Water Ripple Agar Jelly

Hi everyone! For today's new post, we are making a water ripple Agar jelly. This dessert is so beautiful! It make me wish for more rainy and stormy summers, all that warm air bringing in the moisture from the mountains in Colorado which brew some clouds over the plains.

This Agar jelly is firmer that the usual gelatin base dessert. It has a crunchier texture which will appeal some. If you grew up eating agar-agar desserts in Asia, you would be accustomed to the different mouth feel. Agar-agar is also plant base, so this a vegan friendly recipe.

So let's get to it!

Ingredients:

700g of white granulated sugar (3 cups) (or reduced to 2 cups for a less sweet version)

600ml (3 cups) of cool water

14 g of Agar threads

60g of corn syrup

Tools you will need:

7 by 5 inch clean, unstained baking pan or pyrex

Plastic wrap (No adhesive)

Circle, metal cookie cutter of various sizes

2 food colorings in Blue and turquoise

2 stain proof small bowls or ramekins

In a medium size pot, pour in your cool water. Soak your agar threads for 30 minutes.

While the threads are soaking, pour just a drop of vegetable oil on your metal or glass pan. Use a kitchen paper and coat the sides and bottom with oil. We just want to lightly greased it so the agar jelly will not stick.

When the threads have soften, place the pot unto the stove and start cooking in on medium heat. When most of it has dissolved, pour in your sugar and corn syrup.

Then increase the heat to a rolling boil for 15 minutes or until the agar mixture has no remnants of threads. If you need to cook longer, go ahead since our stove temperature varies.

Once cooked and the agar mixture is clear. Pour about half a cup of mixture into each ramekins.

Color them with just 1 small drop of food coloring and mix.

Randomly pour the dyed agar mixture at the bottom of the greased pan.

Let the color sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes.

While waiting, place the main pot on the stove, on warm, so the undyed agar mixture does not set.
After 30 minutes, gently ladle in the undyed mixture over the top of the dyed layer.

To remove air bubbles, place a plastic wrap and let it touch the surface.

Gently peel the plastic wrap immediately so the air bubbles will pop, resulting in a smooth clear surface.

Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm to touch.

Once refrigerated and harden, we are ready to cut!

You will need:

A clean cutting board

A very sharp knife

A plastic scraper

Directions:

Using the plastic scrape, run along the edges to unstick from the pan.

The great thing about the scraper is that it won't accidently slice into the jelly.

Using a sharp knife, slice the edges to make a nice clean cut. If your pan has straight sides this is optional.

I like to reserve the slices layers for my kids to nibble on or place them to make a pretty drink!

Warm a pan on your stove and place your cookie cutters upside down. the top part has a thicker edge which will make a nice broad line.

Make sure to heat the pan and cutters really hot. If it's not hot enough, the design will be too faint to see.

DO NOT TOUCH the cutters! It is EXTREMELY HOT. Use silicone tongs to ease grabbing the cutters.

Place one hot circle either starting from the smallest or largest and randomly make some ripple designs on your agar jelly.

You will know that the cutters are hot enough when they sizzle when they come in contact with the jelly surface.

Continue with your ripples until you are satisfied with the design.

Aren't these pretty! This would be a fun agar jelly project for you to try. Have fun and all the best!

Also, if you get bored of eating agar jelly whole, serve them in a cool fun way! I used the sliced edges and chopped them into bite sized cubes to serve with an icy cold flavored seltzer. The sweet jelly will slowly dissolve into the carbonated water and sweeten the drink. How about adding some liquor and your favorite cocktail mixed? I would definitely give that a go! :D

This is a question I had in my mind and something that I know people would ask. The pre-made Jello that can be found in any grocery store is so easy to make and it makes me wonder or not I can use this product for my project.

As much as I love Agar jelly, my kids who grew up in America prefer those super jiggly Jello cups. They are not a fan of the agar because of the different mouthfeel. Jello melts in your mouth, while Agar requires some chew. (That's why Jello is served to hospital/hospice patients because they are dissolvable in your mouth, so it makes it a safe food for patients who have trouble swallowing solid food).

Turns out, you can! But we have to change the ratio of water to jello mix.

You will need:

6oz box of JELL-O mix, in Berry Blue flavor

3 cups of water

(Note: We are not using the full four cups as stated in the instructions given, because we want the jello to be slightly firmer and won't fall apart)

Directions:

Pour the berry blue jello mix into 2 cups of water into your pot and cook it on medium heat till the granules are fully dissolved. Once dissolved, remove from heat and pour in 1 cup of cold water.

Pour your jello mixture into a pre-greased glass pan.

Use a plastic wrap to remove the air bubbles that floats at the surface. For Jello mix, I noticed I have to remove the bubbles three times using new plastic wrap for it to be crystal clear.

Let it set for a full 3 hours or until firm to touch.

Once firm and set, gently scrape the sides and turn it over to a cutting board. This jello will be firm BUT super fragile and jiggly, so handle with care.

Note: If you want you jelly to be firmer and not risk it breaking, I recommend using only 2 cups of water. But it will be firmer and not jiggle as much. If you like non-jiggly jello, do this. But it will have a different mouthfeel, so take note.

Like the previous instructions, you want to heat your circle metal cookie cutters on a pan till very hot.

Handle with silicone tongs, do not use your hands!

FOR JELLO, I learnt that it is better to use the sharper ends of the cookie cutter instead of the rounded blunt ends. Because Jello is more heat sensitive than agar, it melts almost instantly.

So when I used the blunt ends, the lines were blurred because it melted too fast.

So I flipped the cutters the other way round and heat the sharper ends instead. Hence, it gave a nice clean, neat circle line.

Once you have placed your design, sliced them into squares.

Now because jello is so jiggly and fragile, I strongly recommend that you lift the cut squares with a plastic scraper instead of a spoon or a knife which will just break it apart immediately.

and tada! Water ripple Jello sliced served cold.

All the best!