Rainbow Jell-O Shot Cake (Adult Party Treat)

Oh my goodness where have we been!?!? We've neglected the poor blog here for a while. We have been busy though. Crazy schedules, summer holidays, no time. No time at all. Back in June I had a track meet for the KC Corporate Challenge and so that took up a good week of June. Prior to that were races and a myriad of other things like trap shooting for KC Corporate Challenge as well.

 So back in mid-April, I ran Color Me Rad 5k, by myself...since my friends are lame and don't like to run. ;)

Color Me Rad: April 2013

Then a week later I ran Warrior Dash 5k Mud Run with 3 great people. Joe and I pretty much stuck together through the race and were ahead of Becca and Amy. Was chilly in the 40's but we did it.

Warrior Dash: April 2013

Then in early May Mom and I walked the Mother's Day 5k in my city. It was Mom's first 5k and a celebration of losing over 100 lbs. :) She rocks!!

Mother's Day 5k: May 2013

Then in late May I competed in the KC Corporate Challenge trap competition at Smithville Lake Missouri. I shocked myself and won 2nd place in my division for the women. How cool is that!!!??? And to think I had only practiced for 3 months. Next year's goal....1st place.

KCCC Trap: 2nd Place May 2013

So then in the first week of June we had the KC Corporate Challenge track and field meets. I competed in the 400m, the 800m, the 1 mile run, and the 4x400m relay. Here is my awesome relay team. We came in 5th in our division but heck, we did awesome in my book.

KC Corporate Challenge

So with me being busy with races, meets, and competitions Mike has been busy running around at work training and covering during the summer season. He, I am sure, is ready for hunting season. We are also looking forward to going to St. Louis to spend time with his family in October for the pig roast. Hope we get to see his folks before then too. Scheduling hasn't worked out quite enough for that recently. He also attended a wedding of a co-worker last weekend. Isn't he handsome?

So all in all it's just been busy and I can't say we have really been cooking a lot of awesome things due to that busy schedule we have maintained for a few months. 

We are also moving in the next couple of weeks so that makes for interesting plans anyway. So we are limited at this point. Soon I will be extremely limited to paper plates and plastic-ware.... 0_o

So, on to the purpose of this post. Jell-O infused with vodka, vanilla ice cream flavored mind you, and then layered upon itself to create a rainbow. 

Of course this requires 7 boxes of gelatin, 6 colors and 1 plain.

Of course this also makes me think, I need a mold - unless everyone wants me to make it in a Power Cat mold. Which of course since all these folks that will be eating it are pretty much from Missouri, it's a resounding "no." So instead, since we will all be at the pool I decided a sand bucket would suffice. Yes, I washed it thoroughly and it was purchased new to boot.

So I have laid out my ingredients all pre-measured to ensure easy start and finish to this monumental task. We have 3 cups of vodka, 4 1/2 cups water, 1 1/8 cup vanilla yogurt, 3 pkgs plain gelatin, 6 packages flavored jell-o in the rainbow colors of ROYGBIV (minus the indigo). Then We have the mold and a saucepan.

So this requires that you go layer by layer. Which I didn't think was terrible. You have a regular red (strawberry) layer, then you have a yogurt red layer, then orange, yellow etc until you reach the last color.

My reds sort of mixed a little, so I knew the top layer was going to look a bit off since I had issue with the amount of time it was taking to set up (20-30 min my patootie).

You have to really do about 2 colors at a time, so make 1, then when you have that set aside, start your next while you wait for your jell-o to set up a little.

Then you end up with 2 or more bowls at any given moment and a measuring cup as well as a bucket full of jell-o firming up....my kitchen was getting a little cramped.

The fun part was when I started the lime jell-o. The smell reminded me of church events and also "Ghostbusters." I know, strange combination of memories, but I can't help but think of Slimer when I see green jell-o with floating globs of vanilla yogurt.

So you alternate layers, plain, then yogurt. It starts stacking up over the course of a few hours like this. Glad I got the big bucket honestly. Didn't think green would be this high already.

By the time I had reached the blue layers I was ready to hit the sack, it was around 11 pm (I always start these things too late, or get the urge to bake at 10pm - why Lord, why!?)

I was getting excited after the blue layer since that meant only 1 layer I had to stay up for. That last vanilla yogurt infused layer I could leave overnight and not worry about.

So upon reaching the purple ending of the night I was ready to leave it in the fridge. I had begun, around the orange layer to set the bucket in the freezer for half of the recommended sitting time for set up so that this would go faster than 6 hours. Honestly it seems to have worked out just fine.

So all in all, it seems to have worked just fine. Once that last purple layer was semi-set in the freezer I pulled that baby out and poured the final layer and placed in the fridge to be forgotten about until morning, where I toted to work to keep in the fridge to prepare for the 1 hour drive out to drop off.

I hope everyone enjoys it.

****NOTE: If you want t make this for kids instead, just substitute the liquor for juice or water instead.***

Rainbow Jell-O Shot Cake

INGREDIENTS:

4 1/2 cups water (divided)

6 - 3 oz pkgs flavored gelatin (6 different colors - remember ROYGBIV)

6 tsp (3 envelopers approx) plain gelatin (like Knox)

3 cups rum or vodka (I used half plain vodka and half vanilla ice cream flavored vodka by Most Wanted)

1 1/8 cup vanilla yogurt (divided)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place bottle of liquor in the freezer for several hours if not overnight before beginning recipe.

