Have you ever eaten a Jell-O shot?
The alcoholic rainbow confections are almost as ubiquitous at college parties as those notorious red plastic cups. And yet, due to turning vegetarian at age 14, I’ve never actually tried one.
Not that I mind… Jell-O is too sweet and not chocolatey enough for me anyway. So when I recently came across a recipe for chocolate jello shots (without gelatin) in the cookbook Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy-Free Desserts by Fran Costigan, I was super excited to finally try them out.
I brought the homemade jello shots to a Friendsgiving party (basically Thanksgiving, but with friends instead of family). All of the same Thanksgiving foods are normally present at Friendsgiving: stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, chocolate jello shots… well, maybe the jello shots were a little out of place. But no one seemed to mind!
Chocolate Jello Shots
- scant 1 1/2 tbsp agar flakes (3g)
- 1 cup water (240g)
- 1/3 cup sugar of choice (60g)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder (25g)
- 1/4 cup vodka (I think water would work for an alcohol-free version, but I haven’t tried it) (60g)
In a small saucepan, stir together the water and agar flakes. Without turning on the heat, let sit 10-15 minutes. Bring to a boil, then cover and lower to a simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring very occasionally until the agar flakes are dissolved. Add all other ingredients except the vodka, and whisk to dissolve. Turn off the heat and add the vodka. Immediately pour into 9-10 shot glasses and refrigerate uncovered 20-30 minutes until gel has set. For best taste, be sure to use Dutch cocoa powder in this recipe. Please drink responsibly, and if you enjoy this recipe be sure to check out the book from which it was adapted: Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy-Free Desserts by Fran Costigan.
Questions of the Day:
Have you ever tried a Jell-O shot? And have you ever attended a Friendsgiving?
Link of the Day:
love this! What a cute idea!
Great recipe! Coming from Japan, agar was more common in Jelly/pudding type of things growing up 🙂 But I never associated you with alcohol for some reason… so I was like “yes! of course she drinks” and brought another new side of you, which is always nice.
I have never tried Jell-O shots with agar, I will have to try it out sometime. I too had a friendsgiving…with Jell-O shots too. We made Jolly Rancher Jell-O watermelon and green apple with vodka, turned out delicious!
what is agar and where can I find it?
They are tiny white flakes that act as a thickener. I get them in a small bag at Whole Foods, I think the Asian section.
it’s a type of red algae
Hmmm, these sound interesting. I wonder how they would turn out if you lowered the amount of sugar and used a sweet alcohol that would compliment the chocolate flavor. The sorts you might use making chocolate liqueurs or truffles, like Kahlua, amaretto, creme de menthe, Grand Marnier, Chambord… *wanders off distractedly, still listing liqueur names*
could i substitute gelatin for the agar? I don’t have any, and it would be too much to buy a whole pack since this recipe only asks for a little.
Actually, the bag that you buy them in is only little (like 30 grams or about 1 ounce) anyways. 🙂
ahhh! good to know! thanks for replying =) can’t wait to make these
I LOVE Friendsgivings, only downside is you don’t get as many primo leftovers as when you host yourself or go to Mom’s (not an option for me as my family is all far away). I also do these types of dinners at Easter and Christmas. What would we call those? Freaster sounds a little strange!
Ummm…how does one consume a Jello shot? Is it like a regular shot (I’ve seen people drink those on TV), or do you eat it with a spoon?
Somehow this seems a safer place to ask the question than searching youtube for “jello shots”…:-P
You kind of just slurp it down lol
These are kind of awesome. I tried a Jell-O shot once when I was about 21. Because I remember very little of the rest of that night, that was the last Jell-O shot I would ever try. I think it was more than a shot, though, as it was served up in a large test tube. Heh, college.
How creative! I’ve never had jello shots as I’m underage… and also because I just don’t like jello. But CHOCOLATE jello… I think I could get on that train 🙂