7 Layer Finger Jello

7 Layer Finger Jello

I used to make 7 Layer Finger Jello a lot, until my friend JustJenn turned me onto Broken Glass Jello. Broken Glass Jello takes less hands-on time in the kitchen. You need to be around more for 7 Layer Jello (each layer needs to chill out for 15 minutes). However, both are tasty and always a crowd pleaser!

Please make sure you have a level refrigerator! :)


With the wide variety of flavors now, you can make this layered Jello in all different colors! My original recipe called for lemon, orange, lime, strawberry because they didn't have blue and purple back in the big hair days. (Please note - you only need 3 ounces or a small box of Jello per layer. I'm showing you 6 ounce boxes because that's what I have. I used my scale to measure out half a box, or 3 ounces and saved the rest.)

You need to make 4 layers of Jello. It's totally simple. Small box of Jello (3 ounces), and half an envelope of Knox gelatin. Dissolve in 1 cup boiling water, cool to warm temp and then pour into the 9 x 13 Pyrex pan. I make the next flavor while the milk layer is chilling - that allows the mixture to cool for 15 minutes. 

Note: Some recipe books say you should "grease" the pan with mayonnaise or Pam spray. This recipe doesn't call for that and I usually don't grease my pans when making Jello.

The Milk layer is condensed milk, water and some gelatin. You need to bloom the gelatin by measuring out 1/2 cup of COLD water into a small bowl. Then sprinkle 2 envelopes of gelatin on top. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes until the gelatin blooms. Add 1/2 cup of boiling water to fully dissolve the gelatin. Then that mixture gets added to the sweetened condensed milk + boiling water mixture.

You can change up the colors in all different ways - Red & Green for Christmas, Blue & Yellow for UCLA Football game! I made a Valentine's Day one here. Have fun!!


Recipe:
7-Layer Finger Jello
(adapted from the Arlington Elementary School PTA cookbook, 1979)
Printable recipe here

4 small packages (3 oz) Jello in different colors (such as lemon, orange, lime, strawberry)
(If you buy the larger 6 oz packages, just measure out half the mixture)

4 envelopes of unflavored gelatin (each Knox envelope is 1/4 ounces)

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

Boiling water

You will have 4 layers of Jello and 3 layers of milk. Start and end with Jello.
 
Jello Layer:
Mix one 3-ounce package of Jello with 1/2 package of Knox. (1 package of Knox is approximately 2 1/4 t so half a package is 1 1/8 t).
Add 1 cup boiling water and stir to dissolve.
Cool to room temperature and pour into 9 x 13 pan.
Refrigerate 15 minutes until solid enough for next layer.

Milk Layer:
In a large bowl, mix 1 can sweetened condensed milk with 1 cup boiling water.
In a small bowl, place1/2 cup cold water. Sprinkle 2 packages of Knox unflavored gelatin on the water. Allow to sit for a 2-3 minutes for gelatin to bloom. Add 1/2 cup boiling water to dissolve the gelatin.
Combine the dissolved gelatin with the milk mixture.
This will yield a little more than 3 cups of milk mixture. Each layer will get about 1 cup of milk.
Cool to room temperature and pour over the Jello mixture. Refrigerate 15 minutes until solid enough for next layer.

Repeat Jello and Milk layers (starting and ending with Jello)
Refrigerate until Jello is fully set and cut into blocks or shapes.

See more of my Jello recipes here! Also, check out JustJenn's site for more Jello recipes!

Flour Bakery Yellow Birthday Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Flour Bakery Yellow Birthday Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Ganache Frosting

My friend Rosie came over to bake! We were supposed to bake together...but somehow I ended up making Jello (that post is coming soon), lying on the couch, eating Red Vines and watching Top Gear. Anyway, I took photos of Rosie making a cake in my kitchen. That's close enough, no?

Rosie's been on the blog in the past (Lessons from a Pastry Chef and Challah) and is a recent graduate of the Baking and Pastry Arts program at the prestigious Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. She's heading back to finish her BS degree in a couple weeks...and guess who's going to Parent's Weekend?! Road Trip! (Well, JetBlue red eye trip to be exact). My friend Helen (Rosie's mom) and I are going to J&W Family Weekend in early October. I've known Rosie since she was three years old, picked her up from pre-school, been the emergency contact on her school forms, and watched her grow up - so I earned my place at Family Weekend! Can't wait to see Rosie in situ at her college. We have other day trips planned too...more on that later. ;)

I've made Flour Bakery's Yellow cake in the past (cupcake form) and I did make the ganache for the frosting. But frosting it? Rosie did all that...while watching Top Gear. Somehow, it took us all day to make this cake, but I'm sure if you are more efficient than us, you will get this done in a jiffy.

We had about one cup of frosting remaining. We planned to pipe a nice border, but time got away from us and we needed to head out. I dropped off a slice to my friend JustJenn and she said it needed more frosting. I hate frosting so I thought she was crazy (hee hee)...but you might want to use all the frosting.

We decided to put little ball decorations on the edges - chocolate balls, pearl balls from NY Cake Company, and silver nonpareils dragees. These silver balls aren't sold in California due to a lawsuit so my friend Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet mailed me some from the East Coast. Thanks Mary!

