Jello with fruit - help!

[2sunshines]

So you know those jello dishes that have fresh or canned fruit suspended within?

How do you go about making that?

I know, probably pretty basic, but I'm unfortunately kind of clueless...

So, when you make jello, it's the consistency of water. If you dump fruit in then, it will be all at the bottom. Not what I want... :td

So I imagine that it's a skill of partly chilling the jello and then adding fruit, but how do you know when it's partly chilled? And when you add the fruit at that point, do you just dump it on (evenly throughout of course) or do you put it in and stir it? Or will stirring it make it chunky (I imagine it might...).

Someone please walk me through making this.

[Thia]

Hmmm, my grandmother always did that, but for the life of me, I can't remember how. I'll be watching...

[DogwoodMama]

My IL's have this at literally *every* meal, but basically the fruit is toward the bottom... but it's in these little dishes so there's not *that* much jello above the fruit. I think that my G-MIL waits for it to set up a tad and then puts the fruit in and then sticks it in the fridge right away.

[hbmamma]

How I've done it (MIL taught me :) & combination personal experience) is add your hot water, then instead of cold water, use ice cubes*. It helps it set up a lot faster. Once it has started to gel a bit, gently stir/fold in your fruit. This is how you get fruit to set up throughout the whole thing...not just the bottom (or top if it's flipped :shifty).

*If you don't have or don't want to use ice, just park it in the refridge for about 15-20 mins or until it has started to gel enough to hold the fruit...like a pudding consistency. :grin

HTH

[2sunshines]

So, when it starts to gel a little you do mix the fruit in. It doesn't make the jello break into chunks or anything?

[hbmamma]

You don't want to wait that long when it starts to harden...just when it starts to thicken (you can tell this when you're stirring it and it just seems a thicker than water...kinda like pudding...kinda
make sense??

Also it makes a difference with the kinds of fruit you use...crushed pineapple is the easiest - it's lighter and less dense then let's say, apple or Mandarin oranges...sometimes it just will sink to the bottom :shrug