Edible Rainbow Cups

The Children’s Day is near and I wanted to make something colorful and fun. I think I succeeded, the kids were especially amused by the fact that they could eat their cup after they had finished drinking from it. The cups can also be used as serving bowls (see photos).

Each cup can have it’s special flavour.
Before we start let’s repeat something we learnt at the elementary school – the colors of the rainbow are: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. For those who can’t remember there’s a clever mnemonic rhyme: “Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain” – the first letter of each word is the first letter of a color.

To make 7 cups you’ll need:

- 7 plastic cups of 0,4 l

- 7 plastic cups of 0,2 l

- 14 thin wooden sticks

- gelatin*

- food colorant**

- flavours***

- scissors

- something to punch small holes in the cups with (e.g. manicure scissors)

* There are different types of gelatin which can be prepared in different ways. I use gelatin powder which can’t be boiled. I Boil the water with sugar, then stop the stove and mix in the gelatin. Also, to make the cups use double amount of gelatin to the given amount of water according to the instructions on the package. So for example if the instructions say 10 grams of gelatin on 100 milliliters of water, I use 20 grams of gelatin on 100 milliliters of water.

** You can just get the following colors: red, yellow, blue, black. And mix the other colors as follows: orange = red + yellow green = blue + yellow indigo = blue + black violet= blue + red

*** You can just sweeten the gelatin with sugar but it’s more fun with the flavours. Replace half of the water with the liquid you use as flavour and matching the color of the cup. Here are some suggestions: red – tomato juice orange – orange juice yellow – blended banana green – blended mint leaves blue – smashed blueberries in small amount to keep the color really blue indigo – smashed blackberried violet – smashed blueberries

Punch small holes in all cups at the upper edge. Each cup will have 4 holes, always 2 holes on the opposite side so that you can pull through the wooden sticks as shown.

Prepare the gelatin according to the instructions on the package. As I said, I use double amount of gelatin. I put some sugar in the water, boil it, stop the stove and mix in the gelatin. If you add something to give the gelatin flavor, replace half of the water with the flavored liquid.

Ad the food colorant and mix in well.

Let the gelatin cool just so it doesn’t steam anymore and pour it in the bigger cup. (photo 1)

Insert the smaller cup in the gelatin and align the holes in the small cup with the holes in the big cup. Pull through the wooden sticks to keep the small cup in place. If you want the gelatin cup to be smaller, just use less gelatin. Sometimes, to fixate the small cup better (when making a smaller gelatin cup) you’ll need to punch the holes lower. (photos 2 and 3)

Repeat all steps with the other colors – in the end you’ll have 7 colors. Let the cups cool down and place them in the fridge for at least 2 hours. (photo 4)

Then take out the smaller cup first. Be careful and first press the smaller cup to unstick it from the walls of the gelatin cup. (photo 1)

To take off the bigger cup press it, put a finger between the plastic and the gelatin and run it around slowly. You can also cut the plastic cup and “peel” it off but be careful not to cut the gelatin with the plastic. (photos 2 and 3)

The cup is done! Do this with the rest of the cups and your rainbow party can start! (photos 3 - 5)

You can drink cold drinks from these cups. (photos 1 - 3)

You can use them to serve food (cold). (photo 4)

And in the end you can eat it! (photos 5 and 6)

Enjoy!