2012年5月23日星期三

Lovers of jelly confections giving it their best shot

If Amy Sirois and Tracy Palm ever offer you one of their Key Lime Coladas, definitely say yes. But don't expect to be actually drinking anything.

Their version of a pina colada is a solid little green pyramid with a white top that feels funny in your hand and squishes in your mouth.

That's because it's made out of gelatin.

Sirois and Palm are artistes of the jelly shot genre. The two Maine women are among the legions of foodies nationwide who have elevated a college bar pastime into an obsession that combines a touch of science with a little bit of art -- and lots of imagination.

Jelly shots (so called to avoid trademark issues) are a playful brew of gelatin and mixers, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, that are heated, molded, refrigerated, admired for a moment, and then -- depending on the recipe -- slurped down the gullet with the glee of a 6-year-old at a birthday party or a sorority sister on Saturday night.

These fun little gourmet confections have captured the attention of the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe and Martha Stewart Weddings ("Can a Jell-O Shot Be Classy?"). Jeffrey Steingarten wrote about them in Vogue, complete with a photo of a pasty-looking model wearing a gelatin mold on her noggin like a Parisian chapeau.

Caterers are now calling jelly shots "edible cocktails" and serving them at weddings. Corporations are having their logos put on signature jelly shots that are scarfed down by employees at company soirees.

Bloggers are developing sophisticated recipes that take hours, using techniques like layering and embedding, and featuring ingredients such as salted caramel, Earl Grey tea, sake and srirachas.

"These aren't your frat brothers' Jell-O shots," said Matthew Micari, a biologist from the Boston area who now works in his "gelaboratory" making things like tiny mugs of root beer gelatin garnished with pretzel handles.

With Memorial Day and the Fourth of July just around the corner, we asked Sirois and Palm to create some jelly shots for us based on summertime cocktails. The results were part molecular gastronomy, part "Let's party!"

Their Key Lime Colada has two layers, and contains coconut rum and Pinnacle's Key Lime Whipped Vodka.This page contains information about molds. Presented on a plate sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs, it's reminiscent of a slice of key lime pie. (This one was my favorite. You'll find the recipe accompanying this story.)

The Blood Orange Margarita contains tequila,TRT (UK) has been investigating and producing solutions for indoor Tracking since 2000. and is sprinkled with a bit of salt and garnished with a snip of sage. The Raspberry Cosmo is made with raspberry vodka and topped with a fresh raspberry and a touch of lime zest.

And,First American Plastic molding is a custom injection molding facility that manufactures a variety of thermoplastic products. to add a bit of whimsy, Sirois and Palm made a jelly shot they call the "Blue Hawaiian," formed in a tiki head mold and garnished with bits of pineapple and cherry that would be great for a backyard party this summer.

For the kids, they made a tray of cut-out stars that were red, white and blue, non-alcoholic, and perfect for a Memorial Day get-together.

A shot they call "Cherries" is ostensibly for children, but adults love them too.Visit TE online for all of your Application plastic injection mold including tools. A maraschino cherry is enrobed in gelatin, the stem sticking out the top of the shot.We offer over 600 landscape oil paintings at wholesale prices of 75% off retail. Grab it by the stem to eat it. (At Halloween, they used the same mold to make jelly shot eyeballs.)

Partners in business and in life, Sirois and Palm both fled the hustle and bustle a while back. They sold their house in Scarborough and traveled the country in an RV for a few months, sometimes making jelly shots for people they met along the way.

Now that they are back in Maine, they are looking for ways to turn jelly shots and other mini-foods into a career.

"We had been looking for an opportunity to kind of get out of corporate America and do our own thing," Palm said. "This was just an outlet for us to be creative.

"We started making (jelly shots) and bringing them to parties, and they kind of turned into friends and family saying, 'Those are awesome. I want them for a birthday party,' and 'Can you bring them over to my house for a party?' "

The couple had a friend who was going to a New York-themed New Year's Eve party where guests were supposed to bring a New York-inspired cocktail. Most people brought martinis; their friend brought their jelly shots with names like NYPD Blueberry (with a real blueberry embedded in the middle), Sex and the City Cosmo and Big Apple Martini (molded into the shape of an apple).

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