Irish Coffee Pudding
An Irish coffee you eat with a spoon: a soft, set coffee and whiskey mousse in a small glass, under a layer of lightly whipped cream with nutmeg. It looks exactly like the drink and tastes like it too.
At a glance
- Coffee : whiskey
- 4:1
- Active time
- 25 min
- Total time
- 270 min
- Makes
- 6 small glasses
- Serve
- Chilled
- Kit
- Six small glasses
Ingredients
Note: The whiskey is not cooked, so the pudding contains alcohol. For children, replace it with more coffee and a drop of vanilla.
Method
-
Soak the gelatine
Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for five minutes.
Soak 5 minutes -
Sweet coffee and gelatine
Stir the brown sugar into the hot coffee until dissolved. Let it cool to about 70°C, then squeeze the gelatine and stir it in until it vanishes. Add the whiskey.
-
Cool until it starts to thicken
Stand the jug in iced water and stir until the coffee is cold and just beginning to thicken, like raw egg white. About ten minutes.
This is the moment to fold. Too early and the cream separates; too late and it is lumpy.
Chill 10 minutes -
Fold in softly whipped cream
Whip the first 150 ml of cream to soft peaks and fold it into the thickening coffee until evenly coloured. Divide between six small glasses, filling them two thirds.
-
Set
Chill for at least three hours until set.
Chill 3 hours -
Cream on top
Lightly whip the remaining cream until thick but still pourable, spoon it over each pudding in a level layer, and grate a little nutmeg over.
Why this works
This pudding takes the structure of an Irish coffee and sets it. The drink is hot sweet coffee and whiskey under a float of cream. The pudding is the same coffee, sugar and whiskey held by gelatine, lightened with whipped cream, under the same float.
Gelatine is collagen protein that dissolves in hot liquid and, as it cools, forms a network that traps water and sets it to a soft gel. Three leaves in about 400 ml is enough for a soft, spoonable set rather than a firm jelly. Adding it at around 70°C rather than to boiling coffee keeps it at full strength, because boiling breaks the protein chains.
The folding moment is the important technique. Whipped cream folded into hot or warm coffee melts and separates, leaving a greasy layer. Folded into coffee that is already set solid, it makes lumps. Cooled until it just starts to thicken, like raw egg white, the coffee is cold enough to keep the cream's air and fat intact and loose enough to fold smoothly. The result is a light mousse rather than a jelly.
Dark brown sugar is the right sugar for the same reason it suits the drink: its molasses works with whiskey and coffee. The whiskey is added off the heat and never cooked, so its aroma stays bright, and so does its alcohol.
Variations
- Non-alcoholic: replace the whiskey with more coffee and half a teaspoon of vanilla.
- With Irish cream liqueur: in the top layer of cream, for a sweeter finish.
- Firmer set: four leaves of gelatine, turned out of moulds.
- Gaelic coffee pudding: Scotch in place of Irish whiskey. See Gaelic coffee.
Contains uncooked whiskey. Not for children, pregnant women or anyone avoiding alcohol unless made with the non-alcoholic variation.
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Questions
What is Irish coffee pudding?
A dessert version of Irish coffee: sweet coffee and Irish whiskey set with gelatine into a soft mousse, topped with lightly whipped cream.
Does Irish coffee pudding contain alcohol?
Yes. The whiskey is not cooked. Replace it with more coffee and a little vanilla for an alcohol-free version.
Why did my cream separate in the mousse?
The coffee was still too warm when the cream was folded in. Cool it until it just starts to thicken before folding.
How far ahead can I make it?
Up to two days. Add the cream topping on the day you serve it.