Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Vintage Jellied Irish Coffee Recipe for St. Patrick's Day

When we visited my grandparents a couple of months ago, my Granny Anne gave me a vintage cookbook from 1969 called The Year Round Holiday Cookbook, by Suzanne Huntley.  It's actually a really interesting cookbook, because it gives you various recipes for all the holidays (even the lesser holidays, like President's Day) and it tells you the history behind the holiday and the food.  I was flipping through the St. Patrick's Day recipes and found one for Jellied Irish Coffee that seemed intriguing.  It's basically an edible version of the drink.

Directly from the book:

For 6 servings:
1 tbsp. unflavored gelatin
2 cups water
1 1/2 tbsp. instant coffee
4 tbsp. sugar
3 ounces Irish whiskey
Sweetened whipped cream

Soften the gelatin in 1/2 cup of water.  Heat the rest of the water, add the instant coffee and sugar to the softened gelatin.  Stir to dissolve the gelatin, add the whiskey, and remove the pan from the fire.  Pour into demitasse cups or small bowls and chill until firm.  Just before serving, mask the top of the jelly with whipped cream.

As the last strains of "My Wild Irish Rose" fade into the night, we can bless Saint Patrick for inspiring this time of "fun and frolic".  Erin go bragh!
I'm not a big drinker and I only drink wimpy lattes from Starbucks as far as coffee goes, so I added some melted dark chocolate to my Jellied Irish Coffee so that the coffee/whiskey taste would not be so strong.  It's kind of like a jello shot.  Only with coffee.  And whipped cream.  I confess not my favorite thing ever, but if you were really into whiskey and coffee, I imagine you'd really love this dessert.

I'm sharing this recipe on Joy of Desserts this week.  She collects vintage recipes on her blog. 

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of drink covered with whip cream.

Mere said...

while, I am a big fan of strong black coffee, whiskey isn't my favorite. And Jello shots just bring back bad memories from college. I think I'll have to pass on this one...however, your brother loves both coffee and whiskey, so maybe this is a dessert for him :-)

Dawn said...

Woot Woot! Thanks for this one....I'm a BIG Fan of coffee, whip cream, and ...ummm....the other stuff;))

TexWisGirl said...

ha ha! laughing at Dawn's comment. and the jello shots in college one too! :) somehow this reminds me of my mother-in-law's very potent rum balls...

Nancy said...

Finding it humorous that recipes from my childhood are now considered "vintage." I shoulda saved those Barbie dolls! :)

The recipe sounds great -- only whiskey gives me a major head throb, so I'd prolly leave it out.

IanH said...

I think that I will have to try this one out!

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

Yes.. *sigh* I'm beginning to feel among the vintage too...

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Is that why I haven't seen you go by in a few days????...:)JP

Chatty Crone said...

Now I am not sure I would like this - don't drink too much - but turning coffee into jello - interesting.

Happy St. Pat's Day.

sandie

Tanya (a Taste of T) said...

YUM! Sounds SOOOOOOOOO good!
It's a week of giveaways on A Taste of T

Anonymous said...

I adore coffee. But Im not sure I would like coffee flavored jello. It kinda sounds yucky! lol

Valerie Boersma said...

I'd be willing to try this at least once:)

Joy @ Joy Of Desserts said...

Thank you for participating. Looks like most of your commenters liked it, too. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

laughwithusblog said...

Looks good! This is a new one for me!

Sandy said...

If you consider 1969 to be vintage then I guess I am really old! That recipe sounds interesting, but not something I would try...don't say that often of your recipes you post on here.

dancilhoney said...

Gevalia is my favorite! Definitely better than any other coffee!! I'm addicted to it. Coffee Recipes