Dragon fruit & Strawberry Christmas Jelly … Merry Xmas
“Christmas, here again. Let us raise a loving cup:
Peace on earth, goodwill to men,
And make them do the washing up”
Wendy Cope
Dragon fruit & Strawberry Christmas Jelly … these were plenty fun to make and absolutely delicious {if I may so so myself}. Couldn’t think of a better way to ring in the bells, to colour our world with the red, white & green. They seemed so right!!
That they turned out goblet scraping good was an added bonus. Everyone, young & old, loved them. The kids begged for seconds. And thirds. Goblets, glasses, shooters. All fun!
Remember my very recent the Tropical Coconut Milk Rice Pudding with Thai fruit? These jellies were what I had in mind initially, yet the rice pudding came first. This a little later. Both eggless and both held their own spot in the dessert world. While I fell in love with the colours of the former, the latter played some more magic. Kid sorta magic!
Of course the Dragon fruit & Strawberry Christmas Jelly dessert is inspired. Inspired by the Strawberry and Vanilla Macaron Trifles I made in Dec 2010 adapted minimally from a Donna Hay recipe. They were absolute crowd pleasers then. The story the same this year as well.
The magic lies in the beauty and simplicity of the fruit juice jelly with suspended fresh fruit within. One look at the dragon fruit, the black and white contrast, and the luscious strawberries in the fridge … and a small voice in my head said “Why not? Why ever not?”
So to keep with the flavours, I did a mixed jelly … litchi juice for the dragon fruit and cranberry juice for the strawberries. How good can good get? The result was fab. I know because I could hear the goblets being scraped clean. Thankfully there was plenty.
There is nothing like glassware to set jelly in. I used a variety of glassware just because I wasn’t in the mood for monotony. I used brandy goblets, stemmed glasses and a few shot glasses too. I think stemless brandy glasses would work well too. Or maybe these beauties from Urban Dazzle which are one of my favourites.
The dessert needs a little pre-planning. Since there are two flavours of jelly, one needs to set first, then the other follows. I was a bit impatient so the colours merged a little. No issues though. They still tasted brilliant. I think I managed one a little closer to how I would have liked them all to be.
Dressing up the jellies is the fun part. Pipe over some barely sweetened low fat pillowy soft cream {I used an Ikea funnel}, garnish with colourful fruit, add a sprig of fresh mint … and go HO HO HO!!
Have a safe, delicious and fun holiday season. Joyeux Noël dear readers, Merry Christmas!
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Recipe:Dragon fruit & Strawberry Christmas Jelly 
Summary: Light, healthy, delicious Dragon fruit & Strawberry Christmas Jelly holiday desserts for the young and old alike. Serve them in an array of glasses to keep the mood fun and joyful! Use other seasonal fruit paired with juice of your choice for a variation.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes, plus setting time
Ingredients:
- Litchi Dragon fruit Jelly
- 500ml litchi juice
- 2tsp gelatin powder
- 50g sugar
- 1 dragon fruit, skinned, diced {reserve some for topping}
- Cranberry Strawberry Jelly
- 500ml cranberry juice
- 2tsp gelatin
- 50g sugar
- 200g strawberries {reserve 2-3 for topping}
- Cream topping
- 200g low fat cream, chilled
- 1/4t strawberry essence
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- Fresh mint for garnish
Method:
- Litchi Jelly
- Place the gelatin and ½ cup {125ml} litchi juice in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes or until the gelatine is absorbed. Place the remaining litchi juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the gelatine and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
- Cranberry Jelly
- Place the gelatin and ½ cup {125ml} cranberry juice in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes or until the gelatin is absorbed. Place the remaining cranberry juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the gelatine and stir to combine. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
- Assemble
- Divide the dragon fruit in the base of the serving glasses/bowls and pour over the litchi jelly mixture. Refrigerate for 2–3 hours until set. {I put mine in the freezer for a little bit}.
- Once the jelly is firm and pretty set, divide the strawberries over the set litchi jelly. Gently pour the cranberry jelly over the strawberries. Refrigerate for 2–3 hours until set. {Mine took almost overnight to set}.
- Top with whipped cream {pipe or funnel into the glassware so that the edges don’t get messy}.
- Garnish with fresh cut fruit, sprigs of mint and chill until ready to serve.
- Note: You can set the jellies 2-3 days in advance. Add the fresh fruit and mint closer to serving or it may lose its appeal.
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Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
3 Comments
natasha
What beautiful vibrant colors! Feel like gobbling up one right away! Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you and your family.
Cheers
Lora
Absolutely gorgeous!