4th of July Jell-O Stars

If you've read my past few posts or if you have been reading from early on then you know that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday.
The fireworks are what get me every year.
And I have to see them in person even if from a distance because the 4th of July is not the 4th if there aren't any fireworks.
A few years ago, my brother-in-law was getting married in Rhode Island on the 8th of July and I made plane reservations for us to fly out on the 4th because I've always wanted to see fireworks from an airplane.
It was on my Bucket List and it was one of the coolest things ever!
Being able to see fireworks from different towns/cities was something I'll always remember and I hope the kids do, too.

Of course, with the 4th of July comes festive red, white, and blue food.
Last year, I made these White Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies.
This year, I've made these really fun Jello-O stars of different colored Jell-O.
And I know you're probably thinking, "What flavor is the white Jell-O?  I've never seen white Jello-O."
Well, neither have I.
And when I first saw them on (OUR BEST BITES), I was asking the same thing!
But I knew I had to make them.  My kids went nuts for Jell-O jigglers when they were little.
I think your kids will like these, too.
And your big adult kids!  ;-)

Recipe from OurBestBites.com.  I'm having trouble accessing their site for the link, but as soon as I can, I'll link it up.
4th of July Jell-O Stars - makes one 9 X 13-inch dish

2 3-ounce packages of Berry Blue Jell-O
2 3-ounce packages of Strawberry Jell-O  (Cherry would probably give you a darker red, but I have a child who doesn't like cherry flavoring.)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
5 packets unflavored gelatin
Water as needed, boiling and cold

Spray a 9 X 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and remove the excess with a paper towel.
In a medium bowl, mix one package of the Berry Blue Jell-O with 1 1/4 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin.
Add 1 cup of boiling water and stir, mixing until all gelatin has dissolved.
Pour the contents into the prepared baking dish and refrigerate for 20 minutes, until layer is completely set.  Make sure the shelf you set the dish on is level so that the layers will be even as you refrigerate.
Clean your mixing bowl, you'll be using it again.

Meanwhile, in another medium bowl, mix 1 cup of boiling water with the sweetened condensed milk; set aside.

In a small bowl, place 1/2 cup cold water and sprinkle 2 packets of the unflavored gelatin over the top.  Let it stand for 2-3 minutes, until the gelatin looks grainy.

Add 1/2 cup boiling water to the bowl and stir until gelatin dissolves completely.
Add this mixture to the condensed milk mixture and stir to combine.  Set aside and let the contents come to room temperature.

After the blue layer of Jell-O has set, pour 1 cup of the condensed milk mixture carefully over the blue layer and refrigerate again.  Let sit in the fridge for 15 minutes or until the milk layer is set.

As soon as you place the pan in the fridge, prepare the next layer, the red layer, by mixing 1 box of Strawberry Jell-O with 1 1/4 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin and 1 cup boiling water.  Allow it to come to room temperature before pouring it over the previous chilled layers.  If you begin this step as soon as you return the pan to the fridge each time after a milk layer, the mixture should be room temperature.  This way, you won't have to worry about it being hot and melting the chilled Jell-O.
Did I just repeat myself?
Pour over the milk layer and refrigerate.

This is what it looks like after the 3 layers are set.

If the condensed milk layer should begin to solidify...

Repeat with a milk layer, then Jello-O, then milk, then Jell-O.
There will be a total of 7 layers, 4 being Jell-O and 3 being milk.
Once the last layer had set, cut into cubes or use cookie cutters to make different shapes.
I found it easiest to place the cookie cutter in a cup of hot water and then drying it off before I used it.  It made the Jell-O easier to cut.  However, I did find that the cutter was swallowed up by the thickness of the layers and occasionally the bottom layer of blue wasn't completely cut.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these 4th of July Jell-O Stars earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.
I LOVED they way they looked.  The layers are just SO cool!
The taste was good.  I really liked the flavors.
They just take a bit of time to make.
And the corners of the baking dish were a pain in the neck because they were rounded and not flat, so the cookie cutter had to be placed more towards the center of the pan in order to get an even shape.
My suggestion would be to take the shapes you want from the middle and use the edges to cut into rectangles or squares.
I really think that these will be a hit at your 4th of July party!
I added these to the blog hop at Whacha' Whipped Up Wednesday at DJ's Sugar Shack.  Check it out and see what other bloggers have created this past week!

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!