Fancy jello dessert

[Ondine]

I have been invited to a theme party for a friend's birthday, and the theme is Dungeons and Dragons.

Having refused to don the elfbabe costume, i decided to get into the spirit by making a jello dessert to bring.

Those of you who have had any exposure to roleplaying games may be familiar with a classical monster known as the Gelatinous Cube which was a large, cubical (well, duh! ) transparent jellylike thing that would sweep down dimly-lit corridors and engulf hapless adventurers. (Well, yes, I'll admit I had my RPG phase in highschool too. )

What I am trying to achieve with this dessert is a fairly large (preferably about 10-12 inches high), freestanding cube of largely transparent jelly with little amusing adventurer- type things suspended in it. I have a source for little gummy sweets shaped like body parts (left over from Halloween stock at the shops I think) and was going to make little Indiana Jones whips from thin liquorice strips and so on.

I guess what I am asking for help with stems from the fact that I have never in my whole life made a gelatin dessert, much less one this ambitious. Should I make the solution stronger for better upstanding-ness? How do I suspend the objects randomly in it without bubbles? How does one avoid layer-marks in the final product? How does one make such a large cube without a mould? What flavour/colour should I try?

I would very much appreciate any help here. The party is in two weeks and I fully expect to do a lot of experimenting after work from now till then. Thanks everyone!

[Katherine]

The cube's probably not gonna cut it. That shape won't be stable if the jello is of eating consistency (especially with those little things in there, which is where the breakage will begin), and you don't want to make it tough enough to have structural integrity.

However, it's possible I'm wrong here. In any case, you do need a mold, and I doubt you can find one that size and shape and unmold it successfully.

Look at rectangular storage containers, like rubbermaid. You will also need to immerse the thing briefly in a larger container of hot water to loosen it from its container, and a platter to receive it, so don't start until you have these things ready.

So get yourself some unflavored gelatin, make up the quantity you need, and practice to see if you can get it to work. There should be a recipe on the box that tells you how to mix it up for unmolding, or you can search and find one on the internet.

Something this size will take a long time to chill and set. Don't unmold it until it is.

It's probably not going to work perfectly the first time, but you can reheat and reuse the gelatin until you get the hang of it. How much time do you have?

Another idea is to find a small square aquarium (I don't know if these are available in this shape) and NOT unmold the thing. This would be a lot easier. Just cool the gelatin, stirring occasionally, until it gets syrupy. Then pour in your first layer, chill, and when it is almost set, stick men in position. Keep your working gelatin out of the refrigerator now. Repeat this process of pouring, chilling, and inserting objects until you are done.

I think the second idea is more workable than the freestanding cube. It would be a real shame if you tried that and ended up losing it in the back seat of your car when you try to transport it.

[Huevos del Toro]

I occasionally mold brains and hands, using watermelon or peach flavored gelatin with fat free evaporated milk to provide opacity, and a few drops of green food coloring to adjust the color. The molds are fairly intricate so I lightly spray them with vegetable oil and wipe out any excess. They always unmold without problem.

[frogprincess]

Maybe you could make several smalls one instead of the one big one.

[gus_tatory]

this is the most bizarre Jell-o cake i've ever seen: 'broken glass' cake, with Jell-o~!

[Ondine]

Ya know, when the idea first occurred to me for the cube dessert, I spent a frantic 20 minutes fruitlessly googling for tips when it hit me."Idiot! You're an eGullet member! You've seen odder questions asked."

So thank you everyone for coming through for me - I truly appreciate it - and in less than 24 hours too!

Huevos del Toro - Thanks for the tips. I could probably separate out a little of the working gelatin and opaque-ify it for creative milky streaks in the cube critter.

Frogprincess - I did think of that but for a party I think a series of small ones would have less impact than a big one.

Gus_tatory - I have seen that! It looks nifty, doesn't it?

Katherine - Wow, thanks for all the info. I will probably try with a small aquarium, maybe 1/2-3/4 gallon.

Just one more thing. What flavour should I go for? I like grape or raspberry but I'm afraid that the colour may be a little too deep to see the inserted objects (I'll probably add in the odd big inedible thing too, like green plastic army men). What is the most crowd-pleasing flavour?

BTW: The British candy company that made the little jelly body parts is also putting out a new range called Jelly-Atrics, which includes little jelly wheelchairs and walking frames!

[marie-louise]

I occasionally mold brains and hands...

Do tell us more.

[Huevos del Toro]

I can't find a pic of the brains I've done but here's the site of the manufacturer.

They are a lot of fun to spring at parties or the holiday feasts at work.

Besides a mold all you need is either Watermelon or Peach Jell-O, fat-free evaporated milk (no others will work) and some green food coloring if you want to get a flesh tone. You can also leave the evaporated milk out if you don't need it opaque.

[Varmint]

I can't find a pic of the brains I've done but here's the site of the manufacturer.

They are a lot of fun to spring at parties or the holiday feasts at work.

Besides a mold all you need is either Watermelon or Peach Jell-O, fat-free evaporated milk (no others will work) and some green food coloring if you want to get a flesh tone. You can also leave the evaporated milk out if you don't need it opaque.

That may be the single most disturbing thing I've ever seen on eGullet.

I love it.

[SobaAddict70]

I'm still in my RPG phase. I run two games a week, one on Friday evenings and one on Saturday evenings -- both online.

Gelatinous cubes aren't monsters that I regularly use, even though I'm familiar with them.

If you remember a Dragon magazine issue from about 8 years ago, they had a number of weird monsters including a Jello monster. (Not kidding, folks. ) Worked along the same lines as a gelatinous cube except that it was tutti-fruti flavored.

So I guess there's your answer. Try making a rainbow of flavored jelly cubes.

Soba

[Katherine]

If you're going to use different flavors of jello, you can tilt up the aquarium at an angle to set the first layer, reversed or a different angle for the next (and different flavored) layer, and so forth.