Getting Jiggley With It

Egg Day October 2013 has come and gone. 

Super pretty pandan and green tea gelatin

I try to make something new and something tried and true when I have Egg Day. This month was no different.

My tried and true was roasted new potatoes, roasted butternut squash with rosemary and quiche. I made Quiche Lorraine which I hadn't done before because I tend to try to make things vegetarian, but I had not only ham in the house, I also had Swiss cheese. How do you not make Quiche Lorraine when those ingredients are on hand?

My new was Shakshuka a tomato sauce with eggs poached. Mine had feta cheese on the bottom and green olives. It was delicious. My other new was a layered gelatin with green tea and pandan layers. I recently came across perfectly pink gelatin molds for close to nothing at a thrift store. I can't have useless things in my kitchen, so I've started down the road to making modern gelatins.

This was my first layered!

Layers are fussy, but the effect is super stunning. And if you've got other things to do in the house, waiting for layers to set isn't horrible. Just keep busy doing other things until the gelatin sets and you pour the next layer.

The necessary ingredients.

Green Tea and Pandan Layers

2 envelopes plain gelatin
1/2 cup cold water divided

2 cups boiling water, divided
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon green tea powder
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon pandan extract/flavoring

In two small bowls put a quarter cup of cold water into each. On to the cold water sprinkle a packet of gelatin. (One per bowl.) Let sit 5 minutes. This is called blooming the gelatin. Even that sounds pretty.

In a large bowl or large measuring cup place 1/2 cup of sugar. When the water boils pour 1 cup of hot water over the sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Into the sugar water, add the pandan extract and one dish of bloomed gelatin. Stir until there are no lumps of gelatin.

The pandan gelatin got foamy at first, but that went away by the time its turn came to be layered.

In a second bowl or large measuring cup place the green tea powder. Into it add 1 cup boiling water, 7 ounces of sweetened condensed milk and bloomed gelatin. Stir until everything is well blended and there are no lumps. I used a hand held blender.

I went with 5 layers, starting with the green tea because there was slightly more volume to it due to the sweetened condensed milk. Pour a bit less than a third of the green tea gelatin into the mold. Let it firm in the refrigerator. Pour half the pandan over it, continue on waiting between layers.

I used a bartender trick and poured my gelatin over the back of a spoon to keep it from pushing through the set layer. Also I kept my waiting gelatin in a warm water bath while my layers set to keep it from getting vicious.

Let the gelatin sit over night.

To remove from the mold, place the mold in warm water for 20 seconds, or until the gelatin looks loose in the mold. Flip out onto a plate and say a silent prayer.

I'm looking forward to many, many more gelatins, boozy ones, fruity ones, and fun sophisticated ones. These aren't your grandmother's (even my mother says e-gad about them) gelatins.