Once upon a time, in a far, far away frat house, your least favorite childhood dessert was presented to you. Glowing like rows of psychedelic connect four, Dixie cups filled to the brim with gelatinous goop lined trays smelling vaguely of vodka and Red No. 40. This was your first (and hopefully last) experience with Jell-O shots.
With Fourth of July just around the corner, what better way to celebrate the Independence of this great nation than by reinventing your worst partying memory? It's what our Founding Fathers would have wanted. These five Jell-O shots might just be your cocktail of choice from here on out:
Some quick math before getting started:
To make these shots, they need to be solid enough to hold their shape. That being said, the perfect math for these Jell-O shots is 1 cup of liquor + 1 cup of non-alcoholic liquid + 2 envelopes or 5 1/2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin.
Some tools you will need:
To make the most beautiful Jell-O shots ever, you won't want to use your typical ice cube tray. Silicon ice cube trays come in an array of sizes and shapes, for these shot bites a perfect square mold was used but the possibilities are endless.
Each recipe below yields approximately 15 shot bites.
1. Greyhound Shot Bites
What You Need:
1 cup of gin
1 cup of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice sweetened with one teaspoon of simple syrup
5 1/2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin
What You Need to Do:
Pour your cup of sweetened grapefruit juice into a flat-bottomed pot over your stove.
To soften the gelatin, sprinkle it over your grapefruit juice and let it sit for five minutes. Note: the gelatin will ripple the juice; this is normal and kind of looks cool.
While you're waiting for your gelatin to soften, spray your ice cube tray with a non-stick cooking spray. Just a quick one-second spritz is great, as you don't want cooking spray puddles at the bottom of the tray.
After five minutes, heat your grapefruit juice on low heat for approximately 3-5 minutes (do NOT let the mixture boil) whisking the mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. You'll know when the gelatin is dissolved when you tilt the pan and there are no granules sticking to the bottom. They kind of look like sugar—when this goes away you're ready to mix in your booze.
Stir and pour into your prepped trays.
Place in fridge overnight and when ready to serve pop them out!
If they are sticking just take a thin, sharp knife and cut along the edges.
2. Classic Mojito Shot Bites
What You Need:
1 cup of white rum
1 bushel of fresh mint leaves
4 limes, juiced (approximately 4 tablespoons of lime juice)
1 tablespoon of simple syrup
3/4 cup of seltzer water
What You Need to Do:
Pour your seltzer water, lime-juice and simple syrup into a flat-bottomed pot over your stove.
To soften the gelatin, sprinkle it over your seltzer mixture and let it sit for five minutes. Note: the gelatin will ripple the juice; this is normal and kind of looks cool.
While you're waiting for your gelatin to soften, spray your ice cube tray with a non-stick cooking spray. Just a quick one-second spritz is great, as you don't want cooking spray puddles at the bottom of the tray. In each tray-well, place pinches of chopped or whole mint.
After five minutes, heat your seltzer and juice on low heat for approximately 3-5 minutes (do NOT let the mixture boil) whisking the mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. You'll know when the gelatin is dissolved when you tilt the pan and there are no granules sticking to the bottom. They kind of look like sugar—when this goes away you're ready to mix in your booze.
Stir and pour into your prepped trays that have mint in them.
Place in fridge overnight and when ready to serve pop them out!
If they are sticking just take a thin, sharp knife and cut along the edges.
3. Blueberry Lemonade Shot Bites
What You Need:
1 cup of vodka 1/2 cup of wild blueberries (they can be frozen)
2 lemons, juiced (approximately 6 tablespoons of lime juice)
1 tablespoon of simple syrup
3/4 cup of water
What You Need to Do:
Pour your water, lemon juice and simple syrup into a flat-bottomed pot over your stove.
To soften the gelatin, sprinkle it over your lemonade mixture and let it sit for five minutes. Note: the gelatin will ripple the juice; this is normal and kind of looks cool.
While you're waiting for your gelatin to soften, spray your ice cube tray with a non-stick cooking spray. Just a quick one-second spritz is great, as you don't want cooking spray puddles at the bottom of the tray. In each tray-well, place 3-5 blueberries.
After five minutes, heat your lemonade on low heat for approximately 3-5 minutes (do NOT let the mixture boil) whisking the mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. You'll know when the gelatin is dissolved when you tilt the pan and there are no granules sticking to the bottom. They kind of look like sugar—when this goes away you're ready to mix in your booze.
Stir and pour into your prepped trays that have blueberries.
Place in fridge overnight and when ready to serve pop them out!
If they are sticking just take a thin, sharp knife and cut along the edges.
4. Cucumber Cilantro Shot Bites
What You Need:
1 cup of gin 3/4 cup of freshly juiced cucumber juice sweetened with one teaspoon of simple syrup
4 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 bushel of cilantro
5 1/2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin
What You Need to Do:
Pour your cucumber juice and lemon juice into a flat-bottomed pot over your stove.
To soften the gelatin, sprinkle it over your juice and let it sit for five minutes. Note: the gelatin will ripple the juice; this is normal and kind of looks cool.
While you're waiting for your gelatin to soften, spray your ice cube tray with a non-stick cooking spray. Just a quick one-second spritz is great, as you don't want cooking spray puddles at the bottom of the tray. In each tray-well, place a pinch of chopped cilantro.
After five minutes, heat your juice on low heat for approximately 3-5 minutes (do NOT let the mixture boil) whisking the mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. You'll know when the gelatin is dissolved when you tilt the pan and there are no granules sticking to the bottom. They kind of look like sugar—when this goes away you're ready to mix in your booze.
Stir and pour into your prepped trays that have blueberries.
Place in fridge overnight and when ready to serve pop them out!
If they are sticking just take a thin, sharp knife and cut along the edges.
5. Strawberry Daiquiri Shot Bites
What You Need:
1 cup of white rum
1 cup of freshly juiced wild strawberries, they should be quite sweet but if you want a bit more sugar add half a teaspoon of simple syrup
4 tablespoons of lime juice
5 1/2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin
What You Need to Do:
Pour your strawberry and lime juice into a flat-bottomed pot over your stove.
To soften the gelatin, sprinkle it over your juice and let it sit for five minutes. Note: the gelatin will ripple the juice; this is normal and kind of looks cool.
While you're waiting for your gelatin to soften, spray your ice cube tray with a non-stick cooking spray. Just a quick one-second shot is enough, as you don't want cooking spray puddles at the bottom of the tray.
After five minutes, heat your juice on low heat for approximately 3-5 minutes (do NOT let the mixture boil) whisking the mixture until the gelatin is completely dissolved. You'll know when the gelatin is dissolved when you tilt the pan and there are no granules sticking to the bottom. They kind of look like sugar—when this goes away you're ready to mix in your booze.
Stir and pour into your prepped trays.
Place in fridge overnight and when ready to serve pop them out!
If they are sticking just take a thin, sharp knife and cut along the edges.
And there you have it, your worst college memories reimagined.
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