Saturday, May 19, 2012

Hard Boiled Jell-O Shots

This one's a little late, but I have been crafting up a storm lately, and I've been meaning to do a post on these Jell-O shots I made for easter since before my first post.  I'll explain:

I could go into a long story about how these eggs came about, and the scramble to find the molds, but I'll just share the current revision.  I made one batch mango margarita flavor, and the other batch was a Malibu rum + mango Absolut concoction.  I spent a long time trying to figure out the best method for molding the mango yolks inside of the Jell-O eggs, but eventually realized that since I planned to serve them as half eggs anyway, and Mangos are difficult to form full balls from, I would just mold the eggs sans yolks.  After the Jell-O cured, I just cut it in half (you'll want a very sharp knife for this), scooped out a yolk depression, and added the mango pieces.



 VoilĂ !  See the broken egg?  That's due to one major flaw:  Mango contains an enzyme that breaks down gelatin.  I had only read this about pineapples and papayas before I bought my supplies.  Using canned mangos next time should solve this.

Me and my beautiful cousin, about to do shots before Easter Mass.  Yeah, I'm just going to leave it at that.

Mango Margarita Hard Boiled Shot Recipe:
  • Whole canned mangos, or big enough pieces to make half yolks with — I am going to have to do   some research here.
  • 2 pkts Knox gelatin
  • 2/3 c boiling water
  • 1/4 c Tequila
  • 1/3 c Absolut Mango
  • 1/3 c triple sec
  • 6-7 oz condensed milk — Tip:  Eagle brand is a very cool, bright white.  The other brand I tried was Target's Market Pantry, and it was a creamier color.
  • 1 tsp lime juice


Use a melon baller to ball mangos, (half balls are ok) and soak them in tequila in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.  If you have to go longer, just throw them in the freezer.  I used ¼ c tequila to two mangos.

In a large bowl, stir the gelatin into 6 tablespoons of cold water and let it 'bloom' for 5 minutes.  Add the boiling water, the Absolue, triple sec, condensed milk, and lime juice.  Let cool off before pouring into molds.

When the eggs are finished in 3-4 hours, cut in half, scoop out pieces and add mango yolks.

For the Absolut + Malibu recipe, I replaced the tequila with Absolut and the triple sec with Malibu.  However, this recipe came out too strong in my and others' opinion.