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The holidays offer endless possibilities for gelatin molds – think eggnog, pumpkin, apple cider, and cranberries. Cranberries? Yes please! Delightful and tart, I associate cranberries with turkey and cosmopolitans. This boozy gelatin, based on the classic cosmo, combines 100% cranberry juice with my favorite holiday flavors – ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. And booze. If you’re inclined to mix drinks at home, the ginger-spice simple syrup transforms cocktails into dazzling little liquid celebrations.
Recipe for ginger-spice simple syrup*
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh ginger
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 3 whole star anise
- 1 small whole nutmeg
Combine water with sugar in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. When sugar dissolves, remove from heat and add ginger, cinnamon, anise, and nutmeg. Cover pan and let sit overnight. In the morning, strain the syrup and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Should last a few months.
*Recipe adapted from here (epicurious.com)
Cranberry Ginger-Spice Martini (recipe for 3.5 cups)
- 2 packets Knox gelatin
- 1 cup water (for blooming)
- 3/4 cup cranberry juice (I use 100% cranberry juice, but if using a blend with added sugar, consider adjusting the sugar)
- 1 cup ginger-spice simple syrup
- ½ cup vodka (better vodka equals better gelatin mold!)
- ¼ cup triple sec (I used my new favorite Paula’s Texas Orange Premium Liqueur)
Put 1 cup of cold water in a medium bowl and sprinkle the 2 packets of gelatin on top of the water. Set bowl aside.
Put cranberry juice in small sauce pan, and put on medium heat. Upon almost boiling, remove from heat and add to the bloomed gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in ginger-spice syrup and alcohol. Pour mixture into mold(s). Put in refrigerator until set.
Top layer (optional)
Since I had this seasonal gelatin mold to play with, I added a creamy top layer. Here’s what I used:
- 1 packet gelatin
- 1 cup water (½ cup for blooming gelatin, ½ cup for boiling)
- ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
Put ½ cup of water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Set bowl aside. Bring ½ cup water to boil and remove from heat. Pour hot water over bloomed gelatin, stir until fully dissolved. Stir in sweetened condensed milk. Pour mixture into mold and put in refrigerator. Once creamy layer is almost set, pour in cranberry mixture.
Since 2010 I’ve been experimenting with pumpkin panna cottas – while most tasted alright, they never turned out the way I wanted. Even the mold seen here turned out strange – notice how some cream separated from the pumpkin? Oh well – it still tasted good.
I finally decided to let go of my nagging pumpkin panna cotta perfectionism and post my favorite – Cardamom Pumpkin with Cognac. To create this mold, I adapted this Mark Bittman recipe published in the New York Times by adding a cardamom simple syrup and cognac. By the way, have I mentioned how much I adore cardamom? It’s a shame many American’s have yet to discover what South Asians have known for centuries – cardamom is a distinctly lovely spice that takes deserts to an entirely different level of, well, spicy fantasticness. The combination of cardamom, pumpkin, cream, and cognac tasted like a unique boozy pumpkin pie without the crust.
Recipe for Cardamom Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2-Tbsp. whole cardamom pods
Combine water with sugar in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. When the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and add cardamom pods. Cover pan and let sit overnight. In the morning strain the syrup and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Recipe for 4-cups
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup pureed pumpkin
- ½ cup cardamom simple syrup (see above)
- ¼ cup Cognac (a nice brandy will also work here)
In a medium-sized bowl, sprinkle the packet of gelatin on top of ¾ cup milk. Set aside for 5 minutes. Using a blender, blend the cardamom simple syrup, cream, pumpkin, and cognac. After blending, put mixture in a small saucepan over medium heat (Do not boil). Once steam starts to come off of pumpkin mixture, pour the mixture into the bowl with gelatin and milk. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Pour into mold(s), and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours.
So many Halloween gelatin possibilities, and so little time… Here’s a re-post of past deliciously disgusting boozy gelatin molds.
