How to Make Layered Red White and Blue Jello for July 4th
How to make layered red, white, and blue Jello for July 4th. This colorful, fun, and impressive gelatin dessert is perfect to serve at all the patriotic holidays including Memorial Day and Independence Day.
Equipment
Ingredients
For the layered Jello
- 3.4 ounces Grape Jello
- 6.8 ounces Blue raspberry Jello
- 6.8 ounces Raspberry Jello Or any red flavor (strawberry, cherry, etc.)
- 4 ounces unflavored gelatin Sixteen 0.25 oz packets
- 21 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- Boiling water
- Cold water
To serve
- 1 can Whipped cream
- ½ cups raspberries or other fresh fruit to match red layer
Instructions
For the layered Jello
- Spray a 9x13 pan generously with cooking spray. You could use a smaller 9x9 pan if you needed to, but then you would have to cut out 3 of the layers. I recommend cutting out the bottom 3 - grape, milk, and blue raspberry. In that case, you would start and end with red.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the box of grape Jello with 1 teaspoon of the unflavored gelatin and 1 cup of boiling water until you are certain that all the powder is dissolved. Pour into the prepared pan, set in the fridge ensuring it is completely flat, and chill in the refrigerator to set (about 30 minutes).
- As soon as the grape Jello goes into the fridge, do this step. In a medium bowl, whisk the sweetened condensed milk with 2 cups of boiling water. In a smaller bowl, sprinkle 1 ounce (4 envelopes) of unflavored gelatin over 1 cups cold water and whisk to dissolve. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes so that the gelatin can absorb as much water as possible. After 5 minutes, pour 1 cup boiling water into the unflavored gelatin mixture and stir, then pour the gelatin mixture into the sweetened condensed milk mixture and stir again.
- Mix up the rest of the jello. Pour both boxes of red jello into a bowl with 1 full packet of unflavored gelatin and 2 cups of boiling water. Stir well until all the powder is dissolved. Repeat with the blue jello. Allow to cool on the counter but do not add ice or any more water.
- Once the grape layer is completely set, remove it from the fridge and pour 1 cup of the sweetened condensed milk mixture over the top. (If you want precise, even layers, make sure the milk mixture is room temperature before adding to the grape layer. If you like wavy, uneven layers, it's okay to pour it on hot.) Return to the refrigerator for at least 15-20 minutes to set.
- Repeat the layer process, with 1 cup of blue jello first, alternating with 1 cup of white gelatin between each colored layer. (It will be purple, white, blue, white, red, white, blue, white, red.) Remember, if you want precise, even layers, you must make sure that all of the Jello mixtures cool to room temperature before pouring over the previously set layer.
- Once all the layers have been set, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours to set completely.
To serve
- Just before serving, run a sharp paring knife all around the edges of the pan and turn the layered Jello out onto a cutting board.
- To serve as finger Jello, cut into 1-inch squares. To serve as Jello on a plate, cut into 2 to 3 inch squares and top each square with whipped cream and fresh raspberries (or strawberries if you used strawberry Jello for the red layers).
Notes
Nutritional information assumes a 3-inch square with whipped cream and raspberries on top. If cutting 1-inch finger Jello squares, the nutritional information is 1/9 of the total above or 39 calories per cube.
Strictly speaking, it is not necessary to use the unflavored gelatin in the colored layers. However, if you don't use it, you will have to wait an hour or more in between layers so that the colored layers will set well enough to pour in the next layer evenly. Also, the extra gelatin in the colored layers helps this work better for finger jello.
Because it has so much gelatin in it, the white milk layer often sets up at room temperature. If you find that yours is getting too solid in between pouring, just put the bowl into a slightly larger bowl with a couple of inches of hot water in the bottom. You don't want so much water that it spills in to the gelatin of course, but enough to keep the white stuff warm and liquid.
You CANNOT add ice to the jello to cool it quicker. This will dilute the jello, and it won't set properly. You can however pop it into the fridge for a few minute. That will cool it more quickly, but don't leave it in there for more than 5 minutes because it will set, and then you will have to reheat it and start all over.
If you prefer very flat, very even layers, allow the liquid to cool to room temperature before pouring over the previously chilled layer. If you want the wavy look, you can pour warm liquid over the top of the set layers. This will soften and slightly melt the layer that you just hardened and give an irregular appearance to the layers. You can never pour boiling liquid on top of the hardened jello because then the set layer will melt, and they will mix. You will have no layers, and you will be sad. Let it cool.
It is best to cut Jello with a sharp flat-edged knife such as a paring knife. If you use a serrated knife, you will not get nice, crisp, clean edges.
Nutrition
Serving: 1square | Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 65g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 260mg | Potassium: 204mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 62g | Vitamin A: 175IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 152mg | Iron: 1mg
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