Cardamom Vanilla Coconut "Jelly" (Gelatin)

Quite some time ago, my husband picked up a case of coconut milk at Costco. I occasionally use coconut milk in curries or stews, and I've been wanting to try it in other types of dishes. Unfortunately, I've not done much experimenting and the cans are not getting any younger. Through link hopping, I ran across a recipe for coconut jelly. In the U.S., "jelly" is what we spread on our toast, not what we call a gelatin-based dessert like this. However, in Australia and Japan, it seems, they call them jellies.

No matter what you call this, it's a wobbly, almost pudding-like dessert which is pretty tasty. I should note that I haven't exactly tried the recipe as I'm going to list it here because my result was far too sweet. I'm placing the modified recipe here so that, when I repeat this in the future, it'll be at a more appropriate sweetness level. I made a mistake when modifying the original recipe and used half as much coconut milk but the same amount of sugar, so mine is actually twice a sweet as it should have been! I used a full cup instead of a half cup, as should have been the case when scaling down the recipe.

Cardamom Vanilla Coconut Jelly:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 5 grams gelatin powder (about 1.5 tbsp.)
• 1 green cardamom pod
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar or granular Splenda (or 12 Splenda packets)
• 1 cup cold water
  

Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and add the sugar (or Splenda) and cardamom pod. Heat the coconut milk until quite hot but not boiling. Crush the cardamom pod with your spoon after it is softened (to release more flavor). Pour the hot coconut milk into a bowl (making sure the pod goes with it). Cover the bowl to keep the liquid warm.

Wash the saucepan and add 1 cup of cold water. Add the gelatin powder and allow it to sit and dissolve for about 10 minutes. Heat the water and gelatin until quite hot (again, do not boil) and make sure the gelatin is dissolved. Add the coconut milk mixture and heat over low heat, stirring occasionally. Heat it for about 10 minutes (making sure it does not boil).

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Allow it to cool until you can comfortable handle it. You can now pour it into whatever mold you want to use. Note that you will either need to skim the mixture with a mesh scoop to get out the cardamom bits or pour into your mold through a strainer (I just used a tea strainer for mine). I just used a silicon muffin pan and a couple of very small ramekins. Refrigerate overnight before unmolding.

All but one of mine popped perfectly out of the mold. I'm mainly annoyed at myself for making them so damn sweet that I'm not getting the full subtle flavor effect that I'm sure is masked by the double sweetness. I'm still going to eat them, or at least try to. Mine made 8 servings at about 80 calories each (if made with Splenda). Because I used full fat coconut milk, there was a little waxy "crust" on the top which helped give the jelly stability when I removed it from the mold. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see it as a slightly whiter disc on the bottom. This separation is likely fattier than the rest of the jelly and you can choose not to eat it if you want to save a few calories.

by Shari (Orchid64)