Something Light

Thanksgiving was just a few days ago and I miss the smell of turkey roasting in the oven, gravy simmering on the stovetop, and yummy mashed potatoes. My mom had some friends over and they're not to big on desserts so I opted for a lighter dessert that would be refreshing after a heavy meal. Something not too sweet too as some of the guests couldn't have too much sugar.

Inside a white chocolate bowl (formed from a small balloon dipped in chocolate) was fresh orange segments, an unsweetened cranberry jelly, and a prosecco wine jelly. You can less of the wine jelly for the people who can't have sweets. This was very simple and yet looks very elegant as well.

Cranberry Jelly:

500 ml unsweetened cranberry juice
5 gelatin leaves, softened

-warm up half the juice and add the gelatin, mixing to dissolve. add remaining juice and chill in a flat pan. Cube when set.

Prosecco Wine Jelly:

500 ml prosecco wine
5 ml gelatin leaves, softened

- warm up 1/4 of the wine and add the gelatin, mixing to dissolve. Add remaining and chill till set. Cube.

Konnyaku Jelly

Konnyaku Jelly is a popular Asian snack/dessert and is usually sold in small plastic containers. Unlike gelatin, which is animal-based, konnyaku is plant-based which makes it vegan friendly. The texture is also slightly firmer than gelatin which makes it great for filling in stiffer molds.

Here I made some lychee ones with some fresh mango, and mango jellies with canned lychee. They were very refreshing and are especially good on hot days.


Konnyaku jelly powder is sold at most asian supermarkets and come in small boxes like this:
This already contains sugar and the malic acid used to activate the power. All you need to do is boil water or whatever juice you would like and pour the powder in, stirring often for a minute or two. Then, you just pour it into your molds and poke in whatever fruits or nata de coco you like.

Another advantage that this type of jelly has to gelatin is that you can put fresh kiwi and pineapple in it without worrying about the natural enzymes in the fruit destroying the gelatin.

One warning though, it does set very very fast so be sure to have all your fruit cut up and ready to go.