Stained Glass Jello – Red, White & Blue for the 4th of July

Are you still looking for that perfect something to bring to the 4th of July cookout on Saturday? Well, look no further. This Jello is fun, festive, easy to transport and eat, a sure-fire kid pleaser, and will make the adults wax nostalgic about the good ol’ days of Jello Jigglers. This impressive-looking Jello dessert couldn’t be easier to make and is a simple variation of the classic “rainbow Jello” layered dessert. You know, the one with all the colors of the rainbow with layers of white in between? I knew you’d remember

I was so entranced when I first saw the picture of stained glass Jello on The Food Librarian. She had done hers up in purple and yellow to cheer on the Lakers, and it looked awesome. Of course the Pittsburgh Penguins were still battling for the Cup at the time so my first instinct was to make this and do it Pens-style. The only problem, naturally, is that Pittsburgh colors are black and gold. I’ve never seen black Jello, have you? I thought perhaps they would sell blackberry, but I couldn’t find any. So, I went back to making more batches of the decorated sugar cookies and put the stained glass Jello on the back burner.

Well, it didn’t stay there for long. I had an “aha” moment and realized that with strawberry and berry blue flavors I could make a pretty cool red, white & blue dessert for the 4th of July. And to be even more festive, I used a cookie cutter to cut the Jello into the shape of stars. This was fun to make and I think it’s a great presentation for a holiday picnic. While not in the upper echelon of gourmet desserts, I think this is a great one to keep in your back pocket. You could switch up colors to reflect school graduation, various sports teams, company logos – anything at all! And if you have some fun cookie cutters in your stash, the possibilities are truly endless.

More great picnic food:
Cheddar Ale Spread
Pepperoni Bread
Strawberry Pretzel Squares (you could also make a blueberry version!)
Loaded Baked Potato Salad
Italian Antipasto Salad
Sweet Dinner Rolls (perfect for soaking up baked beans)
Panzanella Salad (bright, crisp and light – perfect for summer)

1 Year Ago: Fresh Blueberry Pie (also great for a 4th of July picnic!)

Stained Glass Jello
(also known as Broken Glass Jello)

Yield: One 9×13-inch pan

4 boxes (3-ounces each) Jello (or store brand gelatin dessert) in different colors
14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (Knox)
Water

1. For each flavor, dissolve one box of Jello in 1 cup of boiling water. Pour into a square container that is about 6 to 8″ square and chill at least 3 hours, or overnight. (Try to use the same size for all four so that the blocks will come out the same. In this case the smaller the better – I used 8″ pans and felt my “blocks” were a little too flat.)

2. After chilling the flavors, cut them into small blocks.

3. Carefully mix the blocks in a 9×13-inch pan.

4. In a separate bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin into ½ cup cold water. After the gelatin blooms, add 1½ cups boiling water and dissolve. Add the can of condensed milk. Stir and let cool. Pour cooled milk mixture over Jello blocks in 9×13 pan. Skim off any small bubbles that are created when you pour the condensed milk on the Jello pieces. Chill overnight or at least 3 hours until firm.

5. Cut into blocks or shapes and serve.

(Recipe adapted from The Food Librarian)

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