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One of the reasons that Jello is on the list of the best desserts for the 4th of July is not only that it is very popular, perhaps simply due to tradition, but that it is pretty. It comes in bright, clear reds and blues and, for a holiday that is color-heavy, the lure of their look is hard to resist. I should know. I was lured by the look of the Patriotic Jello Pie, despite the fact that I haven't eaten blue jello or Cool Whip in years.
The jello website has a video tutorial for making the pie, so I watched it, went to the store to pick up the necessary ingredients, and set to work on the pie.
First of all, I just want to complain that my store doesn't carry 4-ounce sizes of Jello. This is a problem because the vvast majority of the Jello recipes call for 4-oz. packages. I used my kitchen scale to measure out the appropriate amount from the larger packages. But, other than that, everything went smoothly. The jello set up more-or-less like the Kraft website promised it would and the pie certainly looked jewel-like in its crust.
When it came time to serve the pie (to myself, as I wasn't about to give it to anyone else), I had a hard time getting it out of the pie tin, which I attribute to the shoddy store-bought graham cracker crust. It smelled like blue Jello. And blue Jello neither smells nor tastes good. The red layer, strawberry, was passable and the Cool Whip tasted rather marshmallowy, but I couldn't really take the blue layer. Ah well. At least it looked pretty, if not exactly like the Kraft version.
Would I make it again? Not with blue Jello, but I would consider it if an occasion that warranted Jello arose.
Patriotic Jello Pie
(recipe from Kraft)
1-1/2 cups boiling water, divided
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Berry Blue Gelatin
1 cup ice cubes, divided
1 graham cracker crust (8/9-in)
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Strawberry Gelatin (or any red flavor)
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Topping
Stir 3/4 cup of boiling water into dry blue gelatin until completely dissolved (2 minutes). Add 1/2 cup of the ice cubes and stir until ice is completely melted. Jello will probably thicken slightly. Pour into pie crust; refrigerate 5 to 10 minutes or until gelatin is set.
Meanwhile, stir remaining 3/4 cup boiling water into dry red gelatin til completely dissolved (2 minutes). Add remaining 1/2 cup ice cubes and stir until ice is completely melted. Let stand at room temperature until blue jello is set (10 minutes).
Spread Cool Whip evenly over blue gelatin layer in crust. Gently cover Cool Whip with red gelatin. Refrigerate 2 hours or until set.
Store leftover pie in refrigerator.
Note: You can certainly use the sugar-free versions of the jello flavors used in this recipe and low-fat Cool Whip to make a lighter dessert.
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7-01-2006 @2:24PM lavalady said... I can't help but think the French would take this pie as an affront.
Blue jello = yuck!
It looks beautiful though!
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7-01-2006 @3:40PM Franz Hemingbeck said... I wouldn't feed Cool Whip to my worst enemy's dog. CW is far worse for you than real whipped cream, especially since the former is filled with all sorts of crap.
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7-01-2006 @4:35PM Evita R Lamb said... My large Maine Coon Cat,"Jello" (soft and jiggly) says the only ingredient he would sample is the Cool Whip. He is not tempted by colors...Fancy Feast,yes!
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7-01-2006 @5:43PM rainey said... I don't get the necessity for blue food for the Fourth. Basically, if a blueberry won't do, then make real food (lots of good things are red or white) and serve it on a blue plate.
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7-01-2006 @6:23PM Dr. Electro said... Nice try, Nicole. The photos are impressive. I'm with you on the blue Jello. Don't like it, don't want it. Thanks. However, I would probably at least take a taste of anything you cook.
Dr. "send the blue Jello to France" Electro
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7-02-2006 @7:54AM Nicole Weston said... Aww, thanks Dr. Electro!
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7-02-2006 @10:45AM Hawk said... i think a red white and blue *cake* would probably be tastier. you could make really delicious cake, and just make it funny colors.
Plus, cakes don't melt after a brief foray in the july heat.
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7-03-2006 @12:08PM peggy said... you might try blue food coloring in maybe clear jello or a lighter color. then you could flavor it with whatever you liked.
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7-03-2006 @12:45PM Aaron said... I did the same thing as you, Nicole, after reading the jello pie entry on Friday. On Saturday I went out and bought the required jellos and cool whips, and went to town on it! Unlike you, I actually quite enjoyed the flavor of my jello pie, and it looked fantastic. Well, It would have looked fantastic anyway, except the red jello seeped under the cool whip, and the cool whip floated to the top. Still, it looked neat enough, and was very tasty. I give this extremely simple, easy to make dessert a thumbs up. I'm already contemplating what additional flavors I could use. Perhaps lemon and lime?
-Aaron
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7-03-2006 @3:12PM Nicole Weston said... I'm glad you made one, Aaron! Thanks for sharing the story here. I think that lime would be a good choice for the pie. Maybe lime/raspberry or lime/watermelon. I'm sure the lemon/lime would make a good flavor combination, but having the bright contrast between two more different colors is part of the fun. Lemon/raspberry might be sort of like a pink lemonade pie!
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