Cranberry sauce..with a twist

On this Thanksgiving, I decided to make a little variation on tranditional cranberry sauce. I followed the recipe on the bag to make the sauce and then added some sugar free cranberry gelatin I found at the local grocery store and alcohol. But since this is the SCIENCE and art of gelatin shot making, I tried a different recipe for cranberry sauce and gellified as well as liqiuorified that one too. That was sample B.


After some tastings by the family, the choice was clear. Sample A won overwhelmingly. (Sample size=5).

Sample A was made with cranberries, sugar, and water. I boiled them until the berries popped. Then mixed in the raspberry gelatin, cooled and added Absolut mandarin and some triple sec.

Sample B was made with cranberries, an orange, and sugar. I chopped them in a food processor and blended them into boiling water and gelatin.

Again, Sample A was the winner.

Upon telling a neighbor about the experiment, he asked if I had molded them into the shape of a tin can.

D'oh!

So I rushed right out and got more ingredients. And here's the final finished product.

Somewhere over the Endzone...

Hello All,

Here is a creation from last week's Flag Football Superfabulous Bowl. I needed to make a shot that reflected the colors of all the teams as well as the out and proud nature of the league. However, when it came to silver I got stumped. But here are the 12 layered pride shots.






The key to making these shots, was to prepare all the gelatin ahead of time. I poured them into plastic cups at room temperature. Then I'd pour one layer, let it sit in the fridge until think and then add another layer. It took me three hours to make from start to finish.



But just look at the satisfied faces of some of the footballers.

Football Field Fun!

We had a team flag football party the other weekend which got me thinking, "how could I make an actual football field jello shot?"

I decided to make a two layered shot with a topsoil layer below and a grass layer on top. I also garnished it with field lines and cones. To make the top soil, I needed to make brown. For reasons not needing explanation, Jell-o brand gelatin does not make brown jello. What, perhaps, would be the flavor? Maybe Durian. If you know any product managers at Kraft Foods, feel free to pass along my idea.

I decided to boil cola and add purple gelatin. This is what I did for the coffin shots, but Grape was absent from the store but they did have Blackberry fusion. That'll do pig.

For the grass, I didn't want the layer below to show through, so I made a lime green jello and added some yogurt to make it opaque. It also added a pastel green color to the grass that I liked.

The field gold lines were made with decorative frosting and the cones from Candy Corns.

Needless to say, the field was devoured in minutes.

Spooky shots

The are Halloween inspired gelatin shots. I tried to make dark black, yet see through gelatin coffins with skeletons and bats inside. To make the hidden treasures, I used gummy Halloween candies.

Ingredients

2 cups cola
2 envelopes unflavored Knox gelatine
1 6oz. box of Grape Jello
2 cups Svedka Vodka
Gummy Halloween Candies

In making these I learned that gummy candies sink right to the bottom and make it difficult to remove the shots from the pan. It might help to let the gelatin sit in the fridge until tacky and then put the candies into the pan. In addition, gummy candies will absorb moisture and expand, There are best when made and eaten within a couple hours.

Have fun.

Orange Jello, Marshmallow, Tuna fish Surprise!

Well, not really. This gelatin shot mold was inspired by Miss Richfield 1981's song. I substituted Orange jello for Lime Jello and Pineapple for tuna fish. Although tuna...... No, I'm not that adventurous. As we were playing the Orange Team in Flag Football I went for the orange. For those who don't know, every Saturday I make a jello shot creation for the color of the team against whom were playing. Today it's the team "Smashing Pumpkins".

Today's recipe calls for:

2 envelopes of Knox unflavoured gelatin
1 6oz box of orange gelatin
2 cups hot water
1 8oz can of crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup of mini marshmallows
1 cup Svedka vodka

And of course a cool retro gelatin mold. Back in the 60's a salad didn't mean a bowl of mixed veggies. It meant a couple of veggies embedded in gelatin and cottage cheese.

Dissolve the two Knox envelopes in a bit of cold water in a bowl. Let sit for 1 minute. Boil the water and add to the moistened Knox and add the Orange Jello powder. Stir for two minutes. You may need to microwave the mixture for two minutes to further dissolve the mixture.

Further stir and wait for the mixture to cool to room temp. You can speed it up by putting the bowl in a freezer for 5 minutes. Add the alcohol.

Put the bowl back in the freezer and allow the mixture to get thick but not not solid-approximately 20 minutes. Othewise the fruit will sink and marshmallow will just float to the top.

When its gotten thick, add the fruit and marshmallows. Stir and pour into a jello mold. You can spray the inside of the mold with grapeseed oil or some other unflavored oil to later help remove the solid jello from the mold.

