2019 Christmas Jello Trifles

Christmas is a time for the best family traditions and lots of great food. The one food that I always make for Christmas Eve is a Jello Trifle. I have been bringing a Jello Trifle to my family Christmas Eve party for at least the past decade. Every year, the trifles get more and more elaborate.

This year I was super excited to add gelatin flowers to the jello trifles. It took a lot of work and they were gone in super fast, but it wouldn’t feel like Christmas Eve without a jello trifle for our family.

I’ll walk you through step by step on how I made these amazing Jellos. I started at night on December 22nd by making the clear gelatin and pouring it into 2 pans of muffin tins and 3 round bowls.

But I made a big mistake. I wanted to triple my regular recipe so I used an older pan. One that I never used before while making jello. Well, the pan left little black flecks of non stick coating all throughout my jello. I picked a few out and thought maybe I had them all. But it kept bugging me all night when I would think about it.

When I woke up in the morning, I went to check on the jellos and I could tell that little black flecks were throughout all of the jello. I didn’t want to eat it and no way was I going to serve it to my family. So I scooped out all of the clear gelatin and threw it away, along with the terrible old pan. Boo!

So back to step one again. I grabbed a newer pan and didn’t it all over. But this put me hours behind where I wanted to be.

Click here for the recipe for the clear gelatin base.

Hours later I finally was able to start the gelatin flowers. First, I scooped out a small hole in the middle of each gelatin. Then I made 24 poinsettias in the 2 muffin pans. One pan of white poinsettias and one pan of red.

Click here for the recipe for how to make the gelatin flowers in the clear gelatin base.

After I made the small poinsettias, I made 3 large poinsettias.

Here comes the tricky part. Getting the small jello flowers to stick to the edge of the trifles and creating a hollow middle so I could fill it later with layers of jello.

I found 2 Tupperware containers that were just the right size for what I needed. I put the Tupperware in the middle of each trifle dish and then put the gelatin flowers in alternating colors around them. I had just enough flowers to make 2 layers of flowers in one trifle and one layer of flowers in the other.

Next I made another recipe of the clear gelatin base and poured it into the cracks around the small flowers.

I am not going to lie… THIS IS WHERE IT ALMOST ALL CAME APART!!!

THE TUPPERWARE STARTED FLOATING AND ALL THE FLOWERS STARTED GOING UNDERNEATH THE TUPPERWARE!!! AHHHHH! NOOOO!!!!

Quickly, I had to get the Tupperware out, and get the small flowers out. However, we had one casualty. One red flower got chopped into pieces in the process and didn’t make it.

I wasn’t ready to give up yet. I cleaned out the trifle dish and tried again.

This time I put water in the Tupperware to keep it from floating. It worked. I put the small flowers around the Tupperware and poured the clear gelatin around it. I used a small tool to get the bubbles out the of cracks. Then I put the trifles in the refrigerator to set up for a couple hours.

When it came time to get the Tupperware out. I carefully poured the water out into the sink. Then I poured boiling water into the Tupperware to warm the surrounding gelatin and get the Tupperware to release easily. After just a few seconds, the Tupperware was able to come right out.

Finally after all that work, it was time to start the first layer of jello.

I like to make my layers with jello, evaporated milk, water, and ice. It’s a really easy recipe.

First off, I use the larger boxes of Jello solely due to price. I buy the larger boxes of when they are on sale and always have a stock in my pantry. You can use the smaller boxes if you would like. I just get out my kitchen scale and measure out 3 oz. so I know I’m using half the box.

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Layered Jello Recipe

Prep Time10 hrs
Total Time10 hrs
Course: Dessert, Salad, Side Dish
Keyword: Jello, Trifle

Ingredients

  • jello
  • boiling water
  • cold water
  • ice
  • evaporated milk

Instructions

Regular Jello Layers

  • Pour 3 oz. Jello into a medium mixing bowl.
    Add 3/4 C. boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved and not grainy anymore.
    Add 1/3 C cold water and 1/4 C ice to mixing bowl.
    Stir until the mixture is chilled, but before it starts to set up. Remove any leftover ice cubes. 
    Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until gelatin seem to be set up.

