Patriotic Jello - Red, White, and Blue

Jello is a nice thing to have on 100 degree days over the summer. It's easy to do, it just takes time to sit around and wait for the layers to harden.

Ingredients

• 2 3-ounce packages of cherry-flavored Jell-O (or one 6-ounce package split in half)
• 2 3-ounce packages of blueberry-flavored Jell-O (or one 6-ounce package split in half)
• 7 packets unflavored gelatin (4 oz packets)
• 2 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk, divided.
• 9 cups boiling water, divided

Directions

1. Combine 1.5 cups of boiling water with one package of cherry Jell-O and one package of unflavored gelatin. Whisk together until dissolved.
2. Pour Jello layer into  a glass 9x13 cake pan and place into fridge until cooled. (Roughly an hour)
3. Once the red layer is firm, combine in the mixing bowl: 1 packet of unflavored gelatin with 1 cup boiling water, whisking until dissolved. 
4. Add 1/2 of one of the cans of condensed milk and stir until combined. 
5. Pour the milk mixture into the measuring cup with the spout and set it in the refrigerator for ten minutes to let it cool a bit. (You don't want to pour hot liquid on top of another layer of Jell-O at any time during the process. Doing so will turn the white layer pink or light blue.)
6. Remove the baking dish and the cup of milk mixture from the refrigerator and gently pour the milk mixture on top of the red Jell-O layer.
7. Return dish to the fridge until firm.
8. Repeat step 1, but this time use the blue Jello.
9. Pour blue mixture into measuring cup and repeat step 5.
10. Repeat step 6.
11. Repeat milk layer, then red layer, then milk, then last blue. Final order should be: red-white-blue-white-red-white-blue for a total of 7 layers.

Thoughts:
This is pretty easy. The original recipe only called for 1 cup of water per colored Jello layer, and that wasn't producing thick enough layers in a 9x13 pan. So I changed it to 1 1/2 cups. Also, the original recipe said to use 2 28oz milk cans instead of 2 14oz cans, but you don't need that much milk, I believe it was a typo.

Next Time:

• Rainbow Jello.

Icebox Cake

So this is something I have wanted to try for a while, and kept putting off. I'm glad I made it, it was the most positively reviewed thing I have done yet. The great thing about it is that it is really easy to make and low stress and you can do so many changes to the recipe, but still come out with something delicious. The original recipe called for strawberries, but you could probably do this with any fruit, within reason.

Once everything congeals, it tastes amazing and moist, and it can last in the fridge for over two days (I've heard reports they last up to 5 days) without going bad as long as you keep it cold and don't leave it out for too long.

Edit: Made another one with bananas and it came out pretty nice. Added the photo.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, washed
• 3 + 1/4 cups whipping cream, divided
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon rosewater (optional) 
• 4 sleeves (about 19 ounces, or 24 to 28 whole crackers) graham crackers
• 2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

1. Take out a few of the best-looking strawberries and set them aside for the garnish. Hull the remainder of the strawberries and slice each berry into thin slices.
2. With a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip 3 cups of cream until it just holds stiff peaks. A really good tip for whipping cream is to put the bowl (typically metal), the cream, and the mixers into the freezer for 20-30min to get them nice and cold before you start whipping. 
3. Add the confectioners sugar, vanilla, and rosewater (if using) and whip to combine.
4. Spread a thin layer of whipped cream on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. 
5. Lay down six graham crackers. Cover the top of the graham crackers with more whipped cream, and then a single layer of strawberries. 
6. Repeat three times, until you have four layers of graham crackers. 
7. Spread the last of the whipped cream over the top and add a few more strawberries.
8. To make the ganache, heat the cream until bubbles form around the edges, then pour the chocolate into the pan to melt.
9. Let it stand for a minute, then whisk until the mixture is thick and glossy. Drizzle this over the layered dessert with a spoon.
10. Refrigerate for at least four hours,  until the crackers have softened completely, or over night for best results. 

Thoughts: 
Overall everything came out great. I tried adding a little color with some graham cracker crumbs, but I don't think they were really necessary. Maybe to improve the aesthetics, the top layer of whip cream could be applied with a bag with a hole in it to make everything look fancier.

For Next Time:

• The recipe calls for 2 lbs of strawberries, but I used only about 1.5 lbs, and my strawberries were densely layered. I think to save time on hulling and slicing, far fewer berries could be used next time.
• I want to try this with bananas instead of strawberries and see how that turns out. Maybe a mix of both?
• Potentially any and all fruits could be used in any combination, as long as the fruit mass is essentially the same, consider adding blueberries to the mix.
• I've heard good things about Nilla wafers instead of graham crackers, and those could be interesting to try.
• The ganache originally called to sit for a few minutes before mixing. For me, this lead to the whole thing cooling down too much and not spreading smoothly and coming out in big clumps, which looked ugly. - Update: Put chocolate into the pan to melt, as opposed to the cream onto the chocolate in a bowl.