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Love all things coffee? This chilled coffee jelly is a lovely treat on a hot summer day. Enjoy with a dollop of whipped cream and aromatic coffee bean.
Coffee Jelly (コーヒーゼリー) is a refreshing Japanese dessert which is popular in Japan as well as in some other Asian countries. It’s usually made of black coffee, gelatin powder, and sugar, but today I used agar agar powder instead of gelatin to make it vegetarian friendly.
Watch How to Make Coffee Jelly コーヒーゼリーの作り方
Refreshing chilled coffee jelly recipe topped with delightful whipped cream and coffee bean.
Ways to Enjoy Coffee Jelly
This refreshing dessert can be served solid in glass dishes like how I made them today, or you can pour the coffee mixture in a baking pan, cut into cubes and serve them in a bowl. These half translucent cubes of coffee jelly are sometimes added to milkshakes, ice cream float, or sundaes for additional flavor and texture, and they make the desserts even prettier.
My favorite way to serve coffee jelly is with whipped cream on top. Want a healthier option? Try it with a few tablespoon of half & half instead. You can also serve it with vanilla ice cream to make it into a sundae or with flavored coffee cream.
Coffee jelly is often served in many restaurants and cafes in Japan and you can also find pre-made coffee jelly in an individual plastic cup in supermarkets and convenience stores. However, this coffee jelly recipe is very easy to make and I hope you will try making this dessert from scratch at home!
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- 600 ml water (600 ml = 2.5 cup)
- 3 g powdered kanten (agar agar) (3 g = 1 ½ tsp or 3/4 agar stick, see Notes)
- 5 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp instant coffee
-
Gather all the ingredients.
- In a small saucepan, combine water and agar agar powder and whisk together. Then bring the liquid to a boil over high heat.
- Once boiling, turn down the heat to simmer. Add sugar and instant coffee and cook stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour into serving dishes. Scoop up any bubbles on the surface with a spoon and discard. Once the coffee jelly cools down, wrap with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours.
- Serve with whipped cream, mint, and a coffee bean on top. The coffee jelly is great with 1-2 Tbsp. of half & half (half milk + half heavy cream) poured on top. You can keep the coffee jelly in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Powdered kanten (agar agar): If you cannot find agar, you can use gelatin powder (NOT vegetarian). The same amount of powdered agar agar can be substituted for powdered gelatin in a recipe (for example: 1 tsp gelatin = 1 tsp agar agar powder).
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
I had no idea it was so easy to make coffee jelly! I can only find agar in blocks here, can I use that instead of the powder?
If so, how much would I use? Thank you!
Hi Donna! 1 stick of agar powder (4 gram) is same as 1 kanten stick. So you just want to break off 1/4 and use the rest. I tried making with 4 gram, but the jelly is too hard for my preference. 3 gram is just right. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing the conversion! I really want to try this. 🙂
Hope you enjoy, Donna! 🙂
What is the refrigerator life of the coffee jelly?
Hi Jody! Thank you for asking! I’m going to update my recipe with this info. 🙂 It should be consumed within 2 days. 🙂
Where I am from, it is hard to come by lots of ingredients, including agar agar, unless you order it online. This looks perfect for a friend’s birthday party tomorrow though so I won’t have time to order any. Would I use the same amount of gelatin powder or do I need to adjust it?
Hi Hope! I’m so sorry for my late response! The same amount of powdered agar agar can be substituted for powdered gelatin in a recipe.
1 tsp gelatin = 1 tsp agar agar powder
To set 1 cup (500ml) of liquid, you need 1 tsp. agar agar powder or 1 bar of agar agar.
Hope this helps! 🙂
The color of this dessert is beautiful, especially the edges where the jelly touches the glass. Everything coffee-flavored is sure to be a favorite on my list of desserts. =) Thanks for sharing this easy-to-make recipe.
I hope you and your family enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend as well!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Kimmi! The spring break has been good so far. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this coffee jelly – so delicious!
Coffee Jelly is one of my favorite summer time dessert in Japan. Well, any time is a good time for me actually^^!
However, my husband always scream about this combination of Coffee & Jelly.
“COFFEE JELLY??? %^&$!!”
He doesn’t even drink coffee, so what can I say?
It’s the best and yummiest of all 🙂
(That’s my opinion!)
Hi Ayako! Haha I actually had no idea coffee jelly was Japanese/Asian dessert, as coffee is a western drink… I was in shock that there is no such thing exists! And many of comments here say “creative” and “never had this”. This jelly is so good that it should be popular in the western countries too! 🙂
Wow! Looks delicious! Can’t wait to make this! I’ve always loved Coffee Jelly!
Thanks Megumi! Hope you like this recipe – it’s easy and delicious, especially on warm days!
