What’s your must-have, essential summer food? Is it ice cream? Burgers? Lobster? Mine’s almond jello.
Almond jello’s a dessert you’ll often find in Chinese or dim sum restaurants — it’s jello made white from milk and flavored with almond extract. Usually served with sweet syrup or fruit, my family eats it with honeydew, cantaloupe or watermelon. It’s the ultimate cooling dessert on a hot summer day.
When I graduated from college and began feebly attempting to cook on my own, one of the first recipes my mom gave me was a recipe for almond jello. Look, here it is on an index card, dirtied up and well used.
I’ll write out the ingredients in case you can’t read what’s on the card:
1 pkg gelatine
1/2 cup cold water
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup milk
1 tbsp almond extract
All you have to do is partially dissolve the gelatine in the cold water. Then pour in the hot water, vigorously stir with a whisk or fork, and add the rest of the ingredients.
(The key is to really stir after adding the hot water until the gelatine’s completely dissolved — otherwise you’ll end up with a thin “skin” on the bottom of the jello. Not a disaster, and I don’t mind it actually, but it’s not supposed to be there. Also, you can easily double up the ingredients to make a larger batch. That’s what I do.)
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for several hours.
When the jello has set, score it into cubes and it’s ready to serve.
Top with your favorite fruit.
When it’s 90 degrees out and I’m sweating buckets on a long bike ride or a hard run, I fantasize about the almond jello that’s waiting for me when I get home. That’s right, I said it: I fantasize about almond jello.
Don’t laugh, you will too.
4 Comments
1 Philly native wrote:
IMO, there’s nothing better than a family-tested recipe that is taken from a well-worn index card. So, this recipe is a definite must-try. (My “go-to” summer index card is my mom’s gazpacho recipe, which I’ll probably make this weekend to celebrate summer finally arriving.) Just one question, though. For the syrup on your mom’s card…I assume that is combine, heat, stir, and cool, correct?
2 Doug\ wrote:
I’ve never made the syrup because the jello and fruits are sweet enough, but yeah, just heat the water and combine with the sugar and almond extract. One note — you can use any fruits you like, but almond jello tastes best with fruit toppings that are sweet and really juicy: melons, fruit cocktail, lychees, etc. Something like strawberries I don’t think would go as well.
3 Jeannette wrote:
mmmm, this is a family favorite…perfect treat on a hot day!
4 Audrey wrote:
I love almond jello too! So refreshing in the summer and a nice change from the typical flavors out there. Am also a fan of the coconut jello, but cheat and use the instant mix kind they sell at the asian markets.