Buzz
You can incorporate almost any type of fruit into your jelly for a delicious and colorful dessert. Start by washing, chopping, and arranging fresh fruit into a bowl or mold. Next, mix regular agar-agar powder with water, or try making your own vegan gelatin at home. Finally, pour the jelly mixture over the fruit and refrigerate for about 2 hours. Once the jelly has set, simply remove it from the bowl or mold and enjoy!
Ingredients
Fruit Choices
- 200g green grapes
- 200g red grapes
- 200g strawberries
- 100g raspberries
- Other fruits such as bananas, pears, or canned pineapples
Making Jelly with Pre-made Agar Powder
- 1 box of 85g gelatin powder (Jello brand or another brand of your choice)
- 1 cup (240ml) boiling water
- 1 cup (240ml) cold water
Making Jelly with Vegan Agar Powder
- 1.5 teaspoons of agar-agar flakes
- 1 cup (240ml) red grape juice or green apple juice
- 1 cup (240ml) water
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- A few drops of green food coloring (optional)
Steps
Making Jelly with Pre-made Agar Powder
Pour the 85g packet of gelatin into a bowl. Use the entire packet of gelatin in any flavor you prefer. You can opt for Jello brand or any other brand available at your local supermarket.
Add 1 cup (240ml) of boiling water and stir until the powder dissolves. Boil 1 cup of water and pour it into the bowl containing the gelatin. Stir the mixture until the powder is fully dissolved. This usually takes about 2 minutes.
- Use a fork, whisk, or spatula to stir the agar powder.
Add 1 cup (240ml) of cold water to the mixture and stir for a few seconds. The cold water will cool the gelatin mixture to the right temperature and make it thinner. If using canned fruit, you can substitute the cold water with the liquid from the can.
- Since the gelatin has already dissolved, you won't need much time to stir the mixture further.
Select and Arrange the Fruit
Choose 3 or 4 types of fruits that you’d like to use. Your jelly will look more appealing if you select fruits with various colors. For example, you can layer sliced strawberries, green grapes, raspberries, and red grapes. You could also add sliced bananas for a pop of yellow or canned pineapple for a unique flavor.
- If you’re using flavorless agar-agar powder, you don’t need to worry about the flavor combinations. However, if you’re using mango-flavored agar powder, you should pick fruits that pair well with the mango flavor.
- You can adjust the amount of fruit as per your preference, but typically you’ll need around 1kg of fruit for 1 packet of 85gr agar-agar powder.
Avoid using fresh pineapple, kiwi, mango, ginger, papaya, figs, or guava. These fruits prevent the jelly from setting properly. As a result, your jelly will be too soft. However, you won’t face this issue if you use canned pineapple.
- Interesting scientific fact: these fruits contain protease enzymes that interfere with the proteins in agar powder, preventing it from setting!
- If you’re using canned fruits, be sure to drain the juice and use it to make the jelly.
Wash and cut the fruits into small pieces. Place the fruits in a colander and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water. Then, use a knife and cutting board to cut the fruits into bite-sized pieces. If you're using grapes, cut them in half to make them more visually appealing. For strawberries, remove the stems and cut them in half or quarters. For bananas, peel them and slice into rounds.
- Don’t worry about cutting raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries. Simply rinse them and add them to the bowl!
Arrange the fruits in a bowl or jelly mold. Start by layering any fruit you like. If you’re using 200g of strawberries, you can place them all as one layer. Add another layer of different fruit on top of the strawberries, continuing until you run out of fruit. Layering the fruits this way creates an eye-catching final product.
- Make sure not to use a bowl with inward-curving edges, as the jelly won’t slide out when you flip the bowl over.
- The thickness of each fruit layer will depend on the width of the bowl. Choose a bowl according to your preferences—such as a small, deep bowl for thicker layers, or a shallow, wide bowl for thinner layers.
- Don’t worry if you can’t fill the entire bowl with fruit. The jelly mixture will seep between the layers of fruit.
Make Vegan Jelly at Home
Make vegan jelly at home if you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. Traditional Jello and gelatin products from other brands are made from cow or pig ligaments, so if you're vegan, it's best to make your own gelatin substitute. You can use agar-agar, a plant-based alternative that is derived from seaweed.
- Agar-agar flakes can be purchased online or at health food stores.
Pour agar-agar, fruit juice, water, and sugar into a pot and place it on the stove. To make red jelly, you'll need 1.5 teaspoons of agar-agar flakes, 1 cup (240ml) red grape juice, 1 cup (240ml) water, and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. For green jelly, use 1.5 teaspoons of agar-agar flakes, 1 cup (240ml) green apple juice, 1 cup (240ml) water, and 1/4 cup granulated sugar.
- Turn the heat to high so the mixture comes to a boil quickly.
Cook the mixture for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Once the mixture starts to boil evenly, set a timer for 2 more minutes. After 2 minutes, remove the pot from the heat.
- If you're making green jelly, add a few drops of green food coloring at this point.
- There's no need to add food coloring if you're making red jelly.
Pour the jelly mixture into molds and wait for it to set.
Pour the jelly mixture over the fruit. Ensure the jelly covers the fruit completely. Gently shake the bowl to let the jelly settle around the fruit at the bottom.
- Do this regardless of whether you're making traditional or vegan jelly.
Place the jelly bowl in the refrigerator for about 1.5 hours. The cold temperature will help the jelly set. If the jelly hasn't fully set after 1.5 hours, leave it in the fridge for another hour.
- If the jelly hasn't set after 2.5 hours, something may have gone wrong. You might want to try making another batch or ensure your refrigerator is functioning properly.
Invert the bowl onto a plate. At this point, your jelly should easily slide out onto the plate. If you face difficulty, place the jelly bowl in a tray with a little warm water. The warm water will slightly melt the jelly. Once you see the jelly begin to soften, remove the bowl from the hot water and try flipping it onto the plate again. Now, the jelly should slide out smoothly.
- You can see the fruit layers through the semi-transparent jelly. If you can't see the jelly from the outside, you will see the layers once you cut it.
Keep the jelly in the refrigerator until ready to eat. You can enjoy the jelly right away if you like, but if you plan to eat it later, store it in the fridge. To prevent it from drying out, be sure to cover it with a lid or wrap it in plastic wrap. Fruit jelly is perfect for summer parties, holidays, or as a dessert after dinner.
- The jelly will stay fresh for 7-10 days in the refrigerator after it's made.
- Don't freeze the jelly, as it will become gelatinous once thawed.
- When you want to eat the fruit jelly, simply cut it with a knife, just like you would cut a sponge cake.
Things you'll need
- Colander
- Knife
- Chopping board
- Pot
- Stirring utensil
- Medium-sized bowl or jelly mold
- Refrigerator
