Christmas jello

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Christmas jello

It’s just gelatin. But with a little imagination, the common gelatin can be a visual and culinary delight. The idea came from a Goldilocks product that my family has been enjoying for years. But I wanted to make my own using a more Pinoy flavor. I decided to stick with the basic red-and-green Christmas motif as well. This is what I served for dessert last Saturday evening. We had a few friends over for dinner–still part of our 13th wedding anniversary celebration.

But, first, what exactly is gelatin? For starters, it is not derived from plants.

Gelatin (also gelatine) is a translucent brittle solid, colorless or slightly yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue.

It is a protein product derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen extracted from skin, bones, cartilage, ligaments, etc. The natural molecular bonds between individual collagen strands are broken down into a form that rearranges more easily. Gelatin melts when heated, and solidifies when cooled again. Together with water it forms a semi-solid colloidal gel.

On a commercial scale, gelatin is made from by-products of the meat and leather industry, mainly pork skins, pork and cattle bones, or split cattle hides… [Wikipedia]

Gelatin is so easy to digest that it is commonly given to convalescing people who are still unable to tolerate solid table food. Not kidding. It really is a common hospital food. But it can also be a kid’s snack or a fancy dessert.

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Comments

21 Comments on "Christmas jello"

  1. OzyChris on Fri, 13th Oct 2006 11:23 am 

    Sassy, this Christmas Jello looks great.

    This year I’m having my first Filipino Christmas ever. It’s the first Christmas back for my wife for 31 years. So we are looking for Pinoy Christmas recipes.

    Do you have a recipe for traditional hot tsokolate? Any other tradtional Pinoy Christmas recipes would be good!

  2. Connie on Sat, 14th Oct 2006 7:40 pm 

    OzyChris, you mean Antonio Pueo chocolate? I can post one. Never thought of it cause I always thought it was just a matter of melting and simmering :razz: But I will. We have Pueo in the pantry. :)

  3. Cathy Ong on Sat, 11th Nov 2006 8:31 am 

    Hi!

    I tried cooking your Christmas Jello but somewhere along the way I made a mistake in cooking the Almond and unflavored gelatin with kakang gata mixture + 1 c water:oops:. Mine came out very sticky like glue:sad:. And when I tried to chill it it didn’t settle down and solidify::lol: did I over or undercook it? What is the right consistency before adding the cubed gelatin? Please Help me as I will try to cook it once again. Thanks in advance

  4. Connie on Sat, 11th Nov 2006 1:02 pm 

    Cathy, different brands of gelatin require different amounts of liquid. In my experience, Knox requires less liquid than Alsa. So, you might want to reduce the liquid. One tip: use as little liquid as possible–you can always melt the firm gelatin and add more liquid if it turns out too hard.

  5. cathy ong on Tue, 14th Nov 2006 4:58 pm 

    Hi Connie, so nice to hear from you. So you mean the reason mine didn’t solidify is because of too much water? Also what should be the consistency of the gelo when I added the coconut cream and water? What happened to me was while waiting for it to boil, stirring constantly, my mixture started to stick together like glue to the point that my stirrer got stuck. Did I over cook it? Should I have stopped while the mixture is still in liquid form?

    Also, when you say thick whipping cream, is it the same as nestle all purpose cream? If not, where do I buy it? Thanks so much.

    cathy ong

  6. Connie on Wed, 15th Nov 2006 2:45 am 

    Too much water is one possible reason.

    “Also what should be the consistency of the gelo when I added the coconut cream and water?”

    The gelatin is till in granule form prior to adding the coconut cream and water.

    “my mixture started to stick together like glue to the point that my stirrer got stuck. Did I over cook it?”

    Either that or there was too little liquid. Or both. Or maybe you did not dissolve the gelatin in liquid first before you heated them? You have to dissolve the gelatin in the liquid by stirring before heating.

    “Should I have stopped while the mixture is still in liquid form?”

    The mixture should be of pouring consistency.

