Layered Coffee and Milk Jelly

Name: Layered Coffee and Milk Jelly
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 95 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Argentine
Ingredients: 400 ml strong coffee (long espresso or strong filter coffee, for the coffee layers); 50 g sugar (for the coffee layers); 2 g agar-agar powder (1 level teaspoon, for the coffee layers); 300 ml milk (for the milk layers); 100 ml heavy cream (for the milk layers); 80 g sweetened condensed milk (for the milk layers); 2 g agar-agar powder (1 level teaspoon, for the milk layers); Whipped cream (to finish, optional); Cocoa powder (to finish, optional)

⏱ 1 h 35 min in total🔪 20 min prep🍳 15 min cooking🧊 60 min resting🍽 6 servingsEasy

Glasses with alternating layers of coffee jelly and milk jelly, finished with whipped cream and cocoa, on a tray with coffee beans

A dessert for people who take their coffee seriously: alternating layers of strong coffee jelly and milk jelly with condensed milk, in glasses. The inspiration is Japanese coffee jelly, cubes of coffee gelatin with cream sold in every café in Tokyo. Here the coffee and the milk come together, in stripes.

It's made with agar-agar, and that makes it quick. With regular gelatin, each layer needs an hour in the fridge before the next one goes on. Agar sets in 10 minutes at room temperature and only melts above 85 °C, so the new layer can go on warm without melting the one below. The coffee sets the flavor: use one you like to drink on its own.

🔎 What is agar-agar? — where it comes from, what goes in it and how it differs.

Ingredients

Measurements

🍽 6 servings

400 ml strong coffee (long espresso or strong filter coffee, for the coffee layers)
50 g sugar (for the coffee layers)
2 g agar-agar powder (1 level teaspoon, for the coffee layers)
300 ml milk (for the milk layers)
100 ml heavy cream (for the milk layers)
80 g sweetened condensed milk (for the milk layers)
2 g agar-agar powder (1 level teaspoon, for the milk layers)
Whipped cream (to finish, optional)
Cocoa powder (to finish, optional)

Method

1
Set 6 clear glasses on a tray.
2
In one saucepan, whisk the cold coffee with the sugar and agar-agar until there are no lumps. In another, combine the milk, cream, condensed milk and agar-agar.
3
Bring both pans to a boil separately and let each simmer gently for 2 minutes, stirring. Then turn the heat down to the lowest setting: they need to stay hot while you assemble, because at around 40 °C they set in the pan.
4
Pour a 2 cm layer of coffee into each glass. Wait 10 minutes, until the surface feels firm to a light touch.
5
Add a layer of milk, pouring slowly over the back of a spoon so it doesn't break through the layer below. Wait another 10 minutes.
6
Repeat, alternating, until the glasses are full: you'll usually get four layers. If either mixture starts to set in the pan, boil it again for a minute: agar melts back down and is good to use again.
7
Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Serve cold, plain or with a spoonful of whipped cream and a little cocoa.