From October 2010:
Needless to say, Halloween is a fantastic time of year for gelatin molds. My goal was to create tasty (but disgusting looking) desserts from scratch using no food coloring. Overwhelmed with yummy/revolting possibilities, I only had time and money to pull off a few. Except for the Bloody Mary heart (which tasted bland to me), they were a hit at parties. These great Halloween molds can be found on ebay.
Raspberry Cream with Cognac and Raspberry Syrup
Recipe for 5.25 cups
- 3 packets Knox gelatin
- 1 cup water (for blooming gelatin)
- 1 ½ cup water (for boiling)
- 1 cup puréed fresh raspberries, seeds strained (approx. 2 cup whole)
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup cognac
Put 1 cup of water in a large bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top. Set aside. Put water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a low boil. Remove from heat and add to the bloomed gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in raspberry purée, sweetened condensed milk, and cognac. Pour into mold(s). Put in refrigerator until set, at least 4 hours.
To remove gelatin, put mold(s) into a bowl or sink full of warm water for a few seconds. After removing from water, gently shake the mold side to side. When the gelatin jiggles away from the edges of the mold, put plate on top of mold and flip over. If gelatin does not come out, try repeating the process or run a knife around the edge. Be careful not to melt or damage the gelatin in the process.
Raspberry Syrup (adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman)
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
Combine raspberries, cornstarch, sugar, and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until syrup thickens. Strain. Spoon over set gelatin mold.
Bloody Mary Heart
Recipe for 2 cups
- 1 packet Knox gelatin
- ¼ cup water
- Juice of ½ lemon (zest reserved)
- 1 ¼ cups tomato juice
- ½ cup vodka
- 1 ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 4 dashes tabasco sauce
Put 1/2 cup of vodka in a small bowl and sprinkle the packet of gelatin on top. Set bowl aside. Put water and lemon juice a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a low boil. Remove from heat and add lemon zest. Let stew for 10-minutes. Strain and add to the vodka and gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce and tabasco sauce. Pour into mold(s). Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours.
To remove gelatin, put mold(s) into a bowl or sink full of warm water for a few seconds. After removing from water, gently shake the mold side to side. When the gelatin jiggles away from the edges of the mold, put plate on top of mold and flip over. If gelatin does not come out, try repeating the process or run a knife around the edge. Be careful not to melt or damage the gelatin in the process.
Riga Mortis Hand – Blackberry and cream with crème de mûre
Recipe for 4 cups
- 2 and ¼ packets Knox gelatin
- ½ cup water (for blooming gelatin)
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup puréed fresh blackberries, seeds strained (approx. 1 ½ cup whole)
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup crème de mûre
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
For blooming, put ½ cup of water in a large bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top. Set bowl aside. Put water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a low boil. Remove from heat and add to the bloomed gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in blackberry purée, sweetened condensed milk, crème de mûre, and vanilla. Pour into mold(s). Put in refrigerator until set, at least 4 hours.
To remove gelatin, put mold(s) into a bowl or sink full of warm water for a few seconds. After removing from water, gently shake the mold side to side. When the gelatin jiggles away from the edges of the mold, put plate on top of mold and flip over. If gelatin does not come out, try repeating the process or run a knife around the edge. Be careful not to melt or damage the gelatin in the process.
I had fantastic plans for this year’s Valentine’s Day gelatin mold – it was going to be the gelatinous exemplification of my disillusioned feelings towards this holiday, while paying tribute an amazing band that wrote at least 69 of my favorite love songs. However, since the super boozy gelatin of my imagination requires a great deal of work (including my friend Matt’s assistance in using a kitchen floor vacuum former), it will not be completed in time for V-Day. Therefore, I’m re-posting last year’s popular chocolate and strawberry panna cotta instead.
Here are some fun variations for this recipe:
- If you are not a fan of intense dark chocolate, reduce the baking cocoa to ¼ cup.
- Add two tablespoons of your favorite liqueur to liven things up. An orange or raspberry liqueur would nicely compliment the chocolate.
- Replace strawberries with raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries. Orange or tangerine juice would work as well.
- Instead of adding a fruit layer, make a blackberry syrup or strawberry coulis.
