Sunday, April 20, 2008

Rainbow Jello

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This is a fairly time-consuming recipe, but it's totally worth it at the end, especially if you have kids. You can do this in rainbow colors, or customize colors to your event -- red and green for Christmas; orange and yellow for Thanksgiving; green, yellow and purple for Mardi Gras; purple and yellow for LSU tailgating. I went with rainbow colors today. The store was out of blue jello, so I bought some nasty little kids' squeeze bottles of blue punch, and used one of those with unflavored gelatin for the blue layer. It worked.

You can make this in whatever shape pan you want. Bundt pans make a particularly attractive mold, or you can make it in a square or rectangular pan and then cut it into individual squares for serving.

Brad suggested I make purple and yellow ones with vodka for tailgating next football season! Oh, baby!

Rainbow Jello

Small boxes of Jello, in rainbow colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, or whatever colors you want)
Cool whip, sour cream or plain yogurt

Grease a pan with baking spray. Clear out a level spot in the refrigerator. Put the prepared pan in the refrigerator to chill.

Add one packet of Jello to 1 cup of boiling water. Stir 2 to 3 minutes to dissolve completely. Pour 2/3 cup of the Jello into the prepared pan, and chill for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, add enough Cool Whip to the remaining Jello to make 2/3 cup. Stir to completely melt the Cool Whip. When first layer has set for 15 minutes, carefully pour Jello/Cool Whip mixture over it, and chill for 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining colors. Once all layers have been poured, allow to chill for at least 2 hours. Unmold onto a serving platter, if desired, or cut into squares and serve.

Note: The way I did this was to mix up the next color as soon as I poured the first layer of the previous color. For example, as soon as I poured the first layer of yellow jello, I heated up water and mixed up the green jello. Once it was dissolved, I poured 2/3 cup of the green jello into another measuring cup, then stirred in the Cool Whip to the rest of it. You need three measuring cups to do it this way. That gives it some time to cool down a little before it's time to pour it into the pan, but not so much time that it begins to set up too much to pour.

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39 comments:

glamah16 said...

Wow. I imagine it took a lot of work , but he results are great.

parsnipsaplenty said...

That's gorgeous! I should make it to take to the next Pride meeting. :)

Vida said...

Hello, this looks superb!! Clever to use clear and opaque colours!!! I have been called a Restaurant Slut but food slut has to beat that!! Vida

Cindy said...

This looks amazing! I can only imagine all the time put into this. I absolutely adore jello! This reminds me of when my dad used to layer jello in clear glasses for me when I was younger and it was such a fun treat!

grace said...

wowza, that's purdy. :)

i don't know if i have the kitchen stamina to make this, but i sure admire you for doing it.

and i must say, brad's suggestion is a good one. :)

Mumsy said...

My mom used to make this when I was a little kid! I forgot all about it. My kids would love this!

Jules said...

This looks fab!

Lori said...

One of my favorite things to eat in the summer! Looks fantastic. It's not hard but boy does it take a lot of time. Yours looks perfect!

Tori said...

that looks delicious, my mom used to make it for christmas and used sour cream, but cool whip sounds dreaaaaaamy!

Erin @ Two More Seconds said...

This brings up so many memories of my childhood! I don't think I ever realized (or thought about) how much work it is!

Brittany said...

Oh my god. I am a little girl again!
Ecxept when I was a kid they didn't have all of those cool colors available. Gorgeous!

Mari said...

That's just plain awesome!

christine. said...

totally brings me back to childhood. my aunt use to make this with condensed milk in the layers instead of the cool whip. this is the only way i'll eat jello nowadays.

Unknown said...

I love Ribbon Jello
It is my favorite dish for the holiday's my grandmother used to make it all the time... it tastes soooooo good

Anonymous said...

The many-layered alcoholic jello mold was a regular fixture at our tailgating parties back in school, so I can vouch for how awesome this would be decked out in school colors with a secret ingredient or two!

Anonymous said...

this looks so good!!! i had it at a party once.. the woman who made it used dream whip... it was delicious!!!

