Vogue-A-Holics: 3 Stylish Jello Shots To Try

 Even after college festivities have taken part in your life, it's never too late to mix things up. Here are a few drink recipes to try out: The Strawberry Margarita Jello Shooters, Blueberry Martini Jello Shots, And Brambell Jelly Shots.


The Prep:

1. Cut the bottoms of the strawberry flat to get them to stand upright. When you do so, make sure that you do not cut off so much that there is a hole at the bottom.
2. Use a huller or apple corer to empty out the strawberry. 
3. Once the strawberries have been emptied, use a towel to pat the outside of the strawberries dry.
4. Check each strawberry and make sure there is not a hole in the bottom before you start filling.

Margarita Mix

• 1 box Strawberry Jell-O
• 8 ounces tequila, preferably reposado or blanco
• 6 ounce Cointreau
• Salt for garnish

Instructions

1. Boil one cup of hot water in a saucepan,  then add in Jell-o powder and whisk until powder is completely dissolved, about 2  minutes. Set aside.  Measure out 1/4 cup of cold water and set aside.
2. Combine tequila and Cointreau, in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add liquour mixture to cold water and stir to combine. Then add cold liquour mixture to hot Jell-o mixture and stir to combine. 
3. Pour final Jell-o mix into strawberries and chill overnight. Dip  your finger in water or use a moistened brush to wet the edge of the strawberries, dip and rotate the strawberries in salt to rim. Garnish with cut lime triangles to finish.

Blueberry Martini Jello Shots
(Adapted from an adapted recipe by the LA Times for Blueberry martini jelly shots at Bar Nineteen 12)

Total time: 25 minutes, plus overnight chilling
Servings: About 20 Shots (more if you use 1/2 ounce molds instead of an ice tray)

10 1/2 ounces Stoli Blueberry vodka
2 ounces simple syrup* (add more if blueberries are sour)
3 1/2 (1/4 ounce) packets of gelatin powder

About 60 fresh blueberries (more if the blueberries are small)

1. Off heat, combine the vodka and simple syrup in a small saucepan. Add gelatin powder to the vodka mixture.

2. Heat the saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the gelatin is dissolved and incorporated into the vodka mixture, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

3. Place a few blueberries in the bottom of each individual ice cube mold, and carefully pour the vodka mixture into each. Refrigerate the ice cube tray until set, preferably overnight. These cocktails will keep, refrigerated, for as long as 2 days.

*To make simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan, and stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.

BRAMBLE JELLY SHOTS 

Recipe by Toby Cecchini and reprinted from the NYT Magazine Blogs

For the float:

6 ounces crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur)
7 grams (1 packet) Knox unflavored gelatin
1 package (3 ounces) grape-flavored Jell-O gelatin
1 cup hot water

In a small mixing bowl, sprinkle the Knox and the Jell-O into the hot water and stir until completely dissolved, 5 to 7 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir in the crème de mûre. In a small, nonreactive baking dish or loaf pan, pour a few drops of cooking oil (grapeseed works well) and wipe out with a paper towel, coating the entire vessel with the barest layer. Pour blackberry float mixture in and set to chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to overnight, making certain it is level.

For the gin sour:

1 cup gin (lemon infused) (Note: vodka may be substituted!)
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
28 grams (4 packets) Knox unflavored gelatin
1 cup hot water.

Juice enough lemons to give you 2/3 cup juice, keeping the hulls as you squeeze. Roughly chop the squeezed hulls and put them in a coverable container along with the gin and the lemon juice. Leave at room temperature for at least 2 hours. It’s a good idea to do this before starting the float, so that by the time that has firmed up, your infusion is ready to go. When the float layer is firm, bloom the gelatin in the hot water by sprinkling it slowly while stirring, and continuing stirring until fully dissolved. Add the sugar and stir until that is also fully dissolved. Strain the gin mixture off from the lemon hulls through a fine sieve or chinoise and add it into the gelatin mixture, stirring well. Over a spoon, so as not to gouge a divot in the float layer, pour the lemon sour mix onto the float layer and return to refrigerator, again checking for levelness. Chill overnight. When ready to serve, cut into squares, or use a cookie cutter for shapes, and pull up carefully, using a cake spatula to get under the float layer. Garnish with a blackberry and/or a thin wedge of candied lemon. Or simply slurp.