The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #58: Peach and Banana Mold

Howdy, Jigglers! Today I'd like to present a Jell-O recipe, the Peach and Banana Mold, that really highlights two of the most basic yet appealing aspects of gelatin desserts (or fruit salads, if you want to be generous): thrift and clarity.

As you can see, there's just about nothing to this recipe in terms of ingredients to buy. In fact, I made this recipe essentially for free, as I had lime Jell-O and a can of peaches on hand, and a friend of mine gave me a banana out of the blue one day. Of course, that prompted me to furiously scan the pages of The Joys of Jell-O to look for something I could easily make with it, and that's how I decided to make this recipe in the first place.

The method involved in creating this dish is truly basic as well. The hardest part, I suppose, was evenly distributing the peach and banana slices in the gelatin since I was using a mold that is thin in places. With most kinds of molds, this wouldn't be an issue, however.


The final product turned out very aesthetically pleasing too. One problem that a lot of these vintage Jell-O recipes have is that they are very often so full of different ingredients that the final dish looks cluttered and busy. My next post will be on a recipe that makes that work in its favor, but most of the time it detracts from the appearance. This recipe, though, has just enough fruit mixed in to provide bold contrast and interest while not making you forget that all the fruit is suspended in a clear gelatin matrix.

Now that's a fruit salad perfect to take to a party pad with shag carpeting! Speaking of bringing dishes to a party, that's another advantage these simple Jell-O recipes offer: when you bring them to a potluck, all the ingredients are easily identifiable. People won't get wary about ingredients they don't like or are allergic to being hidden among all the other mix-ins.

The taste of this dessert is light and refreshing, but certainly not short on flavor. I was a little concerned about the lime flavor not going well with the peaches, but it was very tasty. It might be slightly better with orange-pineapple gelatin, though. Now, Orange-Pineapple is no longer on the Jell-O roster, but you could easily use half a package of Orange and half a package of Pineapple, or you could substitute half the water for (canned or bottled and not fresh) pineapple juice and the other half for fresh-squeezed orange juice and use unflavored gelatin. That flavor combination would make this dish look even better, too. I also like the idea of serving a garnish of banana slices rolled in nuts--honestly that would make a very light dessert on its own--though it sort of negates the make-ahead possibilities of this mold. 

At any rate, this recipe doesn't try to reinvent the wheel in any way, but its simplicity is precisely what makes it so great. I do understand why there aren't tons and tons of recipes like this in General Foods's cookbook, since it is basically just "mix and match Jell-O flavors and different fruits," but it's nice to have a few examples of successful combinations of this kind included. You never know when, like me, you might end up with some ripe fruit and no clue what to do with it, and for times like that, the Peach and Banana Mold will serve you well.