Stained Glass Jelly
Adapted from Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
-
4-6 packets of coloured jelly-I say 4 to 6 as I like more colours but if you choose 6 colours, you will not use all of the jelly
-
1 x 395g tin of sweetened condensed milk
-
Non stick oil spray
-
3.5 titanium gelatine leaves (or in the U.S. you can get packets of unflavoured gelatine, you will need 2 packets)
-
1.5 cups water
-
A metal or plastic square or rectangle mold. I used a 21x21cms square baking tin
Step 1 - Spray the inside of plastic containers-use as many containers as you have packets of coloured jelly. In a cup, measure 250mls/1 cup of boiling water with each packet of jelly and stir briskly until smooth and all jelly crystals are dissolved. You could do this with fresh fruit juice which is probably what Bompas and Parr would advise but I was lacking in time. Cool the jelly mix and then place lids on top of these containers and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight until firm (this will set firmer than normal as you are only using 1 cup of water instead of 2).
2a). If using gelatine leaves, soften the leaves in cold water and squeeze out the excess water. Place the sweetened condensed milk and 1.5 cups of water in a small saucepan on the stovetop and heat gently and once warm, add the softened gelatine leaves and stir until melted and combined. Do not boil. Cool this mixture. I was in a hurry so I cooled in in a bowl set on top of a bowl of ice cubes below.
2b) If using powdered gelatine, sprinkle 2 envelopes unflavoured gelatin into 1/2 cup cold water. After the gelatin blooms, add 1 cup boiling water and dissolve. Add the can of condensed milk. Stir and cool.
Step 3 - As the milk mixture is cooling, spray a metal or plastic square or rectangular mold with non stick spray. Run a knife through the coloured jellies to create small squares. Gently place the squares in the larger mold tossing them gently with hands to distribute the colours. Once the milk mixture is completely cool but still liquid, pour this over the coloured jelly pieces and refrigerate overnight. I didn't quite wait long enough so some of mine didn't come out exactly perfectly and it just needed more time in the fridge. When you unmold the jelly onto a surface, be sure to oil the surface so that the jelly doesn't stick to it. Slice into squares and serve.