Refrigerate for up to 2 hours. The extra unflavored gelatin will speed up the solidifying process so you can eat in three hours and you can cut it up and serve as finger. However if left in the fridge overnight, it will be gummy. For a less firm version that you would eat with a spoon, omit the Knox and refrigerate for six hours.

A luvin spoonfull of gelatin!

Hello all,

Just got back from Ptown where we had a stormy, but fun time. While I was there I whipped up a batch of crowd pleasing Pineapple and Malibu rum jello shots. I fortified the shots with some regular bacardi as Malibu is only 21% alcohol. And what a serendipitous meeting did these shots lead to.

While having drinks at the Boatslip, I started a conversation(surprise) with two good looking guys with funny tee-shirts. After mentioning to them that I make jello shots, one of the guys tells me he loves, loves, loves them. Then, the other, mentions that he used to be a jello shot boy at a strip club years ago. Hello! How fun is that! But there's more.

We invited them back to the house and the tasting began. They really loved the shots. Then it came to pass, as having several of my jello hosts can do to loosen the tongue, that one guy now does adult films. Gelology has hit a new height in celebrity-ism. What a great day for gelology PR!

So the next day I came up with a new recipe for the boys. Here are the yet to be named shots.

1 3oz box of raspberry jello
1 envelope knox unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup perrier sparkling water
3/4 cup smirnoff raspberry vodka
1/4 cup peach schnapps

Pour a little of the OJ in a pan and sprinkled the knox over the OJ. Boil the remaining orange juice in a glass in the microwave for 3 minutes. Pour the OJ into the pan and dissolv the knox. Then stir in the jello powder. To further dissolvem put the pot on a low flame and stir for a minute. Remove from flame and then cool by adding the perrier. When cooled to room temp, pour in alcohol and stir for a minute. Pout into a container and refrigerate. Ready to eat in an hour and a half.

The color of these shots was amazing. A deep ruby red. The boys came over and loved them. After some brainstorming on how to combine the porn industry and jello shots, the yet to be named adult film actor (YTBNAFA) came up with the idea of jello jizzlers. Love the name. I'll leave the rest to the imagination.

So a pretty sucessful couple of days in Ptown if I say so myself.

Cherry Cola Gelatins

Hello All,

I went cherry picking last week, which inspired me to make a batch of my favorite gelatin treats-Cherry Jello and Coca-cola that you eat off the stem.

These are the most labor intensive shots that I make (aside from the 14 layered Pride shots)


Ingredients to make fifteen shots.
1 3 oz. box of cherry jello
1 envelope of knox unflavored gelatine
2 cups cola (8 oz.)
1 cup berry vodka, or vanilla vodka, or white rum
15-20 pitted cherries on the stem (either sweet or tart cherries work, marachino cherries need to be drained) (for extra kick, soak the cherries in the alcohol of your choice for up to half an hour)



1) pour 1/4 cup of cola into a microwave proof bowl. Sprinkle the knox gelatin over the cola to moisten*

2)Microwave the remaining 1-3/4 cups cola in a microwave proof measuring cup for 4 minutes. Prep the cherry jello package by removing from box and tearing open envelope.

3) Carefully remove the measuring cup with a hot mit and pour over the moistened* knox. Stir with spoon and begin to add the cherry jello. Stir for one minute

4) Put bowl of cola and jello into the microwave. Zap on high for 1-1/2 minutes. Remove with hot mits and stir for two minutes. This ensures all gelatin dissolves.

5) Let cool to room temperature. You can put the bowl in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to aid cooling. DO NOT LET IT START TO SET!

6) While the mixture is cooling, pit the cherries. If you want to soak them in booze, pit and soak the cherries a half an hour before starting step one.

7)Add the alcohol to the gelatin mixture and stir one minute. Pour half the contents into to-go container. I use the ones from a restaurant around the corner. Otherwise a 9x9 pan will work.

8)Place the pan in the fridge and begin to set the cherries. If you add too much gelatin mixture they will float around. You can cut off the bottom of the cherries for stability.


9)Let sit in the fridge until the gelatin gets tacky. Then pour the remaining gelatin mixture to cover the cherries.

10)Let sit for two hours. Remove with a spoon for a rounded edge or cut with a knife.

11)Enjoy!


*I hate the word moist. But it's applicable here.

Jello shot to the next level- Shot Pie!

Hello All,

Last weekend, I spend some time with the family doing what we like to do best, eat!

Mom made her Strawberry jell-o pie that we, as a family, rate as our most favoritest dessert. While we were noshing away, it struck me, that you what could also go into this pie? Yes, you guessed it, alcohol!

So this week, I went to Lakeview farms and picked my own raspberries. The strawberries, were past season so I bought some at Foodies on Washington street and away I went.

