heat the milk until just before boiling.

  3. Stir in the beaten eggs and sugar, and scald without boiling until slightly thickened.

  4. Remove from heat and add the dissolved gelatin and strong coffee.

Set and serve

  1. Pour into molds and cool.

  2. In warm weather, use a little more gelatin for firmness.

  3. Serve with cream and sugar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,202 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  3. Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,344 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Gelatin + coffeetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together146 recipes

    Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Gelatin
Sets the liquid into a wobbly jelly that holds its shape when chilled.
Eggs
Thicken the milk mixture gently when scalded, adding body and richness.
Milk
Forms the creamy base that gives the jelly a soft, smooth texture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the strong coffee.
Strong coffee
Provides the main flavour and dark colour of the jelly.

The step that matters

Scald the egg and milk mixture without boiling. If the custard boils, the beaten eggs can curdle and turn grainy instead of smoothly thickening. Gentle heat in a double boiler thickens the eggs evenly without scrambling them.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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