Cheryl said...

I LOVE this jello. I've made it once and it turned out awesome. My family, friends, and kiddos thought it was beautiful and tasted great.

Thank you for posting this! Will do this again :)

Another Cheryl

Yvo Sin said...

this is awesome. how much alcohol? i'm not that good with jello shots and the like.

what's it taste like?

alisa said...

Hi Cheryl:

Thanks for all the comments!

I can't believe you MADE that jello!!!!! It looks like those rainbow acrylic jewelry the youngsters are wearing these days. I'm so envious of your SKILLS!<3

Rochelle said...

Thanks, the kids LOVED this when we had our colors of the rainbow playdate!

Anonymous said...

Your Jell-o looks amazing! I'm definitely going to be making this soon. I just found your blog today, it rocks, I will definitely be back.

shazzam said...

that looks AMAZING! it's smart and beautiful with layers thin. hopefully, i can pull it off someday!

sarah @ life {sweet} life said...

Stopping in from Spearmint Baby...LOVE this idea! I must try it, though I'm sure it won't turn out quite as I'd hope...but worth a shot, eh? Thanks for the directions!

Anonymous said...

was the orange skipped because only 5 colors were used in this? id really like to know

Cheryl said...

Orange is in there, I just didn't let the red layer set long enough before I did the red/white layer after it, so it's kind of muddied.

Tasha said...

Did you use a 9x13 pan?

Cheryl said...

I used a 9x9, actually, but I've made it in the past with a 9x13. I think 9x9 works better because each layer is thicker, so you get more of a distinct rainbow effect.

Anonymous said...

why dont u use 2 cups of water like the jello says?

Cheryl said...

Because it needs to be thicker, like Jello Jigglers, so it can be a finger food.

erica binx said...

I am going to try making this either tonight or tomorrow night, and scared mine won't turn out all pretty! lol wish me luck! Oh and I'm making them in mini loaf pans so I hope it turns out good!

Anonymous said...

Wow! I just came across this while I was searching for some nice rainbow Jell-o! Can you tell me about how much Cool Whip you used? I just don't want to have to run to the store suddenly if I don't have too :-) I can't wait to try my own - thanks for the walkthrough!

Anonymous said...

is it also necessary to have spray it with baking spray? can i make it without?

Cheryl said...

Sorry it took me so long to comment back. I was out of town most of the past week.

The amount of cool whip, etc. you stir in is up to you. I think I added about 1/4 cup to each color, perhaps a bit more. You really can't mess it up. The more you add, the paler the color will be and the more contrast you'll have between layers.

As for the cooking spray, I guess it's not necessary, but it does make the jello release much more easily.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I was wondering when you say chill it for 15 minutes, is it being put in the fridge, freezer, or just left at room temperature? Thanks!

Cheryl said...

In the fridge! :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for all your responses and your help! I did do a trial run of it the other day, and you're right! It's so easy and very difficult to mess up! Even though I saw alot of other recipes that featured Rainbow Jello I would like to give you the credit for the nice walkthrough. Would it be possible for me to add your link into my blog?
I won't be writing up the recipe on my blog for a few more days, as I intend to make rainbow jello with pastel colors (more cool whip) for Easter! Wish me luck!

Glory said...

Beautiful blog! I've been searching for ideas for a rainbow themed birthday party, and I may just have to make this!
May I please use one of the photos from this post as part of an inspiration board I'll be posting on my blog, www.glorioustreats.blogspot.com
Of course I'll clearly link back to you.
Please respond when you can.
Thanks!

Cheryl said...

Yes, please! By all means feel free to use the images and link to me. This is such a fun recipe, and I'm thrilled to know that you'll be using it for a rainbow birthday party. Do me a favor and send me the link when you do. I'd love to see pictures!

Glory said...

Thanks so much Cheryl! Here is the link to the inspriatoin board I used your photo in, http://glorioustreats.blogspot.com/2010/05/party-planning-rainbows-and-race-cars.html