It's not too early to plan for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. In our house, we always like to make a fun dessert to celebrate the occasion. We're all set now that I found this red, white and blue layered dessert.
This fun concoction is the creation of the fabulous Megan of Penny Carnival. Of course you can make this layered jello dessert anytime of year in all different color combinations! For the complete recipe, check out her blog Penny Carnival.
Image: Penny Carnival


Sprout Side Table
I used to love making this dessert (but in lime, lemon, and cherry and using evaporated milk instead of sweetened condensed milk, as per the Jello brand recipe book) as a kid. The best part is peeling off the individual layers when you're eating it.
This is my mother's "trademark" dessert for any gathering with lots of kids. She makes a rainbow version: cherry, strawberry, orange, lemon, lime. However, hers never had the white layers - hers has a clear, then opaque layer of each color instead of the white layers. She divides each large box of mix in half and makes one half straight (clear layer) and mixes the other layer with sour cream (opaque layer).
Word of warning - plan an entire day to make it! Mix, pour, wait will it sets (hour or so), repeat for EACH layer. Over and over!
It's yummy and everyone - kids and grown-ups - love it!
Ah my favorite childhood dessert. My great aunt made the rainbow version with the white layers in between. She would make it for most family get-togethers and I would devour as much as I could handle.
I haven't made the time to try it on my own, becuase it is very time consuming and it would never be as good as Aunt Esther's.
I've done red white and blue like this before, but with the blue, I removed 1 tsp. of the blue mix and added 1 tsp. of blackberry jello powder, so that the color was a deeper blue. I just think the neon blue looks silly with the red, like we're trying to hard. When it's a more "American Flag" blue, it just feels "more right." :) I mix the extra leftover tsp. of blue raspberry jello in with the blackberry, and I make the blackberry jello in long strips like flagpoles. Nothing wasted!