We could write the umpteenth article about the crazy-coolness of edible cocktails. But we’d rather direct you to Alinea if you live in Chicago, The Drop if you live in Kansas City, Bar Nineteen 12 in Los Angeles, and in New York, Tailor, where they call them “solid cocktails.” These guys are miracle muddling masters. You won’t believe what they can do with a box of jello.
Our purpose today is to show you how to do it yourself — a lot less eye-poppingly, but crafty enough to send Martha Stewart cracks your way. Mark our words.
Here are two winners we found at culinate.com:
Blueberry Martini Jelly Shots
Total time: 25 minutes, plus overnight chilling
Servings: About 35 (1/2 -ounce) cocktails.
Note: You can substitute 3 1/2 ( 1/4 -ounce) packets of gelatin powder for the gelatin sheets. Gently sprinkle the gelatin powder into the vodka and simple syrup to rehydrate.
Ingredients:
10 1/2 ounces Stoli Blueberry vodka
2 ounces simple syrup
14 sheets of gelatin
About 35 fresh blueberries
1. Off heat, combine the vodka and simple syrup in a small saucepan. Add the gelatin sheets one at a time to the vodka mixture, breaking up the sheets if necessary so that they can be completely submerged. Allow the gelatin to sit in the vodka mixture until it is soft and pliable, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. When the gelatin is soft, heat the saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the gelatin is dissolved and incorporated into the vodka mixture, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
3. Check the contents of the pan; if there are any flecks of gelatin that have not dissolved, strain the mixture to remove any solid particles. Place a blueberry in the bottom of each individual cocktail mold, and carefully pour the vodka mixture into each mold. Refrigerate the molds until set, preferably overnight. These cocktails will keep, refrigerated, for as long as 2 days.
Prosecco Gelée
Total time: 20 minutes, plus overnight setting time
Servings: Makes about 44 (1/2 -ounce) cocktails.
Ingredients:
1 (6-inch) length of a vanilla bean
3/4 cup sugar
9 gelatin sheets
12 ounces Prosecco
1. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the sugar and, using your fingers, thoroughly mix the seeds into the sugar so that there are no clumps of seeds. Place the sugar and three-fourths cup water into a medium saucepan and heat over high heat until the sugar dissolves and the simple syrup almost comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Soften the gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water, 1 to 2 minutes. Squeeze all of the water out of the gelatin sheets and immediately place them into the warm simple syrup. Stir constantly until the gelatin is dissolved.
3. Carefully pour the Prosecco into the saucepan, and stir gently but quickly to combine. Pour the gelée mixture into molds or an 8-by-8-inch square cake pan lined with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until completely set, preferably overnight. To serve, carefully remove the gelée from the molds (use the tip of a knife to loosen each shot) or, if using a cake pan, cut the gelée into 1-inch squares.