{{Short description|Jelly dessert flavored with coffee and sugar}} {{Infobox food | name = Coffee jelly | image = Coffee_jelly.jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = | alternate_name = | country = Japan, England | region = | creator = | type = Jelly dessert | served = | main_ingredient = Instant or fresh coffee, sugar and gelatin or agar jelly | variations = | calories = | other = }}
{{nihongo|'''Coffee jelly'''|コーヒーゼリー|kōhī zerī}} is a jelly dessert flavored with coffee and sugar.<ref>{{cite book | title=Journal of Taste | issue=v. 11 | year=1904 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA42 | access-date=May 26, 2017 | page=42}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=About Ices Jellies & Creams | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Kegan Paul library of culinary arts | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-136-18425-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CJcrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 | access-date=May 26, 2017 | page=81}}</ref> Although once common in British and American cookbooks, it is now most common in Japan, where it can be found in most restaurants and convenience stores. Coffee jelly can be made using an instant mix or from scratch. It is served in restaurants and cafés. Coffee jelly is also frequently used in bubble tea/coffees.
==History== thumb|left|Japanese coffee jelly with ice cream Recipes for coffee jelly appear in cookbooks published in England as early as 1817.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hughson|first1=D.|title=The New Family Receipt Book|date=1817|publisher=W. Pritchard and J. Bysh|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/b22007325/page/204 204]|url=https://archive.org/details/b22007325|access-date=1 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="Thomson 2016">{{cite web | last=Thomson | first=Julie R. | title=Coffee Jelly Is The Dessert That Just Won't Die | website=The Huffington Post | date=September 21, 2016 | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/coffee-jelly-history_us_57e14b67e4b0071a6e098066 | access-date=May 26, 2017}}</ref> The earliest recipes call for coffee to be mixed with calves' foot jelly and sometimes call for isinglass or other clarifiers.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jarrin|first1=G.A.|title=The Italian Confectioner|date=1827|publisher=William A. Ainsworth|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/italianconfecti00jarrgoog/page/n169 141]|edition=Third|url=https://archive.org/details/italianconfecti00jarrgoog|access-date=1 September 2016}}</ref> After the introduction of packaged gelatin, most recipes called for the gelatin to be dissolved in the hot coffee and then molded.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kander|first1=Simon|title=The Settlement Cookbook|date=1921|publisher=The Settlement Cookbook Company|location=Milwaukee|page=371|edition=Eleventh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19YqAAAAYAAJ|access-date=1 September 2016}}</ref>
In the early 20th century, coffee jelly was promoted as a healthier alternative to hot coffee, as it was thought the gelatin would absorb excess acid in the stomach.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Coffee After Dinner|journal=The Lancet|date=July 18, 1903|volume=162|issue=4168|page=177|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cFVKAQAAMAAJ|access-date=1 September 2016|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(01)46056-9 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Jell-O launched a short-lived coffee gelatin mix in 1918,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Schlichenmeyer|first1=Terri|title=10 Food Products That (Thankfully) Flopped|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/23326/10-food-products-thankfully-flopped|website=Mental Floss|access-date=1 September 2016}}</ref> but the dessert never gained widespread popularity outside of New England. Nowadays, coffee jelly may still be found in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and other New England states. Durgin-Park restaurant in Boston, which opened in 1874, still offered coffee gelatin made with leftover coffee from the previous day as of 2016.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pandolfi|first1=Keith|title=Boston Uncommon|url=http://www.saveur.com/article/travels/classic-and-new-boston-restaurants|website=Saveur|access-date=1 September 2016}}</ref>
Japanese coffee jelly was developed during the Taishō period (1912–1926){{sfn|White|2012|p=123}} in imitation of European molded jellies. It appealed to modern young men with tastes for Western fashion and rose in popularity along with café culture.{{sfn|White|2012|p=123}} Coffee jelly has remained popular in Japan and is still widely available. Starbucks launched a coffee jelly frappuccino in Japan in 2016.<ref>{{cite magazine | title=Starbucks Unveils Coffee Jelly Frappuccino | magazine=Time | date=June 27, 2016 | url=https://time.com/4384257/starbucks-coffee-jelly-frappuccino-japan/ | ref={{sfnref | Time | 2016}} | access-date=May 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Chamlee|first1=Virginia|title=People Are Going Crazy for Starbucks Japan's Coffee Jelly Frappuccinos|url=http://www.eater.com/2016/6/27/12039942/starbucks-coffee-jelly-frappuccino|website=Eater|access-date=1 September 2016}}</ref>
==Description== thumb|Japanese coffee jelly Coffee jelly is made from sweetened coffee added to agar, a gelatinous substance made from algae and called ''{{Transliteration|ja|kanten}}'' in Japanese.{{sfn|White|2012|p=123}} It may also be made from gelatin rather than agar, which is more common in European and American cuisine.
It is often cut into cubes and served in a variety of dessert dishes and beverages. Cubes of coffee jelly are sometimes added to milkshakes, at the bottom of an ice cream float, or to garnish an ice cream sundae. Coffee jelly is often added to a cup of hot or iced coffee, with cream and gum syrup added. Condensed milk is poured over cubes of chilled coffee jelly in a bowl.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Macewan|first1=Matthew|title=The Delicious Road: A Japanese Dessert Journey|url=https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-dessert-journey/|website=Tofugu|access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref>
==Popular culture== Coffee jelly appears numerous times throughout the manga ''The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.'' and its anime adaptation as the titular Kusuo Saiki's favorite food.
==See also== * List of coffee dishes {{portal bar|Coffee|Food}}
== Citations == {{reflist}}
== General sources == * {{cite book |last = White |first = Merry I. |year = 2012 |title = Coffee Life in Japan |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=98gFtthZo0AC |series = California studies in food and culture, 36 |location = Berkeley, California |publisher = University of California Press |pages = [https://archive.org/details/coffeelifeinjapa0000whit/page/122/mode/2up 122–123] {{Subscription required}} |isbn = 978-0-520-25933-1 |oclc = 747331872 }}
Jelly Category:Jams and jellies Category:Japanese desserts and sweets