Saturday, August 3, 2013

Watermelon Mojito Jello Shots in Lime Wedges

Watermelon Mojito Jello Shots in Lime Wedges
Yesterday was the busiest day ever. My gawd. I was preparing from morning until night for a celebration of one of my best friend's 21st birthday fiesta!! Tomorrow I'll post some pictures and my ideas for her Mexican themed bash... including a liquor shot filled pinata. YES IT'S A REAL THING. There was a bunch of confetti, lots of booze, and a gourmet taco bar with 12 different homemade toppings!! So check back for the deets, y'all. But today, I'm sharing my Watermelon Mojito Jello Shots in Lime Wedges. I have seen ideas floating around the internet for classic mojito jello shots in limes and I have been dying to try them. However, I could not get it out of my mind how I wanted to make watermelon flavored shots. Wouldn't that be adorbz?! UM, well it was. The filling includes watermelon puree, lime juice, steeped fresh mint, and rum (along with gelatin). You pour the jello mix into the lime halves, let them set until hard, cut them into wedges, and finally garnish them. I finished them off with more fresh minced mint & dyed black raw sugar for the perfect watermelon effect. And they were a HIT. They were gobbled up in minutes. Now there is a forewarning here, these are not for the faint of heart. It is a process, a very tedious process. Especially hulling out and peeling the lime rinds of its' pulp. So, if you aren't willing to slave away to prep these guys, you could just pour the jello into plastic shot glasses. Although, they certainly are not as cute. The choice is yours however. I know for sure that these will be a Summer classic and a party favorite from now on!! Enjoy :)
hollowed out lime shells.
fresh mint steeping in the jello mixture 
look at those colors... it screams summer doesn't it?? 
wittle baby watermelons.
For the Watermelon Mojito Wedge Jello Shots:
1 ½C Fresh Watermelon Puree (strained of pulp into a juice)
1C Sugar
4 Envelopes of Unflavored Gelatin
½C Fresh Lime Juice
Pink Dye, Optional (to make them a little brighter)
4 Stems of Fresh Mint Leaves
1C White Rum
Fresh Minced Mint, For Garnishing
Homemade Black Raw Sugar or Watermelon Pop Rocks, For Garnishing

Directions:
1. Preparing the Watermelon Mojito Jello: In a pot, combine the watermelon juice and sugar over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin. Add the lime juice and 4 mint stems (with leaves). Allow that to steep for 10-15 minutes. Remove the mint stems and stir in the rum if using.
2. Prepping the Limes: In the meantime hollow out your lime shells (we used roughly a large bag of limes for all the jello filling). This is probably the hardest part of making these. I used a small sharp knife to carve around the inside of the limes and then a melon baller to scoop out the centers. If the insides don't look perfect don't worry! Mine looked far from perfect. Be sure to leave the limes cut in halves until after the jello has set, then you can slice them into wedges.
3. Finishing the Shots: Fill each lime shell with the jello mixture and sprinkle in some chopped fresh mint (from the remaining leaves on that 3rd stem). Place in the refrigerator and allow them to set for at least 3 hours. Cut into wedges and finish by garnishing with fresh chopped mint and a sprinkle some black raw sugar (or watermelon pop rocks if you are feeling crazy) for the “watermelon” look.

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