This was a hit at Hoover’s BBQ. Its top layer is lime jello with vodka and blueberries and the bottom layer is tonic and Cool Whip. So far I’ve been using household items as jello molds, this being a Gladware container, but my first real jello mold is on order.
Vodka Tonic Jello
The Jello Mold Mistress 
hi victoria – so enjoyed hearing your interview with lynne on splendid table last weekend. i know the vodka tonic jello was posted a couple years ago, but can you point me to the actual recipe for it? – a friend of mine is turning 50 soon, and vodka tonic is her drink of choice. i think this would be such a hit at her birthday bash! thanks!
This mold was one of my early recipe attempts and I did not write down the recipe… it was more of an experiment. But I can tell you that for any jello mold creation you want to use 25% less water than the package says for preparation to get a firmer mold. And you can replace some of the water in the preparation with other liquids. So in this case I used 3/4 cup boiling water to prepare a 3 oz package of lime jello. Stir for 2 minutes until all the granules are dissolved. Then stir in 1/2 cup cold tonic and a 1/2 cup cold vodka. If you want to suspend fruit in your mold, refrigerate the jello until it thickens to a gel and then stir in the fruit and spoon it into the mold. I used blueberries, but I think mandarin orange slices or sliced strawberries would be excellent. With fruit the yield will be about 2 cups. To make more, just double the quantities.
Good luck and thanks so much for visiting my blog!!
thanks for the speedy reply. i am going to have so much fun drinking, er, making this recipe 🙂 and those guidelines will come in handy as i find myself inspired by your blog in the future!
ok, am i becoming a nervous nellie here or what. 🙂 the more i compare your detailed notes to the picture, the more i get confused. in the top layer (what would’ve been the bottom of your plastic container), the blueberries are suspended in a clear gel, and the bottom layer looks to be a lime jello/coolwhip mix. the directions, though, tell me that the fruit would be suspended in lime jello. surely this is a reading comprehension problem on my end? are there really two layers, or is that visually deceptive? and per the caption below the picture, how much tonic is mixed into the coolwhip? – if you’d rather email me directly with a step-by-step, feel free! meanwhile, i have rhubarb vodka setting up in the root cellar and i’m trying to be patient and find other outlets for myself rather than drinking that bottle prematurely. 🙂
Yes, there were two layers originally, but it was more of an experiment so I don’t remember the exact proportions and I don’t think I was partially thrilled with the cool whip layer. If you want to give it a shot, use the same recipe as above but sub out the cool whip for vodka. But, especially if you are using home-steeped rhubarb vodka (which sounds amazing!), I would leave the cool whip out and add more vodka and fruit. The resulting mold will look more like this one (with recipe attached): https://jellomoldmistress.com/2009/07/10/sparkling-vodka-melon-mold/
hello again – after doing a test run earlier in the week and learning from what didn’t go exactly as planned, i’m happy to report the jello mold was a big hit. not only did it win over skeptics who initially thought it an odd concept, it had gin drinkers wondering how it would taste with their preferred beverage, and the birthday girl really liked it too. i stuck with your guideline of 25% less water, and i used a small percentage of that water to bloom a packet of unflavored gelatin; my test run just didn’t firm up well enough for me, so i figured that a little more gelatin would do the trick. i used a bundt pan since i don’t have a bona fide jello mold, but now i’m intrigued enough i might have to go get one. LOL! thanks for the tips, victoria!
Glad it worked out! Happy to help!