Ahh! I’m also really happy to see this! Coffee jelly was one of my favorite desserts when I lived in Japan, but when I came back to the States, I had trouble finding it. Then I found one you can make from a box, but it tasted awful. This recipe looks really simple so I think even I can make it. I can’t wait~~~!
Hi Courtney! I know, this coffee jelly is so delicious, but I don’t know why we don’t find it in the US… there are lots of coffee lovers here. This one is very good, I hope you enjoy making and eating this! 🙂
Hello, I was wondering if you can make this recipe with gelatin sheets instead of powders? I imagine that it wouldn’t be all that hard to do so but I’m a little worried about how many sheets I might need to use. I would guess maybe 2-3 based off of this recipe but I would like to hear what you think.
Hi Ginny! 1 tsp. agar/kanten powder = 1 tsp. powder gelatin = 1 sheet gelatin = 2-3 g powdered gelatin. Since this recipe requires 1 1/2 tsp. agar powder, you’ll need 1 1/2 gelatin sheets. 🙂
Hello and thanks for a lovely recipe!
I`m curious as to why not to use vegetarian “gelatin” powder?
Hi Amel! Japanese use kanten/agar agar powder often to replace gelatin but it’s not because we need it to be vegetarian/vegan. We enjoy the different texture kanten/agar agar gives. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I just wanted to ask, if you use gelatin, does the amount that goes into the recipe stay the same?
Kind Regards,
Hi Jeandre! I mentioned in my Notes but the same amount of powdered agar agar can be substituted for powdered gelatin in a recipe (for example: 1 tsp gelatin = 1 tsp agar agar powder).
Can’t wait to try this. Do we have to use instant coffee?
Hi Stephanie! I used instant coffee for this particular recipe, but you can use the real coffee instead of water. Please adjust the coffee flavor. 🙂
Hi Nami, thanks for sharing this recipe! I found a packet of powdered Konnyaku for making fruit jelly, but coffee jelly is my favorite. Could I possibly substitute equal amounts of konnyaku powder instead of agar agar? Thanks!
Hi Mia! I’ve never used konnyaku powder so I don’t know what’s the right amount… 🙁 Sorry I can’t help…
I look for coffee jelly recipe because of anime “saiki kusuo psi nan” who loves coffee jelly.
Thanks for stopping by! It looks like many people stopped by from the anime. 🙂
My jelly came out very watery ): i used gelatin instead and used the same amount, what did i do wrong?
Hi Grace! Heat the liquid again. The heating will make gelatin crystals bloom well. You can also mix more bloomed gelatin while heating if needed. 🙂
I have always wanted to try and make coffee jelly. I am super excited to do so…. only I have flavored instant coffee in my pantry. Is that okay to use in this recipe?
Hi Taylor! Sure, it will come out as that flavored coffee taste. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Namisan,
Do you know how I could do this recipe with gelatine sheets?
Arigatou!
Hi Maya! Yes you can. Please check the weight of your gelatine sheet to compare with kanten used in this recipe. 🙂
I find this recipe so easy and amazing!
Even though I had to replace the Agar-agar with Cornstarch, it still came out really well.
Thank you for sharing this recipe!! 🙂
Hi Ash! Thanks for trying this recipe! I had no idea cornstarch would work for this recipe. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I made your coffee jelly and love it! I wanted to know if you have tried making matcha jelly? I have a lot of extra matcha powder (I make matcha white chocolate chip cookies a lot) and want to see if I can make matcha jelly similar to the coffee jelly.
I love your blog and your Instagram posts! Miso is such a smart, sweet doggie! Thanks for sharing your family life and recipes with us!
Hi Susan! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I make this Matcha Pudding, or in Japanese, Matcha Purin. Purin is a custard dessert, but this Matcha Purin doesn’t have egg in it. So it’s really like jelly. Take a look and see if you’re interested in making this. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/green-tea-pudding/
Thank you for your kind words! xo
This is so good! I used to eat coffee jelly all the time when I lived in Japan and was so disappointed at how expensive a 3-pack of coffee jelly is at the Japanese markets in the U.S. Thanks to you I can eat this whenever I want! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Hi Anita! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thanks for your kind feedback! Yeah, those imported jelly packs are so expensive here… I’m glad you enjoyed these homemade ones! 🙂
Hi Nami, I attempted this recipe and followed every step, but for some reason my jelly refuses to set/solidify. What could have wrong?
Hi Michelle! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! It’s possible that kanten did not dissolve well… that’s what I read before for trouble shooting. The ratio should work well. Anything you made changes to the recipe?
super excited to try coffee jelly! i’ve never made jelly or jello before and am realizing i don’t know how much it needs to be cooled before refrigerating. should it be cold, or lukewarm? thanks for the recipe!