Coffee Jello Shots

There is a dessert at a neighborhood restaurant, Sawtelle Kitchen that is soooo delicious.  It is a Vietnamese coffee jello with cappuccino ice cream and this white, gooey sauce, which is probably evaporated milk, on steroids.  It's scrumptious!

I was reading my friend, Mary the Librarian's blog the other day, and she posted about these little morsels of goodness (see her post, here).  I instantly had a deja vu in my mouth.  I could taste the coffee jello dessert from Sawtelle Kitchen.  I had to make this.  I immediately ran to the corner Starbucks and bought the coffee that she suggests using in this recipe.  I am a tea drinker.  I drink Mighty Tea, green tea, everyday.  I am not much of a coffee drinker.  This jello could convert me.  I am addicted.

Today, my friend, Jeni and I hosted a baking party for 4 lovely ladies.  We donated the class to our school's auction.  Our event sold out within the first three minutes of bidding (yay!).  As the girls walked in the door, we put a class of  Prosecco in one hand and and a cup of the coffee jello in the other.  It was a hit!  The jello is a show stopper.

At first glance the jello gets mixed reactions.  Some are wowed by it and others are quietly squirmish by it.  The ladies all responded well to it.  However, as friends stopped by the house today, I MADE them try it.  When I introduced it to my friend Erika, she looked at me like I was crazy and made a face only a 4 year old is allowed to make.  However, after her first bite, her entire facial expressions changed and she was begging for more!

After the ladies caught a slight buzz, we served them a classic currant scone (see previous blog post for recipe ) with lemon curd, jam & whipped butter.  While they were eating their scones, we started on the quiches that we planning on serving last, for lunch, along with a simple green salad of avocado, kalamata olives & diced pears marinated in a shallot vinaigrette.

While the quiches cooked, we made mini cheesecakes with caramel sauce, mini eclairs, and granola bars.  Everybody went home with a box of goodies, a pastry bag and a pastry tube. It was a great morning, lots of chatting, laughter, sharing and eating!

More photos and blog posts to follow!

Coffee Jello
via The Food Librarian


ingredients

1/2 c cold water 2 cups strong coffee, hot (Starbucks instant packages).  1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk  3 packages of Knox unflavored gelatin directions: • Place 1/2 c cold water in a bowl. • Sprinkle 3 unflavored gelatin packets over the water. Let sit until  the gelatin blooms, about 10 minutes. • Stir in the hot coffee and mix until the gelatin is completely dissolved. •Stir in the can of sweetened condensed milk. •Pour into 7 x 11 glass pyrex pan Note: The combo of coffee and sweetened condensed milk is inspired by Vietnamese coffee.   David Lebovitz's  "How to Use Gelatin" post gives a good "how to" on  using gelatin.