The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #180: Frosted Grapes

Straight out of the annals of New Ways with Jell-O Gelatin comes this recipe for Frosted Grapes, a very creative idea for a fruity, gelatin-y garnish or light dessert. 

Now, of course, after seeing this recipe, I had a few concerns: 1) how could I replicate the flavoring-and-coloring aspect of Jell-O without using it? 2) is the raw egg really necessary? and 3) would this all be worth it? I mean, how much exactly could gelatin and some flavoring add to grapes?

To tackle the first point, I decided to make two batches of frosted grapes, the first with "coloring" (in the form of red sugar crystals mixed in with granulated sugar and the gelatin), and the second without, using only granulated sugar and gelatin. As far as adding a flavoring agent goes, I decided to mix about a teaspoon of lemon extract in with the egg white to avoid dissolving the sugar, since lemon was the only flavor I had around that seemed like it would go with grapes. The quantities of all these ingredients are really going to depend on how many grapes you need to frost. In my case, I made around a pound and two teaspoons of gelatin and a couple of tablespoons of total sugar was way too much.

After several minutes of deliberation, I went ahead and used raw egg white. Though we live in an age of intense scrutiny over food safety issues, raw eggs have been eaten forever, and I wasn't about to let a petty little issue like salmonella deter me from accurately recreating vintage Jell-O goodness.

Other than the aforementioned ingredient substitutions, I made the recipe as written, and as I was getting the grape clusters sprinkled, I immediately noticed a few things. For one, when I mixed in the lemon extract with the egg white, whitish streaks appeared in the egg. I think acid cooks eggs a little bit. This didn't end up affecting the end product, but I
Now, of course, after seeing this recipe, I had a few concerns: 1) how could I replicate the flavoring-and-coloring aspect of Jell-O without using it? 2) is the raw egg really necessary? and 3) would this all be worth it? I mean, how much exactly could gelatin and some flavoring add to grapes?

To tackle the first point, I decided to make two batches of frosted grapes, the first with "coloring" (in the form of red sugar crystals mixed in with granulated sugar and the gelatin), and the second without, using only granulated sugar and gelatin. As far as adding a flavoring agent goes, I decided to mix about a teaspoon of lemon extract in with the egg white to avoid dissolving the sugar, since lemon was the only flavor I had around that seemed like it would go with grapes. The quantities of all these ingredients are really going to depend on how many grapes you need to frost. In my case, I made around a pound and two teaspoons of gelatin and a couple of tablespoons of total sugar was way too much.

After several minutes of deliberation, I went ahead and used raw egg white. Though we live in an age of intense scrutiny over food safety issues, raw eggs have been eaten forever, and I wasn't about to let a petty little issue like salmonella deter me from accurately recreating vintage Jell-O goodness.

Other than the aforementioned ingredient substitutions, I made the recipe as written, and as I was getting the grape clusters sprinkled, I immediately noticed a few things. For one, when I mixed in the lemon extract with the egg white, whitish streaks appeared in the egg. I think acid cooks eggs a little bit. This didn't end up affecting the end product, but I was careful not to get any of that part of the egg white on the grapes. I recommend using a flavor extract that is not terribly acidic. Almond, rum, or vanilla extracts might be preferable, for example.

Secondly, I noticed that it's fairly difficult to sprinkle the sugar-gelatin coating on evenly, especially with the larger sugar crystals. Even if you don't allow the excess egg white to drain off much, it's tough to get it all to stick to the grapes. I definitely recommend setting a side a good chunk of time to get this step done, especially if you are making a larger batch. Also, in regards to the stickiness of the grapes, I highly recommend using egg white instead of water, like some similar recipes recommend--after the grapes dry, they need the adhesive nature of the egg to keep it all together.

Finally, after letting the grapes dry in the refrigerator all afternoon, the frosted grapes were nice and frosty.
was careful not to get any of that part of the egg white on the grapes. I recommend using a flavor extract that is not terribly acidic. Almond, rum, or vanilla extracts might be preferable, for example.

