I made some fun 4th of July desserts for our bbq and they were a hit. The first one was a layered jello. I did it the day before and it turned out great. It takes awhile to make, but not hard and was totally worth it. The kids loved it, but im pretty sure some of the dads loved it more. I got the recipe HERE.
Ingredients:
- Two 3 ounce boxes red jello
- Two 3 ounce boxes blue jello (I could only find 6 oz boxes so I just split them in half)
- 4 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin
- One 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- Boiling water & cold water
1. In a medium bowl, mix one box of red jello with 1/2 envelope of unflavored gelatin. Add 1 cup of boiling water and stir to dissolve. Cool to room temperature and pour into a 9×13-inch glass pan. Refrigerate for 15 minutes (make sure that your refrigerator is level, or your jello will come out uneven-looking).
2. While first layer is setting, prepare white layer. In another bowl, mix sweetened condensed milk with 1 cup of boiling water. In a separate small bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin over ½ cup of cold water. Let stand a few minutes and then add ½ cup of boiling water to dissolve the gelatin. Add to the milk mixture and stir to combine. Cool to room temperature. Pour 1 cup of this milk mixture over the first layer of red jello. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. While white layer is setting, prepare blue layer. In a medium bowl, mix one box of blue jello with ½ envelope of unflavored gelatin. Add 1 cup of boiling water and stir to dissolve. Cool to room temperature and pour on top of white layer. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
4. Repeat with red layer, another cup of of the white layer and then finishing with a blue layer on top. Refrigerate for 15 minutes after adding each layer.
5. Let jello set before cutting. I cut it the next day. Use a sharp knife to cut, and then use a metal spatula to slide underneath the jello and scoop out jello squares. (If you don't do the last part the red wont attach one. Get the skinniest metal spatula and rub it hard along the bottom)
Yield: About 40 pieces
The second thing I made was a Trifle Cake and it was SOOOOO good! I got the recipe HERE. It looked really pretty on their website, but mine definitly didn't turn out like that. haha Once you start scooping it ruins it anyway, but this whole thing got eaten down to the bottom. If I could have figured out a way to put the whip cream in better It would have been prettier. Maybe next time. Here is the recipe.
I didn't have one of the fancy trifle bowls, so I just found something simliar in my mother in laws decoration closet.
Ingredients:
- 1 box red velvet cake mix, about 18 ounces (if you can't find red velvet cake use 1 box chocolate cake plus a bottle of red food coloring)
- 1 (16-ounce) tub whipped topping
- 2 pints blueberries
- 1 pint strawberries, tops removed I also cut mine in half for more bite size pieces
Bake the red velvet cake mix according to package directions and allow to cool.
Using a serrated knife cut the red velvet cake into 1 inch square pieces and line the bottom of the trifle bowl with half of the cake squares.
Using a spatula, spread about a 2-inch layer of whipped topping on top of the cake squares. I think using a zip lock back of cake decorating bags to pipe the whipped topping in would have made it prettier.
Layer about 1 1/2 pints of the blueberries on top of whipped topping.
Layer the remaining cake pieces on top of the blueberries forming a second layer of cake.
Using a spatula, spread remaining whipped topping over the cakes pieces.
Decorate the perimeter with the strawberries; placing the strawberries cut side down. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top of the trifle inside the strawberry perimeter.