Evaporated Milk Jello Layers

  • Pour 3 oz. Jello into a medium mixing bowl.
    Add 3/4 C. boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved and not grainy anymore.
    Add 1/2 C evaporated milk and 1/4 C ice to mixing bowl.
    Stir until the mixture is chilled, but before it starts to set up. Remove any leftover ice cubes. 
    Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes or until gelatin seem to be set up. (Seems to set up quicker than regular layers.)

Layered Jello Instructions

  • Alternate between a regular Jello Layer and an Evaporated Milk Layer. In any color pattern of your choosing.
    Make sure that the layer is set up before pouring the new layer on top. If it isn't set up well, they layer will lift up and float.
    I like to pour the liquid jello onto a spoon right above the cold jello layer . This helps to disperse the liquid jello without disrupting the layers.
    I use this recipe and separate the layers into 2 dishes so that they layers are thinner. My 2 trifles will hold 6-7 large (6 oz.) boxes of Jello. That's 12-14 layers!
    To get the slanted effect of the jello pictured, I carefully tipped the trifle dish in the refrigerator, changing the angle with each layer.

Above are some pictures of this years trifles getting their layers. The picture on the right is as far as I got on December 23rd before heading to bed. If I didn’t have to throw out the clear gelatin in the morning, I could have had it all done on the 23rd, but instead I had to wake up early on the 24th to get the final layers done before the family party later that day.

Because I had the flowers around the outside, it only took 5 layers to fill up one trifle (the one with 2 rows of flowers). It took 7 layers to fill up the other trifle.

After the last layer set up, I took the larger poinsettia flowers and placed them on top of the trifles. I made 3 because I wanted to assure that 2 turned out good. (All 3 were great.) I took the extra one to the smaller Christmas Eve party at my in-law’s house.

After placing the large flowers on top of the trifles, I made one more recipe of the clear gelatin base. The I poured it around the edges with a little layer going over the top to make sure there was a nice flat top to the trifles.

I finished the last layer about 24 hours after I threw all the bad jello out.

Here’s some pictures of the final products.

The family Christmas Eve party had 59 people there this year. It’s full of family and cousins that I don’t get to see very often. Some who came in from across the country that I haven’t seen for years.

With all those people, these jello trifles were devoured in no time. Do I mind that it took me all day long and it was gone so fast? Nope these jello trifles are made out of love for the best party of the year.

How much Jello was that? I weighed each jello trifle and later subtracted the weight of the dish.

One jello weighed 7.3 lbs, the other weighed 7.8 lbs. In total, that’s 15.1 lbs of jello!

If you made it all the way to the end of this long post, what do you think of all this crazy jello making? I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Thanksgiving Trifle… with meat?

Custard… Good. 
Jam… Good.
Meat… Good.

Just kidding. But when I told my family that I wanted to bring a trifle to our preThanksgiving dinner last Sunday and my brother asked if I was going to add meat to it, all of the Friends Thanksgiving jokes started flying.

So obviously I had to make a little trifle especially for my brother with meat in it. Well, that’s what he thought due to what looked like a layer of ground beef in his mini trifle.

At first he wasn’t sure whether or not it was meat, but he came to the conclusion that it was ground beef due to one piece that wasn’t cooked fully and was still a little pink. (HAHA, it was just a little jello on it.)

Everyone dished up their Thanksgiving plates and sat down at the table to feast. Part way through dinner my brother finally got the nerve up to give his special trifle a bite. Digging in to make sure he had all of the layers he took his first bite with a grimace.

“That’s not meat!” He said. “Wait… don’t tell me. I know that flavor.” He took another bite. “It’s… Cracklin’ Oat Bran! Mmm! It’s even better! So good.”