Secondly, I noticed that it's fairly difficult to sprinkle the sugar-gelatin coating on evenly, especially with the larger sugar crystals. Even if you don't allow the excess egg white to drain off much, it's tough to get it all to stick to the grapes. I definitely recommend setting a side a good chunk of time to get this step done, especially if you are making a larger batch. Also, in regards to the stickiness of the grapes, I highly recommend using egg white instead of water, like some similar recipes recommend--after the grapes dry, they need the adhesive nature of the egg to keep it all together.

Finally, after letting the grapes dry in the refrigerator all afternoon, the frosted grapes were nice and frosty.

And I think they turned out nicely! I love the way they look like grapes left out during a frost (maybe that should have been obvious, but hey), except not all shriveled. You can see in this photo that some of the clusters are only white and some are white and red. I think the pure white ones turned out much prettier. Maybe it would be more effective to use the neon-hued Jell-O for these if you were serving them to a teenager's slumber party, but otherwise I can't imagine Technicolor Frosted Grapes yielding the same effect.

In this picture you can see more clearly how, despite my best efforts, the grapes did not get totally covered in sugar and gelatin, especially the red sugar crystals. In retrospect, though, I think that adds to the frosted effect, since frost also often falls on one side of an object. In terms of taste, these grapes were surprisingly good. They taste like they have a sugar crust, and the lemon flavor comes through just enough to be noticed through the grapes's juiciness. If it weren't for the egg-cooking issue, I would strongly recommend a fruity extract like lemon or raspberry to go with these. 

Moreover, though, is that these grapes look and taste fancy. They would be a real treat at a wedding reception as a garnish, especially an autumn wedding at a vineyard or something like that. But even as a garnish for your lunch at work on a Thursday in April, they make you feel a little more classy, and I think we all need a little of that every now and again. For how few ingredients this recipe requires, it certainly elevates the humble grape to a more formal and dessert-like state. Plus, they last a good long time, basically as long as your grapes would have lasted in the first place.

So, in conclusion, Frosted Grapes is a worthwhile recipe with numerous applications and potential variations, and it really highlights how versatile gelatin is.

The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #67: Fruit Pie Unlimited

Today I bring you one of those beautiful Jell-O recipes that is perfect for those occasions when you want dessert but don't want to shell out a lot of cash for ingredients: the Fruit Pie Unlimited.

As the recipe details, you can make this simple fruit pie formula with any number of fruit-and-gelatin combinations, but based on the photo from the recipe book, I wanted to make the peach version. Of course, instead of orange Jell-O, I used beef gelatin with a combination of peach nectar and the syrup from the peach cans to make it extra peachy.

I already had a frozen pastry crust in the freezer, so I decided to use that. Since the recipe is not terribly specific about ingredient quantities, I cut up two cans of peach halves (though two cans of peach slices would have been easier, I know), reserving the syrup. If you want to use a deep-dish pie crust, this would be a perfect quantity, but it ended up being too much to fit in my crust. As far as the gelatin goes, I used two-and-a-half teaspoons of gelatin, and that seemed about perfect, and to replace the two cups of water, one can of peach nectar and the syrup from both peach cans ended up being exactly the right quantity.

Other than those ingredient swaps, adding a small quantity of food coloring (five drops of yellow and one drop of red), adding a splash of almond extract, and omitting the extra sugar, I followed the recipe exactly. It was easy to make, and it turned out really nicely, even though I didn't go the extra mile and arrange the peach slices in concentric rings.

One note about gelatin making in general, though. These recipes always call for starting with half boiling liquid and half cold liquid. When you add gelatin to boiling liquid all in one go, it is very easy for it to clump up or get stuck to the bottom of your pan. What I recommend is divide your liquid in half, put half in a saucepan, and then sprinkle your gelatin over top. Let it sit for five minutes or so to give it time to "bloom" or absorb some moisture, then heat the pan up, stirring occasionally. You don't even need to get it to a boil; if it's hot enoughto start to steam, and the gelatin dissolves, you're good to take it off the heat and add the mixture to the cold liquid. This activates the gelatin just fine without risking it clumping, and only heating up half of the liquid then adding it to the cold liquid helps it set faster.

