I am still on the quest of finding new things to pack in my husband’s lunch. This recipe was actually an “old” recipe that I had forgotten about and rediscovered. It’s based off of a recipe shared by a close family friend growing up.
By the way, The Nourishing Portable Food Carnival is tomorrow, so get those ideas ready to share! As I have at least two more posts to share for the Carnival, I am getting a head start by sharing this one today.
Making your own gelatin desserts are very simple to make. There is absolutely no need to buy those sugary, fake flavored jello boxes! For a much more satisfying and natural snack, you can use fruit juice and fruit to make your own “jello”. It’s great for lunches, snacks, taking on picnics, and even as part of a dinner. Because it tastes so much better, and looks so much nicer, my family used to serve this often to relatives or guests and it always went over very well. It’s a more gourmet, nourishing choice, that also doesn’t take much more work than making jello! We also found that people not “into” health food loved this recipe. This recipe has really worked well for us! (This Post is also part of WFMW)
You can definitely play around with what type of juice you want to use. Obviously, since juice plays the main role, you want to pick one that is very flavorful. Growing up, we used apricot nectar. Although I don’t like apricot fruit that well, I love the juice. However, you do have to find a juice that isn’t full of sugar. I have found some very nice apricot nectar juices that were sweetened with other added juices, such as white grape, instead of sugar.
This time I decided to try a new flavor and used a papaya juice (which was also a cane sugar free juice mix) and I LOVED it. While I am sure there would be some juices that would taste bland made into a gelatin, there is plenty of room to experiment. We like to put berries in as well. Some little kids might not like that part as well, so consider the age factor for those you are making it for. But for us adults, it’s a wonderful addition.
Fruit Juice Gelatin
Using one tablespoon of gelatin gives a softer set, using two gives a firm set (more like jello). I choose to use one tablespoon for the softer set.
4 cups of juice (my choices- apricot nectar, or a papaya juice mix)
6 tablespoons water
1-2 tablespoon gelatin (see note above)
1/4 cup of honey
2 cups of berries, fresh or frozen (I used raspberries and blackberries)
1-Put the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Leave for 5 minutes to soften.
2-Meanwhile, heat about two cups of the juice and the honey on the stove and bring to a boil.
3-Place the gelatin/water mixture in a medium size bowl and add the hot water, stirring for one minute and the gelatin is thoroughly dissolved. Then, add the rest of the juice.
4-In 8 ramekins or a small casserole dish, place your berries and pour over the gelatin juice mixture. Place in the fridge overnight,or for at least 3 hours to set. When cool, you can cover with plastic wrap.
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Kimi, what a cool idea! I am *definitely* keeping this recipe on hand for my future as a mother. This will be such a tasty, wholesome treat for little ones. I’m going to pass this on to some moms I know.
I keep forgetting about the food carnival! And I didn’t realize it was tomorrow. For some reason, I kept thinking it’s on Friday. I’d better get my thinking cap on in a hurry. I look forward to hearing your ideas.
Alison,
Joel enjoyed his fruit gelatin immensely today in his lunch.
It was definitely a hit over here.
Thanks for being part of the carnival! Looking forward to it!
I’m definitely keeping this one bookmarked to make for my son! It’d be a great sweet treat! I am also thinking of augmenting a family recipe (cranberry salad) for Thanksgiving this year by using gelatin and fruit juice rather than the boxed Jello (yuck!). Wish me luck!
Best,
Sarah
Great idea – sounds yummy!
Great idea! I’m going to try this hopefully next week.
I absolutely love this idea!! Thank you for sharing and I can’t wait to try it out for my colleagues at work on one of our food days.
I have always made my own gel desserts with agar agar. And the Ceres line of juices are really good!
I definitely want to try this…..thank you for sharing the link and the recipe! Where do you get the gelatin? Is it just the box of stuff in the grocery store in the baking aisle (where ours is…..knox is the brand, i think……unless i’m mixing it up with something else)? Thank you!
This is a great recipe!! But you also can pour the gelatin into wide mouth glass jelly jars and put on the plastic lids for easy transportation!!
I have lost count of how many times I have made this for my family now
My 2 boys are always trying to think of new juice and fruit combinations and we even made it in silicon ice cube molds so they were like bite size little candies…very cute.
Thanks for posting!
I made this Fruit Juice Gelatin for my husband and I twice now. We really enjoyed it. Made it with lots of different fruits and juices and with one tablespoon of gelatin it comes out tasting great every time. This is a keeper.
I think there is a typo in step 3 dealing with pour the hot water into the gelatin/water mixture. I assume you mean the hot juice and honey mixture? It looks like a great recipe though and I am excited to try in out on my trip with my husband to Madison, Wisconsin.
This recipe is amazing! I’ve been avoiding Jell-O for quite some time due to the sugar, and now that I’ve found this recipe, I don’t think I’ll ever go back! I made mine with grapefruit juice and nectarines… can’t wait to try more combinations! Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi Kimi:
Great idea! Have you ever had a problem using certain fruits and getting the gelatin to set? I read somewhere that certain fruits like pineapple have enzymes that hinder the setting (gelling) process. Just wondering as I would love to try a variety of fruits! Thanks!
SarahB
Hi Kimi:
I use the Gelatin and fruit juice to make finger jello. I started taking it camping and now it is a tradition. The only juice that you have to make sure is cooked is pineapple, the rest can be fresh juices.
To make the finger jello ;
4 pkgs gelatin (4 Tbs)
1 cup cold fruit juice
3 cups juice boiling.
1/4 c honey (optional for sweeter)
Sprinkle gelatin on cold juice and let set 2 minutes.
Add boiling juice (w/honey added optional) to cold mixture and stir til disolved then pour into pan and refrigerate til set. cut into small cubes and enjoy.
I’m making this for a BBQ tonight. I used Mango nectar. For the fruit I used sliced bananas. I topped it all off with whipped coconut milk (like whipped cream). It will be a good tropical dessert for this hot July day!
Step three is confusing me, lol. I’m guessing I’m supposed to put a couple cups of hot juice mix in with the gelatin, until it’s dissolved, then add the rest, then pour into ramekin dishes?
Thanks! LOVE your website!
What type of gelatin do you use?
My grandkids love jello but don’t need the dyes and sugar in the packaged type, and this sounds so much tastier. We’ll give it a try soon, thanks for sharing!
Great Lakes is considered to be a good brand. Personally I get the kosher as I’d prefer not to have my gelatin from questionable pork. I know that the Weston A. Price Foundation has a few recommendations on their website.
Great Lakes is considered to be a good brand. Personally I get the kosher as I’d prefer not to have my gelatin from questionable pork. I know that the Weston A. Price Foundation has a few recommendations on their website.
I’ve been making gelatin gummy “candies” with 3-4 TBS of gelatin per half cup of juice, sprinkled on cold juice, add honey to taste, then heat until dissolved. Then pour into candy molds, let set for a few minutes, and move to the freezer for 15 minutes. Not to sweet but very chewy and stable. We used bug molds and enjoyed eating our flies, caterpillars, moths and slugs
In Hawaii my mom made something like this using fresh passion fruit juice (lilikoi). She made it so it was very soft and loose, not firm. To serve we dipped the little Pyrex cups in hot water to loosen and slipped it over vanilla ice cream. EVERYONE loved it – kids, grown-ups, locals, visitors. It is possible in some places on the mainland to find a frozen concentrate that has very good fresh-fruit like flavor. I sometimes find the brand “The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley” at my local Whole Foods store. It a tart juice, but is best not sweetened much. Let the ice cream take care of that. Heavenly tropical fruit flavor and creamy ice cream! Ono!
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