It’s just gelatin. But with a little imagination, the common gelatin can be a visual and culinary delight. The idea came from a Goldilocks product that my family has been enjoying for years. But I wanted to make my own using a more Pinoy flavor. I decided to stick with the basic red-and-green Christmas motif as well. This is what I served for dessert last Saturday evening. We had a few friends over for dinner–still part of our 13th wedding anniversary celebration.
But, first, what exactly is gelatin? For starters, it is not derived from plants.
Gelatin (also gelatine) is a translucent brittle solid, colorless or slightly yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue.
It is a protein product derived through partial hydrolysis of the collagen extracted from skin, bones, cartilage, ligaments, etc. The natural molecular bonds between individual collagen strands are broken down into a form that rearranges more easily. Gelatin melts when heated, and solidifies when cooled again. Together with water it forms a semi-solid colloidal gel.
On a commercial scale, gelatin is made from by-products of the meat and leather industry, mainly pork skins, pork and cattle bones, or split cattle hides… [Wikipedia]
Gelatin is so easy to digest that it is commonly given to convalescing people who are still unable to tolerate solid table food. Not kidding. It really is a common hospital food. But it can also be a kid’s snack or a fancy dessert.
Ingredients :
1 box of almond flavored gelatin
2 boxes of unflavored (colorless) gelatin
1 box of strawberry flavored gelatin
1 box of pandan flavored gelatin
1-1/2 c. of thick (whipping cream)
1-1/2 c. of kakanggata (thick coconut cream or the first extraction from grated coconut)
1 c. of sugar (use more or less according to your taste)
a pinch of salt
Cooking procedure :
Prepare the strawberry and pandan flavored gelatin separately according to package directions. In my case, although the boxes called for 1-1/2 cups of water, I reduced the water to 1-1/4 cups to make sure that the cooled gelatin would be firm. Pour the cooked gelatin into molds and cool until firm. Cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes.
Dissolve the almond flavored and unflavored gelatin in the coconut cream plus 1 cup of water. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture boils. Turn off the heat, add the sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Add the cream and blend well. Pour into a large bowl or mould. The bowl or mould should only be half full because you will be adding the strawberry and pandan flavored gelatin later.
When the gelatin with cream is partially set (normally after about ten minutes), add the cubed strawberry and pandan flavored gelatin and stir carefully to distribute the cubes as evenly as possible. Cool completely then chill until ready to serve.
To serve, run a rubber spatula around the gelatin and invert onto a plate.
Note: Don’t worry if, after mixing everything together, the surface of the gelatin looks lumpy and unattractive. Remember that you will be inverting the gelatin onto a plate and the lumpy part will not be visible at all.
Sassy, this Christmas Jello looks great.
This year I’m having my first Filipino Christmas ever. It’s the first Christmas back for my wife for 31 years. So we are looking for Pinoy Christmas recipes.
Do you have a recipe for traditional hot tsokolate? Any other tradtional Pinoy Christmas recipes would be good!
OzyChris, you mean Antonio Pueo chocolate? I can post one. Never thought of it cause I always thought it was just a matter of melting and simmering
But I will. We have Pueo in the pantry. 
Hi!
I tried cooking your Christmas Jello but somewhere along the way I made a mistake in cooking the Almond and unflavored gelatin with kakang gata mixture + 1 c water:oops:. Mine came out very sticky like glue:sad:. And when I tried to chill it it didn’t settle down and solidify::lol: did I over or undercook it? What is the right consistency before adding the cubed gelatin? Please Help me as I will try to cook it once again. Thanks in advance
Cathy, different brands of gelatin require different amounts of liquid. In my experience, Knox requires less liquid than Alsa. So, you might want to reduce the liquid. One tip: use as little liquid as possible–you can always melt the firm gelatin and add more liquid if it turns out too hard.
