Several years ago I had a hankering for some brightly colored jello. It was a hot, humid, Midwest summer day, and we wanted something fun and light to eat, but I didn't want something loaded with sugar or food dye, because my kids were crazy enough as it already was.... So I made this. It is so simple to make, utterly delicious, and easy to modify. I could wax poetic for the next 900 words about it, but I don't like that any more than you do, so let's get to the recipe!
Ingredients:
2-3 cups apple juice, or white grape juice
1/2-1 cup freeze dried strawberries
1/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers
3-5 Tbsp organic plain gelatin
A dash of stevia to taste
Any random vitamins you want to sneak in to your kids diet
To make:
The apple juice and gelatin ingredients are approximates since I don't usually measure when I make anything, and they depend on how firm you want your gelee to be. A softer gel will be slightly less gelatin and more liquid, a very firm cookie cutter "jiggler" kind of gel will take more more gelatin in relation to liquid. So, play around with this until you reach the consistency you like!
1) Place dry gelatin in a small bowl and cover with 1/3 cup of cool apple juice
2) Place the rest of the apple juice into a small pan and add hibiscus and strawberries. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and steep for at least 10 minutes, at most 40. The longer it steeps the more vibrant the hibiscus color will become.
3) Strain off hibiscus and strawberries, and discard. Gradually add the softened gelatin into the warm apple juice/herbal tea. Once the gelatin is added, give it a taste. If you'd like it to be more sweet then add a bit of stevia until it reaches your desired sweetness. This is also a good time to add any vitamins you'd like to sneak in to your kids, just make sure they don't adversely affect the flavor!
4) Pour into a dish, and cover with plastic. Cool in the fridge 6 hours (or overnight is best!), and serve cold.
This is lovely on it's own, with a light strawberry flavor and a bright cheerful color, but it can also be served along with a homemade whipped cream as a more satisfying dessert. Alternatively, once the jello mixture has cooled to room temperature (but before it starts to set) it can be mixed with whipped cream to make a nice mousse.
I hope you enjoy! If you end up making this recipe please share pictures of it on our Facebook page! Liking our page would be nice as well, I try to post cool stuff, and you could get updates from us!
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