Those ripples on the surface of the gelatin are from the plastic wrap I used to cover the pie as it set. If you had the lid from a cake stand or something similar, that would be ideal to protect the pie from unwanted fridge odors while keeping the surface smooth. Alternately, I guess you could use something like plastic wrap or aluminum foil to mold shapes or patterns into the surface of the gelatin if desired--kind of like shaping scraps of pie crust and arranging them on top of your pie, only with fewer calories!

As I mentioned, the gelatin mixture ended up being too much to fit into one pie crust, so I ended up making three Fruit Cups Unlimited as well.

As far as the quality of the final product goes, I quite enjoyed this dessert. It is light and refreshing, perfect for a summer picnic or cookout, while getting a classic, rich dessert feel from the pie crust. If I could change anything about the way I made it, I would add another splash of almond extract and maybe a tablespoon of honey or sugar to the gelatin just to make it a little more flavorful, though between the peach nectar and the peach syrup, it already has quite a bit of sugar.

The only thing about this recipe that warrants a word of caution is that, while gelatin has a wonderfully long shelf life, gelatin + pie crust does not. During the first day of the gelatin being set, the crust stayed nice and crispy, but after that day it absorbed moisture from the gelatin and softened. My advice is to serve a pie like this at a gathering or event where it will all get eaten in one day instead of making it for just a few people to eat over several days.

Overall, this recipe is a winner. It's simple, sure, but it works, and I can easily see all of the other fruit-and-flavoring combinations working as well. I would be particularly interested in trying something like raspberries in pomegranate juice, or a tropical trio of pineapple chunks (canned, not fresh!) and sliced bananas suspended in coconut milk. For that, I would use something like Jumex Coconut-Pineapple nectar ramped up with a little coconut extract and sugar as the liquid.

Anyway, Fruit Pie Unlimited was a real treat, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, easy, healthy-ish, or cheap dessert.

The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #27: Ice Cream Party Dessert

A few months ago my mother came to visit, and we had a laugh riot looking at the recipes from my vintage Jell-O cookbooks. She grew up during Jell-O's heyday, so she remembers all the classics. I asked her to pick out a recipe for me to make because the kinds of recipes I choose to make and the kinds of recipes my husband picks out for me are just a tad predictable, and she chose Ice Cream Party Dessert because it sounded halfway decent.

Being unable to find Black Raspberry Jell-O, I settled for raspberry, and otherwise I stuck to the recipe. I don't have a springform pan, so I made this recipe in my trusty Bundt pan, leaving the ladyfingers to float at the top to form a sort of crust for the gelatin-cream mixture. It was a tad difficult to trim the ladyfingers correctly to make a semi-solid layer, but I got it eventually. Other than that, this was a very straightforward recipe to make, although if making in a springform pan, I highly recommend waiting until the gelatin is at the stage where a spoon drawn through it leaves a definite impression before putting it in the pan. Otherwise your carefully arranged ladyfingers will float to the top and leave you with a less-than-Instagram-worthy result.

During setting the ice cream and the gelatin separate somewhat, but the ice cream layer looks gritty for some reason. It's probably worth noting that I wasn't using top-notch ice cream here, so maybe that's why. Aside from that it looks like a fairly normal gelatin mold (the crinkly texture on the top is due to having been stored under plastic wrap), and it tastes...okay.

The flavor of this dessert is, as you might expect, just like normal Jell-O but slightly creamier and sweeter, which today's Jell-O mixes just don't need. If you replicated this recipe but with unsweetened whipped cream, you would probably get a better end result. As ever, the best part of Jell-O + ladyfinger creations is the airy, spongy texture the ladyfingers get when soaked in gelatin, and that is predictably also the case here. And as per usual, my recommendations on how to improve this recipe are as follows:

-Use unflavored gelatin instead of Jell-O
-Sub in a vanilla-compatible juice for the water, or at least 2/3 of the water

I think this would be particularly pretty and tasty with black cherry juice. Another good option would be orange juice for a creamsicle flavor. Either of those would make for a festive dessert fit for a party, especially in a springform pan, but with actual Jell-O it winds up just overly sweet and artificial tasting. I ate all of it, but I didn't look forward to finishing it off.

