Walking Dead Bloody Jello Shot Brains

Walkers at the perimeter… I reckon they’ll break through in about three days. If we don’t figure out something by then we’ll be in big trouble.

That’s right, the popular drama tv series The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, February 8th. And I’ve cooked up a batch of jelly filled jello shot brains to celebrate. These are particularly tasty and I found that the jelly center not only added a devilishly bloody looking twist, it complimented the taste of the jello shot perfectly.

The yield from this recipe depends a lot on the size of your mold. I only had one tray with four individual brain molds which held about a quarter of a cup each. A few silicone molds would be ideal for this, or one large mold would be really neat as well.

Also, anyone who knows me well knows that I am a jello shot fanatic. Though I’ve never made or eaten any before, I’ve always viewed them as an awesome edible art form. Seriously, Google ‘unique jello shots’ sometime. You’re welcome.

Be careful: Eating too many of these might make you feel a bit zombie-like tomorrow morning.

Ready? Let’s go.

Gamers, grab your mats:

• 3 envelopes unflavored gelatin (Knox is a great brand, though hard to find near me)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 14 oz. (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
• 5 oz. 100 proof vodka
• 5 oz. sangria
• 5 oz. Red Passion Alize
• filling – any red jelly, jam, or pie filling will do. I used strawberry jelly, but raspberry anything would give your shots a more gruesome, bloody look.

Before we get started, a word on your alcohols: As I am pretty much the only person in the house who drinks I do not keep much liquor around at all. Most of what is on hand was either a gift or purchased for cooking sauces and things. As such, there are several other popular variations you may want to try. Nuts and Berries is a good one and keeps with the survivalist theme of the shot (5 oz. vodka, 5 oz. raspberry liqueur, 5 oz. hazelnut liqueur). Peach and watermelon are also good go-to flavors and have a good fleshy color without needing to add in food coloring. If I get lucky enough to make this again, my vote is for a ‘peaches n’ cream’ flavor.

You’d probably appreciate this more if you knew how many drink variations I tried before getting this just right – let’s just say I was a little tipsy for most of this!

Here’s a closer look at my alcohols:

To be fair, I wanted to pair the Alize with cranberry pomegranate juice but someone just haaaaaaad to drink it.

Pour your vodka into a medium bowl and sprinkle with unflavored gelatin. Allow to set for three minutes.

Guess who didn’t have vodka? After a couple of tenants drank off my vodka a few months ago I never repurchased. Substituted Alize for vodka. (._.)

Boil 1 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan and combine with vodka and gelatin. Stir until gelatin has dissolved.

I… I might’ve run out of room and had to up-size. I suck at measuring. Don’t judge me!

Once the gelatin has dissolved, stir in your other alcohols and sweetened condensed milk until well combined. It should have a reasonably disgusting pinkish-grey color, reminiscent of grey matter. If using other alcohols, a drop or so of food coloring (usually red or blue) may be needed.

Certifiably gross looking. Usually a turn off, this time a desired effect!

Lightly grease the inside of your brain mold(s) with cooking spray or oil. Wipe away any excess with a paper towel. Just a little will do – you don’t want to taste it but you do need to get your shots out cleanly. Spoon your jello shot mixture into your mold(s) until about half full. Don’t forget to set aside enough gelatin for the other half of your shots!

Depending on the stability of your mold, you may need to wrap the bottom in a towel. While cheap, this was thankfully a pretty sturdy mold. Yay, offbeat thrift stores!

Transfer mold to refrigerator for about 20 minutes to cool, then move to the freezer for another 45 minutes until set. It may look and feel a little grainy, but that’s okay.

Remove jello from freezer. If using a large mold, you will want to scoop out a little bit of the gelatin from the middle to fit your filling. As I was using small molds, this was not necessary. Spoon your filling into your mold, taking care not to let the filling touch the edges. For reference, I was able to fit about a teaspoon of filling into each of my molds. Like so:

Jelly-rific!

Seal your bloody looking surprise in with the rest of your gelatin.

And now, the waiting begins…

Refrigerate overnight or until set. To serve, gently unmold and garnish as desired. If using a large jello mold, set a flat plate upside down on top of your mold and flip the mold and plate together. Remove mold. Optional: Drizzling with raspberry or strawberry syrup adds to the overall bloody effect. As you’ll see, the tops of my brains were able to slide right off to reveal the yummy red surprise inside and make the shots easier to consume without getting too messy.

Close up. Loving the textured tops!

Now I get to be reminded for the next few days that I’m the only one who drinks as I have to eat all of them myself. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing sometimes.

Q: But what did you do with the rest of the jello if your mold only held one cup?

A: I was dumb and thought putting the rest of it into the jelly bean molds was a good idea. Now it looks like I’m popping a fistful of pills every time I want a shot. That’s bad. Drugs are bad. Don’t do drugs.Unless they’re prescribed to you. Then you should probably take them. Yeah.

So rejoice, make Bloody Brain Jello Shots, and watch the season premiere of The Walking Dead. Catch you again next week for something I’ve been looking forward to.

Cheers,

Leisel

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