Two years ago we made these to add some zest to the birthday party of one of the coolest people we know in Dubai, Sueraya Shaheen. We had planned on baking her a cake, but thought that this would be a kitchsy way to celebrate her birthday, one that she would appreciate as an artist herself as would her guests from the progressive art scene in the Middle East. Needless to say, it was a blast.
Jello immediately throws everyone back to a much-loved childhood treat. Spiked jello in the form of shots conjure an almost necessary right of passage into adulthood for many. Elevating the presentation as we did by using the actual lemon rinds, makes it actually posh to do it again way past age 21.
We have so many of these posts that we prepared, executed and shot that got lined up in a long cue to make it to the blog, but the good thing is that great ideas are timeless. And this is certainly one of them!
It may seem pretty intricate but we can assure you that this is a very simply treat to make, it just has a complicated-looking presentation. That simply means that you get to do something that is ridiculously easy to execute, but which is so impressive to look at that it will certainly wow your guests.
2 packs jello
boiling water (as indicated by instructions on jello box)
1 to 1 1/22 cup vodka or gin
1 dozen lemons halved lengthwise
Zest of two lemons
Useful tools:grapefruit knife (to core pulp from lemon leaving pith and rind)
24-slot muffin pad to hold lemon halves while jello sets
really sharp chefs knife
Method:Pre-chill alcohol
Remove pulp from lemons with grapefruit knife and or a spoon.
Make jello according to instructions
Add lemon zest
Allow to cool slightly (keep mixing with a whisk) then add alcohol
Place lemon halves in slots of muffin tin
Pour extra liquid into shot glasses
Chill until set
Slice in half to serve
Consume and be merry.
CHEF’S NOTE: You may replace 2 tablespoons of water in the recipe with the equivalent measurement of fresh lemon juice to add extra zing to the recipe. In fact, we much prefer it that way. If you want to add copious amounts of alcohol, you may need to add about 2g of agar agar to make sure they set properly.
… LOVE THIS KARI….
Thank much Paulita 🙂
Just in time. Was looking for vodka jelly ideas for next weekend. Last time was watermelon with cherry jelly and vodka, and before that vodka jelly in scooped out oranges.
Happy to help. Sounds like you will be having a grand holiday weekend 🙂
What a cute idea! Thanks for sharing
Our pleasure.
oh my gosh, i love these. anything with lemon makes me really happy, intricate or not! 🙂
Bren, it must be a Caribbean thing with the love of citrus, especially the tang of lemons and lime. We too adore 🙂
We did something similar for a 4th of July party a few years ago, but we used oranges. The shots were huge! It’s probably better to use smaller citrus like lemons. 🙂 It’s a fun way to engage people with food!
Looking back, we were inspired by your post then! It was so long ago that we didn’t make the link, but yes, http://www.duodishes.com is where we found inspiration for our shots. I can magine how happy the party goers were with your shots 😀
looks yummy!
What a creative idea for Jello shots! I bet these were delicious and made for a wonderful party! I wish lemons weren’t so expensive here in Thailand…I’ll probably have to make this with limes.
Limes would be a great substitute! You would also get an interesting colour contrast if you used the lemon jello. We too are used to limes back home rather than lemons but lemons are abundant here in the Middle East, more so than good limes.
such a cool idea! even sans-alcohol, it could be a fun dessert for kids as well.
It certainly would especially for older kids who would know not to bite the rind 🙂