Tuesday, June 5, 2012

4th of July Jell-O Shots!



Nothing says AMERICA like mixing booze with Jello. 

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Every fourth of July I throw a pretty kick ass pool party/BBQ at my place and every year I make three different kinds of Jello shots, a red one, a blue one and a white one. They're very patriotic and always the hit of the party.
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So, making Jello shots is fairly easy if you know what you're doing. I'm going to give you the recipe that I do, although keep in mind that you don't have to use the same Jello flavors or boozes that I did. For a super basic recipe, just use vodka.

RED JELL-O SHOT
These shots are delicious and taste like candy. The booze is not a high proof so you can't taste it at all.

                                                  
Ingredients:
-6 oz box of strawberry Jello (or cherry, raspberry or any other red flavor)
-2 cups boiling water
-1 cup Peach Schnapps (ideally you should chill it in the fridge a bit first)
-1 cup cold water 

Directions:
-Stir the Jello powder into the boiling water until fully dissolved.
-Add the cold water and Peach Schnapps.
-Pour into plastic shot cups. 
-Refrigerate until set.
Now, when pouring, I find it easier to add the mixture to a measuring cup. It's a lot easier and neater than doing it from a ladle. There is a debate raging about what the best cups are to use for Jello shots. Some like the little paper Dixie cups because you can just tear them apart for easier consumption but I like the clear plastic ones so you can see the vibrant colors. Whatever you do, don't get the super rigid plastic shot cups because they shatter when you squeeze them. The ones I get are from Smart and Final and I think are listed as condiment cups and come with lids.

BLUE JELL-O SHOT
You can taste the booze a bit more in these. This means they're not as tasty, but they get the job done faster!

Ingredients:
-6 oz box of berry blue Jello (it's really the only blue Jello flavor out there)
-2 cups boiling water
-1 cup UV blue (raspberry flavored vodka)
-1 cup cold water 

Directions:
First off let me say that if you can't find the UV blue, any vodka will work here. I like the UV because it gives the shots an extra blue color and it's a little tastier than regular vodka. Also it's 30 proof so it's nice and strong.

-Stir the Jello powder into the boiling water until fully dissolved.
-Add the cold water and UV blue.
-Pour into plastic shot cups. 
-Refrigerate until set.

WHITE JELL-O SHOT

These are the most difficult shots to make but they taste like Pina Colada and seem to be people's favorite!

Ingredients:
-1 (1 ounce box-4 packets) of unflavored gelatin (Although they do make white Jello that is pina colada flavored, I have yet to find it in stores and seems to only be available online)
-1 and 1/4 cup Pineapple flavored Malibu
-3/4 cup coconut milk
-2 cups boiling water
-1/2 cup sugar

Directions:
If you can't find Pineapple Malibu, just get regular Malibu or another coconut rum. It'll be just as delicious.

-Pour the room temperature rum into a large bowl. 
-Sprinkle the gelatin over the rum and let sit for about 1 minute.
-Add the boiling water while stirring constantly with a fork. Stir until dissolved.
-Add the coconut milk and sugar. Stir.
-Pour into plastic shot cups.
-Refrigerate until set.

If you want to add a little extra flair to your Jello shot presentation, arrange in the shape of an American flag. You can do this on a cookie sheet or any rectangular serving platter. For the white "stars" on the blue Jello shot part of the flag, I simply got a can of whipped cream, put it right up against the shot and gave a quick little squirt. 


And I'm proud to be an American.
Okay that's it for your patriotic and booze filled blog entry. Shoot us a message if you end up making these and let us know how they turned out! Happy 4th everyone!




17 comments:

  1. Cannot wait to consume one of these this year! They always turn out fantastic.

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  2. I will be making these this year. Thanks for the recipes!!!

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  3. How many shots do these make? I wanna buy the shot cups but don't want to have left overs.

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    1. It varies depending on how high you fill the shot cups and if they're the 1.5 ounce cups or the 2.5 ounce cups but mine always make around 200.