Hi Connie, so nice to hear from you. So you mean the reason mine didn’t solidify is because of too much water? Also what should be the consistency of the gelo when I added the coconut cream and water? What happened to me was while waiting for it to boil, stirring constantly, my mixture started to stick together like glue to the point that my stirrer got stuck. Did I over cook it? Should I have stopped while the mixture is still in liquid form?
Also, when you say thick whipping cream, is it the same as nestle all purpose cream? If not, where do I buy it? Thanks so much.
cathy ong
Too much water is one possible reason.
“Also what should be the consistency of the gelo when I added the coconut cream and water?”
The gelatin is till in granule form prior to adding the coconut cream and water.
“my mixture started to stick together like glue to the point that my stirrer got stuck. Did I over cook it?”
Either that or there was too little liquid. Or both. Or maybe you did not dissolve the gelatin in liquid first before you heated them? You have to dissolve the gelatin in the liquid by stirring before heating.
“Should I have stopped while the mixture is still in liquid form?”
The mixture should be of pouring consistency.
gelatin – a common hospital food – yes, true. a doctor neighbor of ours actually recommended ‘jelly-ace’ to me when i had diarrhea sometime ago. it helped me go through the ordeal without having to starve from not eating regular meals for at least a couple of days.
Hello Connie.
Do you know how to make Black Sambo?
connie, do you have a recipe of sisig and rice putong puti ? if so please include in your lists of recipes.
thanks,
nene
I join nene in asking you to please include sisig in your list of recipes. thanks
Ms. Connie, youn bang unflavored galatine ay young nasa knox (sm.box)na 4 na envelope ang laman,. you mean to say 2 box na ito angneed ko para sa recipe na ito?so, bale magiging 8 envelopes bale ang gagamitin ko. pls. help me try ko kasi ito para sa sayonara party bukas parsa sa kumare ko.
ty!
Angel, no.
Nene and Pabs, you misunderstand the essence of the blog. This is a blog about what I’ve cooked for my family. I do not decide family meals based on readers’ requests.
Iv, no. Box means like a box of Alsa.
ganun ba? kasi ,sori wala nman d2 ng alsa, wala rin akong nakita sa filipino store d2. pero dito sa work ko sa commissary ang meron ay knox, so,bale ang 4 envelopes equivalent to 1 oz (28g)pls.help me kung ano ang dami bale ng unflav…ang need ko.by the way, tyou very much sa reply mo.
Just follow the ratio, Iv, not the weight.
If I want to use knox instead of alsa, do you know how to substitute that?
Stella, read the instructions on the label. Like I said, follow the ratio for the different kinds of gelatin rather than the weight of the uncooked gelatin.
Hi Connie, I found the boxed gelatin, but when I tried making it, when I took it off the heat it was already like a thick pudding. So I quickly put it in the refrigerator, and it turned so thick already, so I took it out after a couple of minutes and tried putting in the cubes. Because the cream gelatin mixture was so thck when I tried pushing in the cubes it made the white part looked cracked, and then the cubes melted a little because the white part was not cool enough. Should I add more cream next time? What do you think went wrong? My boyfriend likes this and I want to make it for him. Please help. Thanks Connie.
Stella, I can’t guess what went wrong because I wasn’t there. Every box of gelatin has instructions as to how much liquid to add, when to add the content to the water, how high the heat should be and how long to expose it to heat. Any one of those could be the reason.
i followed your instructions but still mt mixture were very sticky…my mothers friend done this many years ago and cant remember how to do this but she that coconut cream was not included on the ingredients…but any way ill try again coz i really like this gelatin so much…but again what is the tricks regarding the mixture not to be sticky like paste
Miss Connie, in your recipe it is indicated that we need coconut milk. How long will the shelf life be pag may kakanggata? uhhmmm instead of whipping cream can I use the nestle all-purpose cream? another question po hehe … wont we be needing condensed milk para sweet? Thanks
Marites, there’s no trick except the right proportion between liquid and galatin.
Chie, I don’t know, it gets consumed fast in our house.
Re condensed milk. Sugar is listed among the ingredients.