- Instead of having two layers, add ¼ of pureed and strained berries to the chocolate panna cotta. Reduce heaving whipping cream to 1 ¾ cups.
- Add a ½ cup of a flavored simple syrup (see chocolate cardamom panna cotta), reduce milk and cream by ¼ cup each.
Strawberry top layer (Recipe for 1 ¾ cups)
- One packet Knox gelatin
- ¼ cup water (for blooming)
- ½ cup water (for boiling)
- ¼ cup sugar (or to taste)
- 1 cup pureed strawberries, seeds strained (NOTE: it is very important to strain the seeds! Otherwise, they will sink to the bottom of the mold, and show up on the surface. Not pretty!)
Put ¼ cup of cold water in a medium bowl and sprinkle 1 packet of gelatin on top of the water. Set bowl aside.
Put water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a low boil until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add to the bloomed gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in pureed strawberries. Pour mixture into mold(s). Put in refrigerator until almost set. It should stick to your fingers when slightly touched.
Chocolate Panna Cotta (Recipe for 2.5 cups)
- One packet Knox gelatin
- ½ cup whole milk (for blooming gelatin)
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup baking cocoa powder
Sprinkle the packet of gelatin on top of ½ cup cold milk. Set aside for 5 minutes.
In a small saucepan heat up cream and sugar. Add cocoa a little bit at a time and stir thoroughly. If clumps of cocoa remain, strain to remove. Once sugar dissolves, pour over the bloomed gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Refrigerate until not set, but cool. Pour into mold(s) and refrigerate for 4 hours.
To remove gelatin, put mold into a bowl or sink full of hot water for a few seconds. After removing from hot water, gently shake the mold side to side. Put plate on top of mold and flip over. If gelatin does not come out, try repeating the process.
The holidays offer endless possibilities for gelatin molds – think eggnog, pumpkin, apple cider, and cranberries. Cranberries? Yes please! Delightful and tart, I associate cranberries with turkey and cosmopolitans. This boozy gelatin, based on the classic cosmo, combines 100% cranberry juice with my favorite holiday flavors – ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. And booze. If you’re inclined to mix drinks at home, the ginger-spice simple syrup transforms cocktails into dazzling little liquid celebrations.
Recipe for ginger-spice simple syrup*
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh ginger
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 3 whole star anise
- 1 small whole nutmeg
Combine water with sugar in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. When sugar dissolves, remove from heat and add ginger, cinnamon, anise, and nutmeg. Cover pan and let sit overnight. In the morning, strain the syrup and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Should last a few months.
*Recipe adapted from here (epicurious.com)
Cranberry Ginger-Spice Martini (recipe for 3.5 cups)
- 2 packets Knox gelatin
- 1 cup water (for blooming)
- 3/4 cup cranberry juice (I use 100% cranberry juice, but if using a blend with added sugar, consider adjusting the sugar)
- 1 cup ginger-spice simple syrup
- ½ cup vodka (better vodka equals better gelatin mold!)
- ¼ cup triple sec (I used my new favorite Paula’s Texas Orange Premium Liqueur)
Put 1 cup of cold water in a medium bowl and sprinkle the 2 packets of gelatin on top of the water. Set bowl aside.
Put cranberry juice in small sauce pan, and put on medium heat. Upon almost boiling, remove from heat and add to the bloomed gelatin. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in ginger-spice syrup and alcohol. Pour mixture into mold(s). Put in refrigerator until set.
Top layer (optional)
Since I had this seasonal gelatin mold to play with, I added a creamy top layer. Here’s what I used:
- 1 packet gelatin
- 1 cup water (½ cup for blooming gelatin, ½ cup for boiling)
- ¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
Put ½ cup of water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Set bowl aside. Bring ½ cup water to boil and remove from heat. Pour hot water over bloomed gelatin, stir until fully dissolved. Stir in sweetened condensed milk. Pour mixture into mold and put in refrigerator. Once creamy layer is almost set, pour in cranberry mixture.
The Modern Gelatina 