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  4. Hi, I want to make the white jello shots for a beach party, we'll be at the beach all day.. I'm worried about the shots being made from milk... ?? If i keep them on ice in the shade will it be okay?? Thanks!!

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    1. I think if you leave them on ice in the shade they should be okay. If the Jello shots get too warm, they will start to revert back to a more liquidy form so that should be a good indicator that you need to keep them cooler. You could also keep them in a cooler and that would probably last you all day. If you can hunt down the pina colada flavored Jello somewhere then you can use that to make white shots and no milk is needed.

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    2. Add rock salt to your ice. I keep jello shots on ice for the week annuall for my college homecoming using this technique.

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  5. Way to celebrate the fourth of July! Jello shots are delicious to get drunk; they could be healthy too by adding some 'special effects' to it. Just float some grapefruits or apples or you could also sink cherries and fruit cocktail, then you can intoxicate your friends by your mouthwatering alcoholic delight.
    Corey@ColonialSpiritsDelivers.com

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    Replies
    1. That's a GREAT idea, Corey! We'll have to try that out this year!

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  6. My white jello shots separated :( what did I do wrong?

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    1. So sorry it's taken this long to respond. I'm not totally sure, as I've never had that happen. Make sure you keep them cool enough, and also follow the instructions for the clear gelatin on the box (make sure you let the gelatin sit on the liquid for a bit instead of just mixing it right away like you do with other Jello!)

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  7. Can u use regular coconut milk out of a carton for the white ones? Let me know! Thanks!!

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    1. The coconut milk I use is usually out of a can. Make sure you get actual coconut milk and not coconut water!

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  8. Could one layer these? :-)

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    1. You can definitely layer them! I'd start with white first, since those are the ones that come out the firmest. Wait for the Jello to almost set completely and then add in the next layer! Best to make sure the next layer is somewhat cooled off before adding or you may slightly melt the layer beneath it which would lead to the colors looking a bit runny when they set!

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  9. Hello and thank you for these recipes!

    I made these for my 2015 fourth of July party and the blue and red ones were a huge HUGE success and were gone quickly. I used the appetizer cups with lids and filled them pretty full and could get approximately 25 shots out of each batch, but you could fill them less and get 30 or so out of each batch. These were pretty low alcohol content for shots (which is exactly what I was going for) and people kept making comments on how tasty they were versus how potent they were. If you're looking for a stronger kick to your shots, you could possibly replace the cup of cold water in each batch with another cup of the liqueur (chilled) or change the liqueur to a straight rum or vodka for a real kick in the pants, but that will affect the sweetness.

    I did have a little trouble with the white shots. I bought Knox unflavored gelatin, Malibu pineapple rum, and a can of unsweetened coconut milk (unsweetened was all I could find in the baking isle). I followed the directions to a T since someone previously posted that they had issues. Everything seemed like it went great when I was pouring the mix in to the shot cups (and they tasted fantastic; I dipped my pinky in and tasted to be sure), but when I checked on them after they had set, they had separated like the previous poster mentioned. The bottom part of the shots were a translucent whitish color, and a small sliver at the top of each shot was a dense, opaque, oily, vivid white section. This scared away all but my most adventurous guests, who said that the shots "weren't bad." This really bummed me out since I had tasted them when they were amazing. I also think that maybe they would have been more popular if I had found sweetened coconut milk at the store or had added extra sugar in the batch.

    Any chance someone can tell me what I did wrong to make them separate? I think next year I'll order the Pina Colada flavored Jell-o from online... Or maybe the OP will help us out and post a "How-To" video to help us baking challenged shot-makers *hint hint wink wink* :)

    Thank you again for this post, I look forward to making these again next year!!!

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  10. This jello shots yummy! Peach and lychee sounds like a great combination. I'm glad your experiment worked out well So I have to say that for the last few of hours i have been hooked by the impressive articles on this website. Keep up the wonderful work and if you want more info about this topic then visit how make jello shots.

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