Stained Glass Jello

Are you still looking for that perfect something to bring to the 4th of July cookout on Wednesday? Well, look no further. This Jello is fun, festive, easy to transport and eat, a sure-fire kid pleaser and will make the adults nostalgic about the good ol’ days of Jello Jigglers (Remember those?). This impressive-looking Jello dessert couldn’t be easier to make and is a simple variation of the classic “rainbow Jello” layered dessert. You know, the one with all the colors of the rainbow with layers of white in between?

I was so intrigued when I first saw the picture of stained glass Jello on The Food Librarian. She had done hers up in purple and yellow to cheer on the Lakers, and it looked amazing. Of course the Pittsburgh Steelers were still battling for the Superbowl at the time so my first instinct was to make this and do it Steelers-style. The only problem, naturally, is that Pittsburgh's colors are black and gold. I’ve never seen black Jello, have you? I thought perhaps they would sell blackberry, but I couldn’t find any.


I had an “aha” moment and realized that with strawberry and berry blue flavors I could make a red, white & blue dessert for the 4th of July. And to be even more festive, I used a cookie cutter to cut the Jello into the shape of stars. This was fun to make and I think it’s a great presentation for a holiday picnic. While not in the upper echelon of gourmet desserts, I think this is a great one to keep in your back pocket. You could switch up colors to reflect school graduation, various sports teams, company logos – anything at all! And if you have some fun cookie cutters in your stash, the possibilities are truly endless.

So how do you make this festive treat?

Yield: One 9×13-inch pan

4 boxes (3-ounces each) Jello (or store brand gelatin dessert) in different colors

14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (Knox)

Water

1. For each flavor, dissolve one box of Jello in 1 cup of boiling water. Pour into a square container that is about 6 to 8″ square and chill at least 3 hours, or overnight. (Try to use the same size for all four so that the blocks will come out the same. In this case the smaller the better – I used 8″ pans and felt my “blocks” were a little too flat.)

2. After chilling the flavors, cut them into small blocks.

3. Carefully mix the blocks in a 9×13-inch pan.

4. In a separate bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin into ½ cup cold water. After the gelatin blooms, add 1½ cups boiling water and dissolve. Add the can of condensed milk. Stir and let cool. Pour cooled milk mixture over Jello blocks in 9×13 pan. Skim off any small bubbles that are created when you pour the condensed milk on the Jello pieces. Chill overnight or at least 3 hours until firm.

5. Cut into blocks or shapes and serve.

(Recipe adapted from The Food Librarian)