Tangwystl Cottage - a treat to delight the kids

ravenruis (58)in #homesteading • 6 years ago

Rainbow Jelly!

What could be better than creating an inexpensive and simple treat to delight kids (of any age wink wink) such as this rainbow jelly?

excuse the bad photography, this was taken years ago on a different camera (and saved to file with lower resolution) than the great tech we have today

The hardest part is the time it takes to wait patiently between layers until you have the most wonderful stained-glass effect. The bonus is you don't have to fret about it breaking apart as you slip it out of a mould - because this treat is eaten straight from the container.
My kids still talk about this treat today, 12 years on!

So, for those who would like the recipe to make it ... here goes :)

Ingredients & paraphernalia:

packets of jelly in the various rainbow colours
tall glass (or plastic) containers
boiling water

Instructions:

start with the colour from one end of the rainbow and make up according to jelly packet instructions
allow to cool, as you don't want the hot sugary water to stress the glasses
divide the space in each container by how many colours you are using, and the pour in the first layer of jelly to that mark
leave the containers sitting out while they cool (not in the fridge) until they are almost set
then make up and pour gently the next layer and let it cool & almost set ... then the next layer ... etc
once all layers are done, then you can refrigerate

Simply simple!

Fun fact: Jelly (or Jell-O as it is also known) is a gelatin dessert.

This kind of dessert is first recorded as jelly by Hannah Glasse in her 18th century book The Art of Cookery, appearing in a layer of trifle.

Before gelatin became widely available as a commercial product, the most typical gelatin dessert was "calf's foot jelly". As the name indicates, this was made by extracting and purifying gelatin from the foot of a calf. This gelatin was used for savory dishes in aspic, or was mixed with fruit juice and sugar for a dessert.

In the eighteenth century, gelatin from calf's feet, isinglass and hartshorn was colored blue with violet juice, yellow with saffron, red with cochineal and green with spinach.
source

And of course we know it lends itself to some great jelly mould shapes. Like making sandcastles, but indoors ... and edible. :D