  7. rhodora on Sun, 24th Dec 2006 9:10 am 

    gelatin - a common hospital food - yes, true. a doctor neighbor of ours actually recommended ‘jelly-ace’ to me when i had diarrhea sometime ago. it helped me go through the ordeal without having to starve from not eating regular meals for at least a couple of days.

  8. Angel on Sun, 19th Aug 2007 11:25 am 

    Hello Connie.
    Do you know how to make Black Sambo?

  9. Nene Cruz on Wed, 12th Dec 2007 12:01 am 

    connie, do you have a recipe of sisig and rice putong puti ? if so please include in your lists of recipes.

    thanks,

    nene

  10. Pabs on Thu, 20th Dec 2007 4:08 pm 

    I join nene in asking you to please include sisig in your list of recipes. thanks

  11. lv lorenzo on Sun, 9th Mar 2008 2:08 pm 

    Ms. Connie, youn bang unflavored galatine ay young nasa knox (sm.box)na 4 na envelope ang laman,. you mean to say 2 box na ito angneed ko para sa recipe na ito?so, bale magiging 8 envelopes bale ang gagamitin ko. pls. help me try ko kasi ito para sa sayonara party bukas parsa sa kumare ko.
    ty!

  12. Connie on Sun, 9th Mar 2008 3:11 pm 

    Angel, no.

    Nene and Pabs, you misunderstand the essence of the blog. This is a blog about what I’ve cooked for my family. I do not decide family meals based on readers’ requests.

    Iv, no. Box means like a box of Alsa.

  13. lv lorenzo on Sun, 9th Mar 2008 3:37 pm 

    ganun ba? kasi ,sori wala nman d2 ng alsa, wala rin akong nakita sa filipino store d2. pero dito sa work ko sa commissary ang meron ay knox, so,bale ang 4 envelopes equivalent to 1 oz (28g)pls.help me kung ano ang dami bale ng unflav…ang need ko.by the way, tyou very much sa reply mo.

  14. Connie on Mon, 10th Mar 2008 4:00 pm 

    Just follow the ratio, Iv, not the weight.

  15. stella on Tue, 11th Mar 2008 1:07 am 

    If I want to use knox instead of alsa, do you know how to substitute that?

  16. Connie on Tue, 11th Mar 2008 12:54 pm 

    Stella, read the instructions on the label. Like I said, follow the ratio for the different kinds of gelatin rather than the weight of the uncooked gelatin.

  17. stella on Thu, 13th Mar 2008 4:23 am 

    Hi Connie, I found the boxed gelatin, but when I tried making it, when I took it off the heat it was already like a thick pudding. So I quickly put it in the refrigerator, and it turned so thick already, so I took it out after a couple of minutes and tried putting in the cubes. Because the cream gelatin mixture was so thck when I tried pushing in the cubes it made the white part looked cracked, and then the cubes melted a little because the white part was not cool enough. Should I add more cream next time? What do you think went wrong? My boyfriend likes this and I want to make it for him. Please help. Thanks Connie.

  18. Connie on Fri, 14th Mar 2008 2:58 am 

    Stella, I can’t guess what went wrong because I wasn’t there. Every box of gelatin has instructions as to how much liquid to add, when to add the content to the water, how high the heat should be and how long to expose it to heat. Any one of those could be the reason.

  19. Marites on Wed, 7th May 2008 5:32 pm 

    i followed your instructions but still mt mixture were very sticky…my mothers friend done this many years ago and cant remember how to do this but she that coconut cream was not included on the ingredients…but any way ill try again coz i really like this gelatin so much…but again what is the tricks regarding the mixture not to be sticky like paste

  20. Chie on Mon, 2nd Jun 2008 3:03 pm 

    Miss Connie, in your recipe it is indicated that we need coconut milk. How long will the shelf life be pag may kakanggata? uhhmmm instead of whipping cream can I use the nestle all-purpose cream? another question po hehe … wont we be needing condensed milk para sweet? Thanks

  21. Connie on Tue, 3rd Jun 2008 10:05 am 

    Marites, there’s no trick except the right proportion between liquid and galatin.

    Chie, I don’t know, it gets consumed fast in our house. :) Re condensed milk. Sugar is listed among the ingredients.




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