RAINBOW JIGGLE JELLO

 

Our friend Sue always made rainbow Jiggle Jello for her son’s and daughter’s parties when they were little, with the adults helping themselves to leftovers.  She shared the following recipe with us to celebrate the completion of Playing With Your Food WhaddaWeek.  (Her son Matt designed and constructed this website, so he gets second helpings!)

 

Note: Your children may be old enough to help with the stirring, and with mixing the dry Jello and gelatin together.  But boiling water can be a hazard for a child, so an adult must provide constant supervision and control of the hot water to prevent spills and splashes.

 

What you need:

 

• 3-ounce packages of Jello in at least three colors  (We used four: raspberry, “berry blue,” lime, and lemon, in that order.)

 

• 1 square or rectangular baking dish, large enough to hold 1 ¼ cups of water for each Jello color you choose to use.  (We used a 9” x 9” square Pyrex baking dish for the four colors.)

 

• ½ (a little less than ½ tablespoon) of a Knox gelatin packet for each package of Jello

 

• 1 cup of boiling water for each package of Jello

 

• ¼ cup of ice for each package of Jello

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will be making the Jello in layers, using the same process for each layer:

 

While you get the 1 cup of water boiling, mix the dry package of Jello with the gelatin in a small bowl, to separate the grains of the gelatin so they do not clump in the water.

 

Mix the Jello/gelatin mixture with the boiling water and stir gently (so you do not create bubbles) until the dry ingredients are entirely dissolved.  Then add the ice and stir until it melts entirely.

 

Pour the liquid into the baking dish and put into the refrigerator.

 

Chill for 20 minutes to half an hour.  This is the tricky part – knowing when to add the next layer so that it will adhere to, and not just mix in with, the layer below it.  Sue’s rules of thumb: (1) if you jiggle the refrigerated Jello and it sloshes, it’s not ready; (2) if when you touch the top of the refrigerated Jello it leaves a fingerprint or a little comes away on your finger, it’s ready for the next layer.

 

While the first layer is chilling, prepare the second and leave it to cool on the counter.  Pour gently over the already refrigerated layer.  Return it to the refrigerator for another 20 to 30 minutes while you prepare layer #3, and so on.

 

After you add the last layer, leave the completed masterpiece in the refrigerator for a few hours to set entirely.  Then slice or cut into shapes to serve.  (We cut ours into 25 small squares.)  Setting the baking dish into a low level of warm water helps to loosen the Jello from the bottom.  

 

Eat with your fingers!

 

For fun, check out these amazing videos of cubes of Jello in action:

​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n5AfHYST6E (1:33)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bco4xBelLWw (4:12)

 

And congratulations on completing Playing With Your Food WhaddaWeek!