Jellied Eyeballs (non-alcoholic)

Eye See U!  Jellied Eyeballs gaze out of their little cupcake wrappers . . . . 

This picture cracks me up. I love the glistening little eyeballs in the cupcake wrappers - its a juxtaposition of so warped and so sweet . . .

Those who have been following the blog for a while will recall that this is our second Halloween pass at the eyeball theme - last year we featured an adult, full blown alcoholic Kamikaze jelly shot recipe. Feedback was that a non-alcoholic version would be great for children's Halloween parties, so here it is.  The recipe is simply . . . white cranberry or white grape juice with plain gelatin.  Kinda deceptively healthy, isn't it?  You could also use 50/50 lemon-lime soda and juice . . .


Our technique has gotten sharper too - use of our trusty half-hemisphere mold ups the optical creepiness factor tenfold!

Hope you enjoy!

Cheers,

Michelle

Jellied Eyeballs

Implements:  cotton swab or small paintbrush, 1/2 inch diameter round cookie cutter, a little PAM or vegetable oil (for the molds), paper towels
Pan: hemisphere mold (1 mold, 15 cavities), two small dishes (mini-loaf pans work well)

Ingredients:

3 cups white cranberry or white grape juice
4 envelopes Knox gelatin
Green and Blue food coloring

Prepare the hemisphere mold.  Spray a little PAM on a paper towel, and wipe each mold cavity.  Then, wipe each mold cavity with a clean paper towel.  This will leave the very slightest residue which will assist in unmolding but won't effect the taste of your jelly shots.  (Note, if you are substuting agar agar for gelatin, it is unnecessary to prepare the molds.  Agar agar won't set in the presence of oil - but don't worry, you won't need it - agar agar unmolds very cleanly!)  


Place juice in saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin.  Allow to soak for a minute or two.  Heat over very low heat until the gelatin is dissolved.  (About 5 minutes.)  Remove from heat.


You will need two 1/2 cup portions of the gelatin mixture for the "iris" portions of the eyeballs.  Pour one into each mini loaf pans. Add a few drops of food coloring in desired eye colors (we used blue and green) into each, mix well. Place pans in freezer, allow to quick set (approximately 15 to 20 minutes), until firm but not frozen. 

Reserve the remaining gelatin mixture in container on counter. 

When the the colored gelatin has set, cut out circles with the small 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter (these will be the “irises”). Transfer the colored circles to a non-stick plate or cookie sheet. Dab a round dot in the center each using the blue food coloring. Place the plate in the refrigerator and allow the food coloring to set for a few minutes (until no longer shiny). 

Check the reserved gelatin mixture.  It should be room temperature, but not set. 


Spoon about a teaspoon of gelatin into each mold cavity.  Retrieve the colored gelatin circles from the refrigerator.  Place one in each mold cavity, dot side down.  Fill to the top with the remaining gelatin mixture.  Chill mold in refrigerator, until fully set, several hours or overnight.  


To serve, unmold and garnish as desired.  


Yield: 15 jellied eyeballs