Anyone would love this for their birthday!!

Cidney the Girl Dog helped (?) out too by just being cute.

 

Thanks Rosie for coming over and baking! And thanks for helping me reorganize that pesky junk drawer in the kitchen. See you at Family Weekend at Johnson & Wales!

Recipe:
Joanne Chang has very detailed directions in her book. You should really purchase the book Flour Bakery because it is way awesome, or get the book at your library. The Daily Meal posted the recipe.

Coffee Cake Bundt on Jen's Beantown Baker

Good Morning! My friend Rosie is coming over to bake today (our results will be posted next week) so please head over to the Beantown Baker's blog to see my guest post of this Coffee Cake Bundt! Every Friday, Jen has her "Friday Favs" and profiles a blogger.

Thanks Jen for the fun opportunity! Can you believe Bundt season is almost upon us? For the full recipe and photos of this Coffee Cake Bundt, head over to the Beantown Baker's blog!

Tropical Un-Crumble - Tuesdays with Dorie

Tropical Crumble

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Gaye of Laws of the Kitchen chose Tropical Crumble on pages 418-419 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.


This should have been a full size dessert with a baked crumble on top... but I was making this for one and I just came back from a pilates class. I just started taking pilates and find it interesting...I'm finding muscles that I didn't know I had. :) Anyway, I'm enjoying the class and decided to make a quick and lighter version of Dorie's Tropical Crumble.

For my one person serving inspired by Dorie's recipe, I cut one medium banana and half a mango. Some butter and brown sugar are heated and the fruit is gently browned. At the end, I tossed in some chopped pecans.

This was a perfect little dessert for watching The Closer and resting some sore muscles! :)

Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their creations - how it is supposed to be made!

Recipe:
Gaye of Laws of the Kitchen blog,
or, Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 418)

A Pie for Mikey - Peanut Butter Pie

Peanut Butter Pie for Mikey

Late one night, I read many tweets that @JenniferPerillo's husband died suddenly. I've never met Jennifer, but my heart ached for her and her two young children. If you read her tweets, one minute she was canning vegetables, and then next she said, "He's gone. Any my heart is shattered in a million pieces."

Jennie posted that she wanted everyone to make Peanut Butter Pie to honor her late 51 year old husband and to "share it with someone you love. Then hug them like there's no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on."

The food blogger community came together to make many pies and so many virtual hugs for Jennie. The Food Network and CNN have articles (just don't read some of the completely idiotic comments on CNN). For the recipe, please see Jennie's blog (I made half the recipe for two 4" springforms).

Watch this beautiful video by WhiteonRiceCouple. Bring a hankie.

Hugs to you Jennifer Perillo and your family. My deepest sympathies.

Peanut Butter Cookies - Miette Cookbook

Miette Peanut Butter Cookies

Have you been to Miette in San Francisco? You have to go! I usually visit their Ferry Building location on every trip to the Bay Area! The store is so cute and all the treats are yummy. I was excited when they published a cookbook so I could try their treats at home.

I was so thrilled when this book came in the mail. Look at those die-cut pages! So cute. However, when I started baking these cookies, I read that it made 24 (2 1/2 inch) cookies or 120 (1 1/2 inch) cookies. I'm no engineer, but I made it to calculus and could not figure out how they got 120 cookies out of a dough with 1 1/2 cups of flour!

Then, the very next week, I received an email from Amazon that they are going to send me a whole new book because there were so many errors. Look how many calculation errors were made! Whew, I wasn't crazy. This recipe makes 16 three-inch cookies or 48 two-inch cookies. I got 52 cookies.

Miette uses a meat mallet to make their indentions. I couldn't find mine... really, where could that big old mallet have gone? That is a great idea and I'll try it again once I hunt down that mallet. Anyway, I just did the traditional cross-hatch with a fork.

Pour yourself a big cup of milk and have some cookies. These would be great for your back-to-school soon kids!

I can't wait to make their cakes and cupcakes. This book is really charming. See if your library has it here on WorldCat!

Recipe:
Miette cookbook, page 133

Peanut Butter Cookies, adapted from the Miette Cookbook

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large eggs

½ cups plus 2 Tablespoons creamy or chunky peanut butter (I used creamy)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Sift together dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt)

3. Cream together butter and sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy (4-5 minutes)

4. Add egg and beat until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl.

5. Add peanut butter and mix.

6. Add dry ingredients until just combined. Finish off by hand.

7. Form into balls. Flatten with meat mallet or cross-hatch with a fork. Sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake 10 minute. Cool and enjoy!

Carrot Spice Muffins - Tuesdays with Dorie

Carrot Spice Muffins 

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs chose Carrot Spice Muffins on page 14 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I skipped the coconut, raisins and nuts. I know, that's a lot of omissions, but I added a little more carrots and it was all yum.

Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their creations!

Recipe:
Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs blog,
or, Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 14)

Cidney the Dog and Her Laundry

Cidney, the Domestic Goddess

Every morning I ask Cidney the Dog to be a good girl and do the laundry & dishes or pick up her hair that's all. over. the. house. Every night, I'm happy to see her, but she always has an excuse for not doing her chores.

Today, Cidney surprised me. She did HER laundry.