When you want to add a little extra holiday fun to the barbecue menu, this fits the bill. These are firmer pieces of gelatin due to the reduced water so they’re more like the “Jell-O jigglers” that were popular years ago.
The white portion is made from sweetened condensed milk and you can choose to flavor it however you like. This treat is just kind of a fun thing to have on hand, especially to do for the kids at the cookout, too, because they always seem ready for dessert way before the adults are!
Fourth of July Sea Glass Jell-O
A fun and patriotic take on sea glass or stained glass gelatin.
Ingredients
- 3 oz. box Berry Blue Jell-O instant gelatin mix (or grape if you can't find berry)
- 3 oz. box Cherry Jell-O instant gelatin mix (or other red gelatin of choice)
- 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin (0.25 oz. per envelope)
- 1 tsp. AmeriColor Bright White soft gel paste food color (optional)
- 1 tsp. orange extract (between 1/2 and 1 tsp., optional, or use another flavor)
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil. Use two 8" square pans lined with foil, or use foil to divide a 9" x 13" pan into two sections. I used two pieces of foil and created a "dam" by folding the short ends up in the center. This is because I didn't have two smaller pans. Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray and use a paper towel to wipe it around and remove any excess.
- Add 1 cup of boiling water to a bowl and add the cherry gelatin, mixing well to dissolve. Pour carefully into one side of the pan. Add 1 cup of boiling water to a bowl and add the berry blue gelatin, mixing well to dissolve. Pour carefully into the other side of the pan. Chill for at least 4 hours or until firm.
- When the gelatins are firm, remove them from the pan and line the pan anew with another sheet of foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray and use a paper towel to wipe it around and remove anye excess. Use a knife to cut the two different gelatins into small cubes, around 1/2" or so. I have also cut them on a slant so that I have diamond shapes, instead.
- Add the gelatin cubes randomly to the 9" x 13" so that the colors are intermingled and the cubes are haphazardly piled in an even layer. Optionally, you can wait on adding them before you're able to put down a thin layer of the white gelatin, first.
- In a bowl add 1/2 cup of cold water. Sprinkle the two envelopes of unflavored gelatin over the water and whisk to remove major lumps. Add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water to the bowl and stir well until the gelatin is dissolved. Add the sweetened condensed milk and any extract if you like. Because the condensed milk has a kind of yellow tinge, I like to use the white food color to brighten it up for the true red, white and blue effect. If you use it, I recommend you pour the food color through a fine mesh sieve because sometimes there are tiny lumps that don't dissolve.
- When the mixture is cool, which takes about 30 minutes, gently pour it over the gelatin cubes, slowly so as not to create too many air bubbles. Chill this pan for at least 4 hours or overnight, then cut into 1" or larger cubes. Store for about a week or so, covered well.
