I know half of you, dear readers, are thinking "Ewww!" And the other half are intrigued...I was intrigued when I read this recipe at The Food Librarian yesterday. I was so intrigued in fact that I had to run to Kroger to get some sweetened condensed milk so I could try this right away.
I threw this Vietnamese Coffee-inspired Jello together in about 15 minutes yesterday evening, popped it in the fridge and eagerly waited for the gelatin to set. I had never even thought about making homemade Jello until my mother-in-law made those darling almond Jello eggs for Easter. Now I'm pondering all the different Jello options out there.
This Vietnamese Coffee Jello turned out pretty darn tasty, if you like coffee and gelatinous things. I found the overall coffee flavor to be pretty mellow and perfect. The sweetened condensed milk offered the ideal level of sweetness, in my opinion. I'll definitely consider making this recipe again sometime. I'd like to try making it with 2 packages of gelatin instead of the 3 called for in the recipe, to see if I prefer a slightly softer texture.
The Jello can be cut into the most perfect, smooth cubes and are sturdy enough to be picked up and eaten with your fingers. The Food Librarian referred to it as "finger jello," and I think that's a perfect name for it. These definitely offer a unique combination that could be quite a hit in the right crowd. Unfortunately I am the only coffee drinker around these parts, so I'm not sure I'll be able to finish off this entire batch before I get tired of Jello. We'll see...
Vietnamese Coffee Jello
via The Food Librarian
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups strong coffee
1 (14oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
3 packages of Knox unflavored gelatin
Place 1/2 cup cold water in a medium bowl. Sprinkle 3 packages of unflavored gelatin over the water; stir to combine. Let this mixture set for about 10 minutes, until the gelatin blooms. Meanwhile, prepare 2 cups of strong coffee. (I used 8 tablespoons of ground coffee for 2 cups of water.)
Stir the hot coffee into the bloomed gelatin until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
Stir in the can of sweetened condensed milk.
Pour the combined jello mixture into an 8x8 pan (you could use a larger pan for thinner jello cubes). Place in the fridge for 2-4 hours, until gelatin is completely set.
Cut into 1-inch cubes and serve, or store in an air tight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
I am going to run to the store to buy the ingredients tonight. This looks great!!!!
ReplyDeletewooow, it looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteThat looks wonderful! I think I have more Vietnamese Coffee pumping through my veins right now than blood-- I can't wait to try making some for myself!
ReplyDeleteYou should also post the Jello almond eggs your mother-in-law made for Easter.
ReplyDeleteOooh this looks sooo good! I love Vietnamese coffee! I'm really craving this now! By the way, I love your jewellry creations! They are absolutely gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThis does sound awesome. I made Vietnamese coffee popsicles and loved them. This is the same recipe but with gelatin and water added. yum.
ReplyDeleteHere's my link if you want to take a peek:
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/white-chocolate-mocha-popsicles/
Looks great and sounds even better. I'll try this tonight!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited that you tried this!! Your big blocks look great. Thanks for stopping by my blog. - mary the food librarian
ReplyDeleteAnonymous-
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the almond Jello eggs, but I'll try to get the recipe from my mother-in-law!
oneordinaryday-
The Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles sound amazing! I hope to try them soon. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I love you for posting this, I stumbled upon your blog and found this recipe, i made it just today and i want to say thanks because it is every coffee lovers dream, and crazy inexpensive to make! thanks!
ReplyDeleteWhat a unique dessert! *Scrambling off to make it for my coffee addicted hubby*
ReplyDeleteI made this for a party and it was a big hit. I don't like coffee very sweet, so I used flavored creamer instead of the condensed milk. Delicious!
ReplyDeletewow. i'm gonna have to try this... i love that i was wondering what to do with my packets of gelatin and just just made my first viet coffee. i have all the ingredients!
ReplyDeleteI'm really excited about this recipe! I had a question though. When you say 3 packages of the gelatin, do you mean 3 envelopes or 3 boxes?
ReplyDeleteLinda, you will need 3 envelopes of gelatin (they are .25oz each). I hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteMy latest addiction is your fault. I made some of this when I first saw your recipe on taste spotting. . . and have made it three times since. It's all that I think about anymore! :-) And I use two packets of gelatin. You know, you don't really NEED the third.
ReplyDeletethese look nice, even though I never drink coffee (unless it's in tiramisu, but that's a different story ;)
ReplyDeletesince you want to try different jello-related things, I thought I'd post this link for you here:
http://victoriabelanger.wordpress.com/
she has recipes and everything!