The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #29: Lemon Crumb Dessert

Today's JOJ recipe has been quite a treat. You see, a few months back I attempted to make my grandmother's lemon icebox pie recipe, in which lemon juice and sweetened condensed milk are set in a graham cracker crust with the help of egg yolks. It's a scrumptious pie, except mine didn't set up--it wound up being a lemon icebox pudding with a side of graham cracker crumbs, which was tasty, but not the same. At the time, I kept thinking that if I had just added a small amount of gelatin, it would have worked beautifully.

Fast forward a few months and my brother-in-law's girlfriend picked out the Lemon Crumb Dessert for me to try (since I plan on making all of these recipes anyhow, I have friends and family pick out the next one for me to keep the order semi random, plus other people tend to be more sympathetic and less sadistic than my husband for this purpose), and based on the recipe, it looked very similar to a lemon icebox pie.

Fortunately I recently acquired a large stock of high-quality unflavored gelatin (I've heard good things about the Great Lakes brand, but I've had luck with Vital Proteins, so that's what I use), so I was able to use that plus lemon extract in place of Jell-O. Aside from that, I made the recipe as written, except I reduced the salt to roughly an eighth of a teaspoon because excess salt can very easily ruin a whole batch of gelatin.

To extract two thirds of a cup of lemon juice, I juiced three lemons and added a tiny bit of water to reach the full amount, so if you don't mind having some leftover lemon, get four to make sure. As far as my gelatin ratio goes, I used one-and-a-half tablespoons in this recipe, which is a fine amount. In a previous test with my gelatin, I found that one tablespoon per cup of liquid makes a gel that is very solid and similar to gummy candy in texture, so I dialed it back for a creamier end result. I added half a teaspoon of lemon extract to replace the Jell-O flavoring, but if you like lemon you could add a whole teaspoon without issue.

In order to get the graham cracker crumbs, I crunched up a few bags of crackers with a hammer, measured the total quantity of the bits, and then ran them through the food processor, which worked perfectly. It took me about two-and-one-third bags to reach four cups of crumbs. 

The only fiddly thing about making this recipe was whipping the gelatin-lemon-milk mixture. When I read "whip until fluffy," I think of the medium-peak stage of whipped cream. Though I know whipping gelatin takes a long time, I went at it with my hand mixer at high speed for a good ten minutes and the beaters were still not leaving any discernable trail in the mix. In that time, the volume of the liquid had increased substantially, but it was not what I would call fluffy. Since I was getting nostalgic for my grandmother's lemon icebox pie, which is dense and custardy and in no way fluffy, I settled for rolling with what I had instead of continuing.

In the end, the Lemon Crumb Dessert delivers on its promise to feed a crowd; since I didn't have any pans of the size specified in the recipe, I am housing this recipe in a loaf pan, a casserole dish, two ramekins, and a small Pyrex storage bowl. I didn't think I would have enough graham cracker crumbs to put a crust in the glass bowl, but in the end I had enough left over to give it a top crust.

This recipe doesn't look like much--in fact it resembles mayonnaise more than anything--but it is very tasty. It is indeed identical in flavor to the lemon icebox pie of yore, but texturally it is unique. After all my doubting, I think I beat this mixture just enough because, after setting, it is quite fluffy. It has the consistency of a stiff meringue, which makes it feel light, as gelatin often does at its best. That's a good thing, too, because otherwise, with all of the dairy, sugar, and butter, this recipe would be very rich.

I am pleased with how this recipe turned out, and there's not much I can recommend as to how to improve upon the way I made it. The Lemon Crumb Dessert would make a delightful dish to serve at a spring picnic or a backyard barbecue in the heat of August as it's cool, refreshing, and not too heavy. For all of the lemon included, it's not even intensely lemony. My husband is not fond of gelatin, but he said this was the best JOJ recipe I have made so far, so that's pretty high praise.