The recipe calls for:
-a 9 inch crust (pilsbury will do)
-3-4 cups of cut strawberries and raspberries
-1 3oz box of either strawberry or raspberry jello
-1 cup water
-3/4 cup sugar
-1 Tbsp corn starch
-1/2 cup raspberry smirnoff
-2 TBSP chambord

How ya do it:
1)Pre-bake the pie shell and cool.

2)Combine water, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, till mixture comes to aboil. Turn off heat. Stir in one pkg. of strawberry Jello (3 oz.) - stir till completely dissolved. There will be small clumps of Jello, make sure you break them up.

3)Let mixture cool to room temp. Stir in alcohol.

4)Place strawberries and raspberries in the shell. And pour mixture over fruit.

5)Refrigerate.

6)Compliment with whipped cream. Enjoy!

I'll keep dreaming up ways tio alcoholify your favorite summer desserts!

Melon fusion confusion

So I was at the grocery store today and I saw the jello flavor, "Melon Fusion". It, to talk in wine terms, has accents of cantelope, watermelon, and honeydew. And it's green.

So what to do with it? My first instinct is to make a margarita shot out of it. I also read on a website that Malibu rum pairs well with Watermelon jello. So why not try it with the fusion.

I took one 3 oz. box of melon fusion added
1 cup hot water
1 envelope knox gelatin

I microwaved it 1:30 minutes. I find that the water doesn't dissolve the jello well enough. Stir, stir, stir. Then I divided the mixture in half and poured into plastic trays. I get them as take out trays from Joe Vs. They are perfect for jello shots. Then I set them both in the freezer for 5 minutes to quick cool.

Then in one batch, I added 1 cup malibu rum.

In the other batch I added 1/2 cup margarita mix and 1/2 cup cuervo gold tequila

I put them in the fridge for 30 minutes.

..................

Upon tasting, they both are good. However there is very little taste of melon. The coconut is pretty pronounced. I think I would amend this recipe by doubling the amount of melon fusion and decreasing the amount of liquid. However the knox may make the jello too firm and rubbery. I'll need to test.

If you make these or any variations, feel free to give me some feedback.

Enjelloy

The Peachskate

The Peachskate

This recipe was created in honor of Mark Mitchell. A former U.S. figure skater who placed 4th in the World Figure Skating Championships in 1993.  He had a recent birthday party here in Boston, and was that good times. At one point the VJ played "Time of Your Life" and this cute little slip of a girl and I tried to recreate the final dance from the movie. It was meza meza until the time for the lift came. Now, I am not a big guy, but I hoisted this 90 pound woman right over my head- and luckily didn't drop her.

So here's the recipe 

3  3 oz. boxes of Peach gelatin mix

2 envelopes unflavored knox gelatin

3 cups Snapple Diet Raspberry Iced tea

2 1/2 cups Svedka Vodka

1/2 cup Limoncello liquer

Find a large mixing bowl and plastic spoon.  Prep the peach gelatin by removing the packets from the box and partially opening the bag. Keep upright. Fill the bowl with a quarter cup room temperature iced tea and sprinkle the contents of the knox envelopes over the tea. Let sit for two minutes Boil the iced in a pot or measure out in a pyrex measuring cup and microwave until boiling (apx 5 minutes).  Pour the hot tea into the bowl and dissolve the knox gelatin. Add the peach gelatin and continue to stir for two minutes.  Let the mixture cool to room temp. You can speed up by placing the bowl in the freezer for  5 minutes. 

Measure out the alcohol. I tend to pour the limoncello and then the vodka into the same measuring cup and then taste to see if I need more lemoncello. There should be a hint of it.

Add the alcohol into the jello mixture and stir for another two minutes.  Pour the mixture into to 9x12 pyrex dishes.  Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Or speed set by placing in the freezer for 15 minutes. Don't forget them in there!

To remove, cut using a knife or use cookie cutters. Remove with a spatula. 

The Intro

Welcome to the first entry for "Gelology" a blog dedicated to gourmet jello shots. "What makes them gourmet?" you might ask. Well, it's a combination of the kind of alcohol used as well as the creativity going into the recipe and the way they are presented. There aren't your Frat brother's jello shots.

The jello shot craze is just about to take off. The late 90's saw the rise of the cocktail. With the advent of the show "Sex and the City", suddenly everyone was ordering Cosmos. Presently flavored vodkas are all the range and poor bartenders can't go a second without being asked for a stoli o and soda. 

So now comes the rise and rise of the jello shot. It's fun, fruity and can be complex as all hell. The possibilities are endless, savory, puddingy.... you think of it, I'll create it. Thanks to Michelle Neou, my eyes have seen the glory of a good, not not just good, stupdedous jello shot. I hope you enjoy reading this, making them, and getting schnockered as much as I enjoy experimenting, tasting, and writing.