2. Lightly spray bundt pan/or chosen mold with non stick cooking spray (get creative with your mold, I used a kids sand bucket purchased new for a pool party - you could use just about any container). Wipe off excess spray with a paper towel. A slight residue should remain, just enough to help unmold the gelatin without affecting the taste or appearance.

3. Pour 3/4 cup water into a saucepan and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the plain gelatin. Allow gelatin to soak for a minute or two. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved (about 5 minutes). Whisk in the first package of flavored gelatin. Whisk for at least 2 minutes, or until completely dissolved.

4. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup of the cold liquor, and stir to combine.

5. Pour 3/4 cup of the gelatin mixture into the prepared mold, and place in refrigerator (or in my case freezer for 10 min). Allow to set for 20-30 minutes, until gelatin is a little firm, but still sticks when touched. VERY IMPORTANT - if the layers set up too much, the next layer won't bond appropriately.

6. Refrigerate the remaining gelatin mixture in bowl for about 5-7 minutes or until slightly thickened and cooled. Gradually stir in 3 tablespoons of yogurt and stir until well blended. **This cooling step is also important - the gelatin must be cooled to room temperature before adding on top of other layers, or the layers will not be well defined.

7. Gently spoon the gelatin/yogurt mixture over set gelatin and return to refrigerator (freezer for 10 min). Refrigerate for 15 minutes or until gelatin is set but not firm (again, it should stick to finger when touched). As the layers progress, the setting time will become shorter as the pan and gelatin becomes colder, and the layers become thinner as more layers are added to the mold.

8. Repeat steps with remaining gelatin flavors, for a total of 12 alternating clear and creamy gelatin layers.

9. After completing all the layers, refrigerate the gelatin mold overnight. To unmold, fill a larger container or clean sink with warm water. With clean fingers, loosen the gelatin around the edges of the mold cavities. Next, dip the mold almost to the edge into the warm water for just a few seconds (10 seconds is usually more than enough). Dry the bottom of the mold with a towel and check the edges to see if they are loose. If not, repeat the dip for just a few more seconds. Place your serving plate on top of the mold and invert.

Your masterpiece is now ready to serve.

(recipe courtesy of Just a Pinch)

Now go out and cook!

Every great inspiration is but an experiment - Charles Ives

It was experiment week in the kitchen. Throwing things together and being bored and missing Mike while he has been out of town.

So between the crazy baking spree I recently went on with beer bread and peanut butter balls I have now made more sugar cookies. Regular this time - well I used rum extract since I'm out of vanilla. Can't really tell when you eat them though. It works.

I made the frosting first, not knowing what I was going to use it on. Brilliant right? Who said genius had to come after the main part of a baked item was created?

So when I was bored I had powdered sugar and softened butter. I then realized, after combining ingredients that I was out of vanilla...well I didn't want to do rum frosting. I just made rum cupcakes not too long ago. I didn't want to do coconut. A lot of people hate coconut. So I looked and found I had vodka, gummy flavored. I thought to myself, hmm I wonder if this would taste good as frosting? I enjoy the gummy vodka by itself as well as mixed in a drink but wasn't sure how it would work as a flavoring. Then again most all extracts are a flavored alcohol basically. Good extracts have alcohol in them. So...in my thinking I figured it would just come out as a gummy flavor. Well, sort of. I had to play with the ratio of vodka to sugar and butter. Added a bit of water here and there to thin out without adding a crap load of alcohol, since this is not a cooked frosting.

I think it turned out well...I added red food dye to give it a gummy kind of feel. (More pink than red - but I'm not going to add that much food coloring). I personally think it tastes more like cotton candy than gummy in frosting form. It's super sweet so just a teaspoon per cookie is enough. From what people that have tasted them for me have said, it's not sicky sweet but it's definitely a "one and done" deal for eating.


So the cookies are pretty basic. They are my mom's super awesome "Christmas Cutout Cookies."

The edges got a bit crispy but still tasty

Recipe:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla. Add milk. Mix well. Combine flour, salt and powder in another bowl. Add flour mixture in batches until dough comes together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out with desired cookie cutters.

(I chose stars for Independence day. Also a good reason for the red coloring for the frosting - I thought of that after I cut out cookies)

Bake at 350 degrees for 6-10 min (depending on your oven - mine is gas and seems to cook things a bit faster than electric ovens I have used.)

Once you set them on a rack to cool you can start making your frosting. The basic frosting I make is 1 stick of butter, 1 lb powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla and a splash of milk for consistency. Add more milk to thin out frosting to obtain a spreading consistency. If you are lactose intolerant, use water.

Once your cookies are cool, start frosting those puppies, or stars in my case.

If you are using the Gummy Vodka recipe, please note 1 TEASPOON is way more than enough frosting for these. Up to 1 1/4 tsp. But no more. If you use more it will be too sweet and in my kitchen Audrey is watching, and a lady NEVER over frosts her cookies. ;)

Audrey watches me cook and bake.
She approves of the pink color

So until next time kids - I think Mike said something about clam chowder....that will hopefully be next. Time for some real food right?