Going to try this tonight! I'm also going to try with chai...I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for posting the recipe!
ReplyDeleteNot surprising it was called finger jell-o. that was my first thought when I saw it here. A friend at work used to make finger jell-o, but she made it in layers of different jell-o flavors, very thin layers, and between each colored layer was a layer of the sweetened milk layer. When you cut it into squared from the pan, it was so pretty to see all the rainbow laters!
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, chai in this recipe is amazing! I followed the directions exactly, but I used 6 Tazo black chai teabags in the 2 cups of hot water. I had thought to use the concentrated chai they sell in boxes, but they are all sweetened. You also have to be careful about some of the teabag brands as some of them have sugar as well. I figured it would be too sweet to add that to the condensed milk. The unsweetened brewed chai came out perfectly with it! I made both chai and coffee and both are delicious. Thank again for posting the recipe!
ReplyDeleteYou know that you were featured on www.epicute.com, right? I hate Jell-o, but I HAVE to make this!
ReplyDeletethis sounds to intriguing to miss.. I shall save the recipe and add gelatin to the shopping list. I have made coffee cake, icings, tiramisu, espresso brownies,and coffee creme brulee but coffee jello sounds that a very fun expiriment to try!
ReplyDeleteI know that I've already commented on this once, but I have to add, I've made this for a couple of my friends at work, and now they're making it for their friends and families. The reaction to this recipe is insanely positive from everyone who's tasted it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a silly question but how much is in each of the 3 packages of Gelatin you're using? I'm not sure if we get that brand here so want to make sure the brand we do get has a similar weight
ReplyDeleteUkhsud, each envelop of gelatin weighs .25 ounce each. So you'll need .75 ounce for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteWow, that looks INSANE. I want some :D
ReplyDeleteI can say that it is good.
ReplyDeleteThat Vietnamese Coffee Jello is so new to me. I never thought that coffee can be made like that. I wish I can try that. I wonder how tasty it is.
ReplyDeletewow,its lovely..... thanks for sharing the recipe.
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ReplyDeleteThis looks awesome. It would be perfect for the Food Science contest at Instructables.com! Check it out: http://www.instructables.com/contest/foodscience/ We're giving away a full sous vide set-up for projects like yours! I would be happy to feature your project once it's posted too.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Sarah
sarah@Instructables.com
Just made this- It turned out perfectly and my husband loved it. I was gung ho to try a weird sounding recipe, and now not so excited to eat it. DH suggested maybe it would be well served with a graham cracker crust or cookie thing, maybe so whipped cream? Other suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI just saw this on pinterest and was intrigued. I'm on a serious weight-loss mission, so I will try subbing in something else for sweetened condensed milk. It looks fun!
ReplyDeleteI am surprised thst the finger jello works with just two packets of gelatin....think you'd end up with a bit of a mess trying to eat it with your fingers, but I guess that it worked for somebody!
ReplyDeleteI am attempting to make this tonight for my daugthers 6th grade International Day. I'll let you know what the 100 students that have to taste test it say. :-)
ReplyDeleteO.M.G. This stuff is AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteI let my kids try (VERY SMALL) pieces of this and they liked it now I'm wondering how I could make it with hot chocolate. Any ideas? Also, how do you make your coffee strong? I see 8tbs. If I put 8tbs in my coffee pot I'd have a monster mess!! LOL :)
ReplyDeleteI used a French press to make the coffee for this jello, which allows you to play around with the ratio of coffee to water more freely than you can using a traditional coffee pot. I haven't tried it myself, but you could probably make a very strong batch of cold brewed coffee to use in this recipe. (In a large mason jar, glass, bowl, etc. combine the 8 tablespoons of coffee with the 2 cups of water and stir. Then let this mixture "brew" in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.) You'll want to heat up your cold brew coffee before proceeding with the recipe.
DeleteThis is a good way of making it, there is another way too it's made with Agar Agar powder it's kind of like gelatin but it's vegan.
ReplyDeleteYUM!!! Jello for grownups... don't mind if I do! Thank you, I can't wait to make this
ReplyDeleteHello everyone- I have read the reactions to this treat and I made a few changes. My son just had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled and wanted something to eat that was a little different than regular jello. I loved this recipe, yet the sugar content in the condensed milk made me a little crazy. So I used a can of 2% evaporated milk (12 oz.) and made up the 2oz from the recipe with cream. It isn't that much, just 4 tablespoons. To sweeten I just added a scoop of sugar. I think it must be less sweet than the original version- yet still very tasty and more coffee flavor. Thanks for sharing! We love this!
ReplyDelete