The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #26: Creamy Freeze

One of the beautiful things about Jell-O is that you can pretty much dress it up with anything you might have on hand, which makes it a thrifty little dessert choice. I had previously bought some lemon Jell-O that I had wanted to use for a fancy Jell-O salad recipe I found out about, but then I realized I didn't want to spend the money on all the different fruits and other fixings that went into it, so in I dove to The Joys of Jell-O to find something nifty that I could make with lemon Jell-O and no money. Enter the Creamy Freeze.

This fairly innovative little recipe uses the binding powers of gelatin and whatever Dream Whip is made of to simulate ice cream by folding the two together, freezing partially, and then whipping more air into the already fluffy mixture to make it light and scoopable once totally frozen. This ends up being easier said than done, though. For one, I have never met anyone who has freezing trays, so I was using a metal mixing bowl and the aluminum pot of a rice cooker to freeze my creamy mixture--maybe that affected the rate of freezing. Either way, it took much longer for the mixture to get even slightly frozen than what the recipe suggests, and I consider my freezer colder than most. I still followed the recipe's guideline about waiting until 1/2" was frozen and everything, but I'm not convinced it turned out exactly as it should have.

The result was less reminiscent of ice cream in texture and more reminiscent of a creamy, finely shredded shaved ice. Now, don't get me wrong: creamy, finely shredded shaved ice is a supremely refreshing dessert, particularly in lemon. It took on a dainty shade of creamy yellow and was just sweet enough to be indulgent without being too rich. Plus, it did manage to be readily scoopable. But it wasn't like ice cream.

Ultimately I can still recommend this recipe as an easy, budget-friendly, solid choice, though it did take a long time to prepare by Jell-O standards. However, if I were to make it again, I would invest in a couple of freezer trays to make sure the surface area-to-volume ratio is sufficient for proper freezing. Plus, there are several other recipes in TJOJ that call for the use of a freezer tray. Apart from that, I would always recommend real whipped cream over Dream Whip, but in this instance I really didn't mind the Dream Whip much because it serves the same purpose and doesn't detract from anything except the cost. However, when I was preparing the Dream Whip, I added real lemon extract instead of vanilla extract (because I only have imitation vanilla at the moment--sad, I know), which I think improved its flavor dramatically. I think even if I were using a different Jell-O flavor, I would still use lemon extract instead of vanilla, unless you have real vanilla.

By the by, any Jell-O flavor would probably be good or at least decent in this dish. Strawberry and orange would probably be especially tasty, or you could use lime to make a Key Lime ice cream treat. Another word of advice: it's best to eat this whole recipe, which makes a large batch, within a couple of days. Prolonged freezing and the temperature fluctuations caused by a freezer's defrost cycle cause this dessert to harden until it eventually becomes a solid block, which is no fun.

One last note: if you look at the example photo from the cookbook, you see that the Jell-O and Dream Whip are marbled in the freezer tray. However, if you read the instructions, you are supposed to whip all of that together until well blended but not melted during the freezing process, meaning that there's no way you can both follow the directions and end up with a recipe looking anything like the photo. Thanks, General Foods.

The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #24: Cherry Cola Mold

Okay, so it's been quite a while since I've posted a Jell-O recipe. Mostly that's due to having bought a house and otherwise staying very busy, but I also just haven't made that many Jell-O recipes. And, sadly, I didn't get pictures of the few I did make, but I'm still going to jot down my thoughts on each one and post the recipes.

The other thing I have started doing differently is making these recipes out of order. Instead of doing them as the book presents them (which would leave me stranded on "savory Jell-O dish" island for quite a while without a break), I've started going in a more-or-less random order based on my husband's recommendations and/or what I have on hand at the moment. Hopefully this will be a little more entertaining to follow along with, as even in the dessert sections, there are lots of consecutive Bavarian and Crown Jewel recipes, so hopefully switching it up will help us all avoid burning out on such repetition.

