Cava Gelatin

I tried a similar recipe from Food Network Magazine July/August 2012 called Gelatin Bellinis. I didn’t have luck with them, but think it is a really neat idea. I will try them again using the help offered by Clairez…will check back later.

I made this for a Royal Wedding party in April. It is delicious and makes an elegant (and low calorie! presentation. I followed Claire Z.’s directions exactly – there was no mess in prep and it set up perfectly. I will definitely make this again for a celebration.

I tried this recipe twice, and they were a hit at my party! Here are a few tips/tricks:

1. I used 1 cup of water.
2. I added the sugar while the water was still boiling and on the heat source, let it dissolve (it dissolves almost immediately), and then poured it into a container.
3. Immediately after pouring it into the container, I poured in the gelatin packets (2 Knox gelatin packets) and stirred until it was completely dissolved (no clumps!)
4. I waited until the mixture was lukewarm – doesn’t need to be exactly room temperature
5. I slowly poured in the cava while stirring – I think stirring is important because if you don’t mix it well, then the water/gelatin mixture could separate from the cava as your pour. Then you’d have cava that doesn’t settle with clumps of jello water.

Although it should settle in 2-3 hours, I always make this ahead of time – either first thing in the morning, or even the night before the party.

Delicious and easy to make. Makes a hit every time I make it.

This ended up being a bit of a mess. Given the feedback on the website, I used 4 packets – which was way too much and it became a goey mess. I strained it out and it still wasn’t ready in 2 hours. I kept one overnight and it was ready the next day. If I try this again, I’d go with 2 packets / 8 hrs. This is more fun than delicious.

I thought I was following the instructions correctly, but my attempt to make this was a complete failure. The mixture never gelatinized.

I tried this recipe using one “envelope” of gelatin and the champagne never firmed up. The recipe states one “package”. How much is a package? Gelatin comes in different sizes/envelopes per box. I think Dave meant 4 “envelopes”, but he doesn’t state that clearly. And on the show, it only shows him pouring one envelope. Very confusing.

This was really interesting. The Cava is a bit pricey though. I may make it again with a cheaper (& sweeter) sparkling wine.

i followed this recipe to the letter and was disappointed with the results. it took several hours longer than the 2 stated in the recipe for it to gel. it wasn’t ready for my xmas eve brunch but our friends were kind anyway. i will try it again with my own modification of 2 packages of gelatin instead of 1 and use the whole bottle of cava. it would have been beautiful if it had worked with the rose cava i chose.

This recipe looked great on TV but never firmed up in my fridge – perhaps another packet of gelatin is needed? i followed it to a tee and it just did not get to the right consistency.