4th of July Jello Shots
Celebrate red, white, and blue holidays with these festive layered 4th of July jello shots filled with vodka-spiked jello and topped with whipped cream.
Ingredients
- 1 - 3.4 oz. box red jello mix cherry or strawberry
- 1 - 3.4 oz. box blue jello mix berry blue or blue raspberry
- 3 cups boiling water divided
- 1- 1 ½ cups vodka clear
- 2 - .25 oz. packets clear gelatin
- 14 oz. sweetened, condensed milk
- Heavy cream or whipped cream (optional for topping)
- Red, white, and blue sprinkles (optional for topping)
Instructions
- Whisk together one package of blue jello and 1 cup of boiling water until the jello is completely dissolved.
- Pour ½ cup of vodka into a 2-cup measuring cup (you'll see why in just a minute!) Add ½ cup of cold water to the vodka. For a stronger jello shot, you might want to use more vodka. I thought it became too strong with more than ¾ cup vodka in each layer. Whatever you choose, add cold water to the vodka to make 1 cup TOTAL of clear liquid.
- Carefully transfer the blue jello into the measuring cup with the vodka and water. (Now you have everything in a tidy measuring cup with a spout - perfect for pouring into your shot glasses!)
- Slowly fill the bottom ⅓ of glass or plastic shot glasses. I experimented with a ton of different shaped shot glasses - some plastic, some glass. They all turned out awesome. You should be able to make about 30 jello shots. Just keep filling the glasses ⅓ of the way until you run out of mixture.
- Place the jello shots into the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.
- Once the blue layer of jello has set, it's time to mix up the white layer.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sprinkle two packets of clear, unflavored gelatin over 1 cup of boiling water. Whisk until the gelatin is fully dissolved in the water.
- Add an additional 1 cup of cold water and the sweetened condensed milk.
- Stir until the mixture is combined - it will be white and opaque.
- Chill this white jello mixture in the refrigerator until it is room temperature. Don't chill it too long - you don't want it to start setting! But you also don't want to pour a warm mixture onto the blue layer.
- Pour the white jello over the blue layers until each shot glass is ⅔ of the way full. Chill in the refrigerator until fully set - at least 1 more hour.
- Make the red layer just like you made the blue layer. Stir the red jello powder into boiling water (1 cup). Combine vodka and water to make 1 cup of clear liquid. Stir the jello and vodka solution together.
- Allow the red layer to cool to room temperature - it cannot be warm when pouring over the white layer!!!
- Now fill the shot glasses to the very top with the red jello solution.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 more hours, or until the jello shots are set.
- Pipe freshly whipped cream on top of the jello shots and add sprinkles, if desired. The whipped cream and sprinkle garnishes should not be added until just before serving.
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Notes
- Make sure the white jello mixture is cooled completely before pouring it on the blue layer, or the gelatin will melt and the colors will bleed together.
- Make sure each layer is solid and chilled well before adding the next layer to prevent the colors from bleeding together.
- Using ½ cup vodka and ½ cup cold water in each of the blue and red layers of jello was my personal favorite liquor/jello balance as the flavors were able to come through and the vodka was not too strong. ¾ cup vodka and ¼ cup cold water will pack more punch (or you could use a full cup of vodka and no cold water if you wanted), but the vodka flavor is quite strong. If you are opting for more vodka, I would recommend using a top shelf alcohol.
- This recipe makes approximately 30 jello shots, however, it will vary depending on the size of the glass or cup you are using.
- Pipe the whipped cream (or Cool Whip) on top or use a can of spray whipped topping. Since we're typically celebrating outside, please note that the whipped cream (and the jello, for that matter) will melt in hot temperatures. Keep these jello shots inside or in a cool location and only top with whipped cream right as you are serving them.
Nutrition
Calories: 86kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 48mg | Potassium: 50mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 35IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg
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