The first recipe I made was the Cherry Cola Mold. This was chosen by my husband because, frankly, cola and mayonnaise don't seem like the snuggliest of bedfellows. I made this recipe exactly as written, which is easy and straightforward (like most Jell-O recipes), except that I omitted the nuts. Maybe there's a gelatin recipe I would like better with nuts, but up to this point I haven't found it. I also found it very odd that this recipe calls for both cherry and strawberry gelatin. Wouldn't it be more cherry-y with two packages of cherry Jell-O?

As far as the finished product goes, the gelatin takes on a dusty rose color due to the cherry syrup, cola, and dairy ingredients, and it's smooth apart from the chunky ingredients.

The flavor...well, it's okay. It certainly tastes like cherry, with a tanginess provided by the pineapples and mayonnaise. The cola flavor almost entirely gets lost in the mix, while the cream cheese and mayo just make the whole thing so fatty it's almost too rich. Overall, it's merely alright, though I am impressed that you can add mayo, cream cheese, and cola to Jell-O and end up with a dish where none of those ingredients are distinguishable.

If I were General Foods and had the idea for a cherry cola mold, though, I think I could have done better, and maybe someday I will try this and report back on how it works out:

-Take the capacity of your mold, subtract half a cup, then divide by two.

-Take the quantity you came up with in the first step, and bring that much of your favorite cola to a boil--bonus points if it's cherry flavored.

-Dissolve 6 ounces of cherry Jell-O into the boiling cola.

-Take the same amount you calculated again of cold cola and add it to the gelatin mixture.

-Pour gelatin mixture into the mold and let cool until soft-set (or, as official Jell-O parlance would have it, very thick), then stir in half a cup of maraschino cherries, optionally adding a splash of the cherry syrup.

-Chill until firm, then unmold.

-Optional: leave out any maraschino syrup, continue thickening the gelatin until set but not firm, then add a thin layer of the syrup for a colorful layered effect.

While that dish might not be as pretty or Jell-O salad-y, I think it would be more successful at meeting the goal of "Cherry Cola Mold." It would taste like cherries and cola instead of cherries and pineapple. As written, though, this recipe is passable taste-wise, just very confusing. I would not make it again.

Next up: a few recipes I did a while ago, then back to the regularly scheduled "I make one recipe then post about it, with pictures of what it actually looks like" routine.

The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #160: Quick Tomato Mold

I'm trying to give all the kooky Jell-O recipes in this odyssey a fair shake, but sometimes it just doesn't shake out. The Quick Tomato Mold is another recipe I made while on a camera and writing hiatus due to being too busy, but I remember it clear as day.

 

Since Salad Jell-O flavors no longer exist, I used unflavored gelatin as the base for this "salad" and added some Italian herbs to the mix to mimic the Italian salad flavor (in this case parsley, oregano, and a little thyme), but otherwise made it as written. I was sort of excited to make this recipe since I knew that tomato aspics were popular dishes for a while both in the American South and in England, plus I had never really had tomato juice and wanted to use the leftover juice to try a Bloody Mary.

Unfortunately, none of that turned out how I wanted it to. Instead of letting the gelatin set up in a can, which just seems like a cheap-looking way to do it, I divided it up into silicone baking cups, and it had a nice red color and set up very firmly. However, it had the unmistakeable taste of pizza sauce. It really just tasted like hard pizza sauce, perhaps pizza sauce that had been left open in the refrigerator for far too long. The gelatin was so strongly flavored that I started gagging upon eating it and ended up throwing the vast majority of it out after struggling through one cup.

Now, to be fair, maybe this dish would turn out a little differently with some celery juice and celery salt or vegetable stock (to represent the other salad Jell-O flavors) instead of Italian herbs, but I somehow doubt it. It primarily tastes of the tomato juice, and I think tomato juice just isn't for me, especially not in a solid form. But I couldn't finish the Bloody Mary, either. I think you just have to really enjoy the flavor of tomato juice to be able to stomach eating it like solid food.

Another caveat to my dislike of this recipe is that I used a new kind of unflavored gelatin for it, and I believe its lower quality caused the recipe to turn out grittier than it should have. However, I don't think that's what ruined the experience for me.

Regardless, I would overall rate this recipe as very bad for being completely unappealing in every regard except the color, which is firetruck red as advertised.