Turn Your Coffee Into Dessert With 3-Ingredient Japanese Coffee Jelly

Did you know people in Japan actually eat their coffee? It's true — in Japan, there's a popular dessert called kōhī zerī, which is essentially fresh-brewed coffee turned into jelly cubes. This caffeinated treat first emerged in Japan in the early 1900s, drawing inspiration from traditional British jellied desserts. You can now find these jiggly coffee-flavored cubes everywhere across the country, from quaint cafes to convenience stores.

Despite its elegant appearance, coffee jelly is surprisingly simple to make at home, needing just three ingredients: Strong coffee (like espresso or drip coffee), sugar, and a thickening agent. The traditional choice of thickener is kanten, which is basically the same as the seaweed-derived ingredient we know as agar (also known as agar-agar). It'll give you the most authentic texture and can be found in Japanese specialty stores or online as Japanese agar powder. Can't find it? No worries, you can substitute it for regular agar, such as this agar agar powder from Hearthy Foods, or gelatin – just keep in mind that gelatin is animal-derived.

Making kōhī zerī is extremely simple. Simply heat two cups of coffee with about two teaspoons of kanten (or four teaspoons of gelatin or agar-agar) and a third of a cup of sugar in a saucepan until everything dissolves. Pour the steamy mixture into a jelly-making mold and let it chill in the refrigerator for four to five hours until set. Before you know it, your coffee jelly cubes will be ready for you to tuck in.

In Japan, these coffee jelly cubes are usually served in a clear glass dish to showcase their rich coloring. A cloud of softly whipped cream would be floated on top, then the dessert is finished with a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk. It's a study in contrast: The bright and creamy toppings look gorgeous against the dark and bold coffee. When you take a spoonful, the flavor of the fresh-brewed coffee melds together with the sweet toppings to make for one heck of a bolt of foodie joy.

Once you've mastered the classic version, feel free to get creative. For your second batch, try your hand at making a parfait by layering the coffee jellies over sweet strawberry puree, topped with scoops of vanilla ice cream and a light dusting of matcha powder. Keep things vegan by using a coconut-milk based ice cream. Alternatively, if you enjoy your dessert as dark and bold as you do your coffee, simply dust cocoa powder or sprinkle grated chocolate on top of the jellies for a rich treat.

Thinking further outside of the box, you can use these coffee jelly cubes to give everyday favorites a twist. For instance, dice them into small pieces and scatter them into your morning homemade crunchy granola, or throw a few cubes into your at-home boba tea alongside the tapioca pearls. You can also make a coffee jelly in a different shaped mold to serve as the base of a dessert. But anywhere you'd enjoy a hint of coffee flavor, you can count on this nifty jelly invention to help you craft something special.