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Dessert

Coffee Mould

A gelatin set coffee dessert made with coffee, gelatin, sugar, and cold water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 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 Mould

Ingredients

Directions

Make the coffee mixture

  1. Dissolve gelatin in cold water.

  2. Combine coffee and sugar in a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves.

  3. Mix in the dissolved gelatin.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a mould rinsed with cold water.

  2. Refrigerate until set, about 20 to 25 minutes.

  3. Turn out and serve.

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. Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,344 recipes

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

  3. Coffee + gelatintop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together146 recipes

    Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Coffee
Forms the liquid base and gives the mould its flavour.
Gelatin
Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable structure as it chills.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the coffee.

The step that matters

Mix in the dissolved gelatin. Gelatin only sets properly when it is fully dissolved and evenly distributed. Lumps or unmixed pockets leave soft or uneven spots in the finished mould.

“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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