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The Wild Red Wave is a unique alcohol Jell-O Christmas party dessert packed with holiday “spirit.” (It contains more than a fifth of whipped cream vodka.) It’s as delicious as it looks and easily could be the standout dessert at your adult holiday party. It is labor-intensive, but when you balance that against its make-ahead-ability and its incredible wow factor, its well worth it.

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Makes 20 Single-Shot Servings

There are many flavors of red Jell-O, and although for most of them the particular shade of red is similar, they’re different enough that it’s worth using different flavors. If you want to be super kazh, you can serve slices in napkins and eat them with your fingers. Enjoy responsibly; each slice is the equivalent of a single cocktail. To make a less alcoholic or non-alcoholic version, substitute water for any amount (or all) of the vodka.

Ingredients

3½ packets of unflavored gelatin
5 small (3 oz.) boxes of red Jell-O
1 large (6 oz.) box of red Jell-O
1 fifth + ⅓-cup of whipped cream vodka, thoroughly chilled in the freezer
10½ oz. vanilla yogurt

Directions

1. First, you’ll have to create a tilting prop. Loosely crumple three 2-foot pieces of aluminum foil, stack them on top of one another, and gently press them together to get them to stay that way. Press one side of the bottom of a Bundt pan firmly down on the foil. The pan should sit stably on the prop/countertop, but it should be unlevel. To check the tilt, pour ¾-cup of water into the pan. Most of the water should run to the low side, but there should be at least a small amount of water in the high side. Press the sides of the crumpled foil sideways into the pan, to help create as good an impression of the pan as you can. Pour out the water and dry the pan. Spray the pan with non-stick spray and gently wipe the pan, leaving a light film.
2. Then, mix up the Jell-O one box at a time. For the small boxes: Start by softening ½-packet (1 tsp) of unflavored gelatin in ¾-cup water. Then, heat it over med-low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved. Add a box of Jell-O, stirring and heating for two minutes. The Jell-O should fully dissolve before the two minutes are up, but even so, heat and stir for two full minutes. Off heat, stir in ½-cup of vodka. Return the vodka to the fridge. Pour ¾-cup of the vodka-Jell-O mixture into the Bundt pan and place the pan (seated on the prop) in the fridge.  Whisk 3 Tbs yogurt, one at a time, into the remaining vodka-Jell-O mix. Whisk thoroughly, so that the mixture is completely homogenized. Check the Jell-O in the Bundt pan by lightly touching it with your finger. It should feel tacky, but when you pull your finger away, none of the Jell-O should adhere to your finger. If it does, continue chilling, checking every three-to-five minutes.
   

   The Wild Red Wave: Feed Your Inner Lumberjack

   Once it passes the chill test, remove it from the fridge, being careful to hold the prop in place. Set the pan on the counter, then lift it off the prop, rotate it counterclockwise just enough that the next matching part of the Bundt pattern will fit perfectly into the prop, and set the pan back onto the prop. Pour in the yogurt-Jell-O mix carefully, so as not to disturb the lower layer. A funnel can make this easy: hold the tip of the funnel close to the lower Jell-O layer and at an angle, and slowly pour the yogurt mixture into the funnel. Return the pan to the fridge. Repeat with the other small boxes. The large box should be the last one that you add to the pan. Because it’s large, you need to double the water, unflavored gelatin, vodka, and yogurt that get mixed into it. When you add the yogurt half of this box – which should be the very last layer you add – abandon the prop.

3. Chill overnight.
4. Unmold and serve. To unmold, work your way around the edge of the pan, gently pulling the Jell-O away from the pan. Then, dip the pan – as close to the lip as you dare – into a sink filled with moderately hot water, for 10 seconds. Place a serving plate upside down, over the pan. Invert and give the pan a couple smacks before carefully lifting the pan off the Jell-O. When slicing portions, if you use a serrated knife, pushing it directly down through the Jell-O without any kind of sawing action, you’ll produce a pattern in the slice that complements the Jell-O ribbons. If you use a smooth blade, your slices will have a smooth finish, which is also quite attractive.

Alcohol Jell-O Christmas Party Dessert: Riding The Wild Red Wave

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Other Vodka Jell-O Recipes for Christmas/Holiday Parties

The Wild Red Jell-O Wave photographed for this post used cherry, raspberry, strawberry-banana, cherry-lemonade, black cherry, and fruit punch flavors.
Credits for all images on this page: hover over image and/or green caption text. Click to jump to source.

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