Glittery Blue Apocalyptic Jell-O Shots

It's been a few days - I have been busy celebrating the holidays with the in-laws over the weekend. Friday night, my friend hosted a Mayan Apocalypse Party. It was a blast, and although the world didn't really end, we partied like it was going to.

I made two things for the party: some fantabulous spinach dip (I'll share that recipe later) and glittery blue apocalyptic Jell-O shots. How did I arrive at glittery blue Jell-O shots for this party you may ask? Well, I sat there racking my brain for quite awhile to figure out a kind of Jell-O shot that made sense. For some reason, when I thought of an Apocalypse party, I pictured glittery blue or purple shots. I decided to ask a friend what kind of Jell-O shots she would bring to an Apocalypse Party. She said glittery blue ones. Hence, it was decided.

I didn't have any edible glitter on hand. I also live in a small-ish town where the chances of finding something like that aren't great. I checked Wal-Mart, Hy-Vee, and finally our party store. The party store had 2 similar options: cake shimmers and edible pixie dust. I picked up both in blue.

Now... into the kitchen to play with glitter, Jell-O, and vodka. :)

I boiled 1 cup of water (per the package directions) and dissolved the Jell-O in, according to the directions. Instead of the cold water, I added 3/4 cup of Vodka and 1/4 cup of cold water. If you're wondering about different Jell-O shot recipes, or how much alcohol can be added, I recommend checking out myscienceproject.org.

Now... the glitter. Hmmm...

I decided to try the cake sparkles first. I tried mixing them in right away, but as the solution was still hot, they dissolved right away. I decided to try letting the Jell-O solution thicken to a jelly consistency, then mix them in so they wouldn't dissolve and would be suspended in the Jell-O, rather than sinking to the bottom.

This kind of worked...

It kind of worked in that the sparkles were suspended throughout the mixture and didn't dissolve. However, they didn't look shiny once they were in the Jell-O, rather they just looked like blue pieces of... something. Also, the Jell-O shots that I made this way were lumpy on top instead of smooth once they had completely set.

For the second batch, I decided to prepare the Jell-O the same way, but pour it directly into the shot cups. Once they were set up, I took a paint brush and swirled the edible pixie dust on tops, creating a sparkling effect.

These turned out pretty well! They weren't my original vision (of glitter suspended throughout), but they were eye catching! I'll have to attempt suspending glitter in Jell-O shots again, perhaps when I have the time to really find some edible glitter. If anyone has had any luck in creating this effect, let me know.

Until next time...

<3 M