As my birthday was approaching, I figured I should treat myself in the most fitting way with this birthday cake alternative, especially given how simple it is to make. The gelatin part is literally just clear gelatin, with some ice cream inside the ring and marshmallows/gumdrops outside. In fact, it is so simple that the moniker of "Surprise" really doesn't make sense, unless you think of it in terms of giving this to someone for their birthday instead of a sweet, fluffy cake without their knowledge or consent--and let's be real here, if you knew ahead of time, you would not consent. Maybe there is someone out there who truly loves plain gelatin more than cake as a special-occasion treat, but it is just one person, and I say that as a real die-hard gelatin fanatic.
Anyhow, since the "recipe" gives you full freedom as to what flavor of gelatin to use, I decided to get a little creative and use apple juice as the basis of this dish. This is because there is no apple Jell-O flavor, and I had some caramel sauce in the refrigerator that I thought would make a nice caramel-apple effect. This is where my plans went slightly awry, though: since apple juice is very sweet, I figured the sweetness level would be about right when gelatinized, but the flavor turned out a little on the subtle side. It was not bad, but if I were to make this (or just apple gelatin in general) again, I would either include some more concentrated apple puree with the juice or cook the juice down a bit to concentrate the flavor a bit more.
Regardless, the gelatin turned out beautifully. All told I used four tablespoons of unflavored gelatin to harden an entire jug of apple juice, which made it nice and chewy, and it was a very pretty golden color. Some vanilla ice cream in the middle made a festive presentation, though ultimately I thought the combination was too rich and ended up eating the gelatin by itself with some caramel sauce. Maybe some creme fraiche would be a more appropriate filling. But for initial serving we lit birthday candles stuck into marshmallows and everything. For the record, I tried and tried but could not manage to make the marshmallow flowers as shown in the photo. If anyone out there knows how to make them, please let me know!
While I would not make this for anyone as a birthday surprise, it is a festive way to serve gelatin, it looks nice, and I'm sure it would please the palettes of a young birthday-party crowd. It would be especially useful for coordinating with a party color theme, since you can use a host of different flavors, particularly if the theme is "Candyland". A stained-glass or rainbow pattern would be especially eyecatching with the marshmallows and gumdrops. All in all, though it is not much of a recipe, the Birthday Surprise does serve as a creative inspiration for the limitless opportunities that gelatin offers.