Do you think I could actually put meat in a trifle. No. I can’t that’s just disgusting. So I crumbled pieces of Cracklin’ Oat Bran cereal up to small pieces that could pass for ground beef. It was a perfect substitute. And happens to be one of my brother’s favorite cereals. He loved his mini trifle even more than before and would not share.

I based this trifle off of my first favorite jello creation. I used to love looking through this book and creating fun jellos. But the one on the cover was by far my favorite. You can find a copy of this great vintage book here.


The trifle I made this year for Thanksgiving, was a little bit different than the book from the recipe. I used Scottish Shortbread instead of pound cake. I love the Scottish Shortbread because it didn’t get soggy and gross.

Also, it takes a little bit of finesse to get the fruit to stick to the side of the trifle and not float up.

HERE’S THE TRICK: LET THE JELLO SET UP A LITTLE IN THE FRIDGE FOR ABOUT 5 – 10 MINUTES BEFORE PUTING THE FRUIT IN. CAREFULLY USE A FORK OR SPOON TO PUSH YOUR FRUIT TO THE SIDE OF THE TRIFLE IN THE PLACE YOU WANT IT. IF THE FRUIT JUST WANTS TO FLOAT, TAKE IT OUT, WAIT A COUPLE MORE MINUTES AND TRY AGAIN.

The jello has to be a little set up for the fruit to stick or else it will just float.

Here is the easy recipe for this fabulous trifle. You can make it with or without the “meat”. Make it with what you have on hand. Switch out the gelatin flavors, the fruit, the shortbread. I’d love to see your trifles. Tag us #thejellohome or @thejellohome.

Strawberry Banana Pudding Trifle

Add the pretend meat layer or not. Either way, it's delicious.
Prep Time1 hr
Refrigeration Time5 hrs
Total Time6 hrs
Course: Dessert, Side Dish
Keyword: Holiday, Jello, Party, Thanksgiving, Trifle
Servings: 24 people
Author: TheJelloHome
Cost: $20

Ingredients

  • 2 packages (8 serving) Strawberry or Raspberry Gelatin
  • 3 C boiling water
  • 2 C cold water
  • ice cubes
  • 1 lb sliced fresh strawberries
  • 2-3 sliced bananas
  • 1 C Cracklin' Oat Bran (Crumbled) optional
  • 2 packages Scottish Short Bread optional
  • 1 package (8 serving) Instant Vanilla Pudding
  • 3 C cold milk
  • 8 oz. thawed Cool Whip

Instructions

  • Dissolve one package of gelatin in 1 1/2 Cups of boiling water. Combine 1 Cup cold water and ice cubes to make about 1 1/4 Cups. Add to gelatin and hot water. Stir until the bowl feels cold. Remove any unmelted icecubes.
    2. Pour into trifle dish. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes while you cut up the strawberries.
    3. Carefully add the strawberries to the gelatin layer using a fork and press to the side of the trifle dish. Note, if the fruit starts to float, remove the fruit, refrigerate for a few more minutes and try again. The fruit will not stick to the side of the dish unless the gelatin is slightly set up.
    4. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until set.
    5. Repeat first step: Dissolve the other package of gelatin in 1 1/2 Cups boiling water. Combine 1 Cup cold water and ice cubes to make about 1 1/4 Cups. Add to gelatin and hot water. Stir until the bowl feels cold. Remove any unmelted icecubes.
    6. Do not pour the gelatin into the trifle dish yet. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes while you cut up the bananas.
    7. Now pour the chilled gelatin into the trifle dish. Note, adding a hot layer of gelatin to a cold layer of gelatin can ruin both layers. You want the gelatin to be chilled but not very set up.
    8. Carefully add the bananas to last gelatin layer and press to the side of the trifle dish as in step 3.
    9. Refrigerate for at least 1 more hour or until set.
    10. Optional: Add layer of crumbled Cracklin' Oat Bran. Mmm… good.
    11. In a separate bowl, combine Vanilla Pudding and milk. Mix with an electric mixer at a low speed until well blended. Set aside.
    12. Cut Scottish Short Bread in half. Line up around the edge of the trifle dish.
    13. Now fold in thawed Cool Whip or whipped topping to the pudding bowl. Spoon into the trifle bowl.
    14. Refrigerate for another hour.
    15. When ready to serve, garnish with additional whipped cream or whipped topping and sliced strawberries and bananas.


