Broken Glass Jello

This is a remarkably beautiful dessert and very refreshing. I make mine in a square glass casserole with a lid for a beautiful presentation. But it is beautiful on any plate.

Ingredients:

4 small boxes (3 oz. each) of Jell-O in different colors. (I recommend a red, yellow, green and blue)
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (NOT the same as evaporated milk)
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (Knox) or 1/2 oz unflavored gelatin (2T).

Equipment:

One to four containers (no more than 64 square inches each) to make each color of Jello in. No, they don't all have to be the same size, and no, they don't have to be square or rectagular or even flat... anything with straight sides or sides slanted outward will work. (I use glass peanut butter jars — I collect them for uses like this — and they take up minimum room in the icebox.) Your goal is a pan that is small enough to keep the Jello at least 1/3" thick when it firms up and that has a mouth big enough to get the jello out. Yes, the dish is prettier when all the colors are cut into cubes. No, it is not necessary to have everything cubed.
Casserole dish for final assembly.

Procedure: Note that this dish requires TWO cooling periods before it can be eaten: one to make the blocks, and then one to firm the entire dish. Each cooling period will need 3 hours. Unless you know a fast way to firm jello, plan ahead.

Stage one:

___ Dissolve each flavor in one cup of boiling water. Stir until dissolved.
___ Pour into one of the containers. If you don't have enough containers, make the colors in batches.
___ Put them in the icebox to chill for several hours so that they will keep their shape when you cut them.

Stage two:

___ When ready to assemble, sprinkle the unflavored gelatin on top of 1/2 c cold water and stir to dissolve.
___ You will need 1.5 cups of boiling water for the next step, so bring 2 cups water to a boil (I use the microwave). By the time it boils the gelatin should be fully dissolved and will have bloomed (expanded). Add 1.5 cups of boiling water to the gelatin and stir until dissolved.
___Add the can of condensed milk and stir until dissolved.
___ While the milk mixture cools, turn the Jello colors out onto a cutting board (use a spatula if necessary to get it out of the containers) and cut into small (one-inch on a side, maximum) blocks. You will have slivers and shreds. That is fine.
___ Carefully mix the blocks in a casserole or pan. An easy way to do this is to add 1/4 of each color at a time and repeat the layers until done.
___ CHECK THE TEMPERATURE OF THE MILK. Warm milk will dissolve smaller pieces. Tepid milk will dissolve shreds, but that's okay.
___ Pour the cooled milk mixture over the blocks. The blocks will start to float a bit.
___ Chill in the icebox.

Cut into blocks or scoop into plates and serve.

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