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#cracklinoatbran#scottishshortbread #yummy#getinmytummy #beautifulfood#jelloart #beautifuljello 

#friendsfan#friendsthanksgivingepisodes#foodtrick #hethoughtitwasmeat#coolwhip #rediwhip#strawberriesandbananas

#crowdpleaser #sogood😋

Brains Anyone?

I wanted to share with you my Halloween Jello from this year’s family party. Our Brain in a jar Jello. It was creepy, awesome, and the talk of the party. It was also very fun to serve. I’d ask each guest, “Brains?” Then dig in with the scooper to dish out the brains. It would make a slurping slimy sound that was perfect.

I started to write the recipe for this dish but decided it was a little too advanced for this blog’s first recipe. The blue gelatin isn’t just a box of blueberry Jello. That would be too dark and you wouldn’t be able to see the brain. It’s clear gelatin with one drop of turquoise food coloring.

The Brain is made from Strawberry and Raspberry Jello with some gelatin and whipping cream.

I’m going to start with a few of my basic recipes and work up to this level. I’ll definitely have this recipe up by next Halloween. If you would like the recipe and think you are up for a challenge message me and I can send it to. you.

In the meantime, here are a few supplies you might need to get.

  • a brain jello mold. I bought mine at the local Dollar Store. But if you can’t find one there, you can find one one Amazon here.
  • a trifle bowl
  • a syringe
  • a couple boxes of Jello in the color and flavor you want the brain
  • clear gelatin. You can use Knox gelatin. I use SuperClear gelatin from Amazon, here.
  • citric acid, to flavor the clear gelatin
  • flavors to flavor the clear gelatin. I use clear flavors like you would use to flavor suckers, like these.

(I use Canva to make these great pictures with titles. Try it out today.)

Jello Like You’ve Never Seen Before

Well Hello! I am so excited that you are here! Dreams really are coming true because I have dreamed of starting this website so many years. To introduce myself, my name is Danica and I love creating fun jello dishes and jello art.  

 It has been a hobby of mine for over 20 years.  I started by bringing a jello trifle to missionary farewells of family and friends.  It was a super yummy jello with strawberry or raspberry jello, strawberries and bananas, and banana pudding. Super easy and very good. Pretty soon, family started requesting me to bring the jello.  


Now, Christmas Eve would not be the same without my 16 Layer Jello Trifle.  Over the years, my jello creations have become sort of a challenge for me to always see if I can one up my jello from last year.  I have looked around the internet and nobody does a jello trifle quite like mine.


They keep telling me that I need to write a jello cookbook.  And I’d love to.  That is another dream of mine. For now, I decided to start this blog as a stepping stone to that elusive cookbook one day.  


Earlier this year I started the Jello Home on Instagram and on Youtube.  My kids love getting involved in the videos on Youtube.  I am still trying to figure things out, but hey everyone has to start somewhere.  But if there is one thing I do know, it’s jello. I’m super excited to start sharing some of my favorites with you and I’d love to see your jello and gelatin dishes too.

Be excited for more fun to come!

Contact Us

We would love to hear from you and possible work with your company.

Contact Danica at thejellohome@gmail.com.


Check us out:  

Instagram – @thejellohome

Youtube – thejellohome https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV2fBD9Jmc3a9XbcRJfDvuw