While I have had a variety of cupcakes and cookies and breads and brownies in my oven over the course of the past few months, my cousin Janelle has had only one thing in hers: a bun. That bun in Janelle’s oven, now known as Ellie, made her grand entrance into the world while I was in the midst of posting about peaches last week, but today I finally got around to making some jellies for Ellie.

I may have cheated a bit on the first batch, recipe courtesy of Skip to my Lou. Since last week I wrote that cutting and then baking or frying store-bought tortillas does not really count as “homemade” tortilla chips, I can’t rightfully say that mixing a box of flavored Jello and unflavored Knox gelatin together really counts as homemade gummi candies. But that is exactly what I did for the red jellies.

I then made a second batch using a recipe from about.com. For the juice, I put a pear and an apple down the juicer chute (yes, there is a juicer in the house but not a food processor), then mixed the juice with unflavored gelatin, corn syrup, sugar, and gel food color.

I used two candy mold trays for each batch of jellies. To make pouring the mixture into the candy molds a bit easier, transfer the liquid into a measuring cup with a spout or other small pitcher. Once the jellies set, it is necessary to use a firm hand to remove them from the molds. I was a bit timid with this at first, thinking that I would tear the candies, but they held their shape just fine.

As for the taste, I preferred the first “cheat” recipe. Those jellies tasted more flavorful and had a firmer texture, which I preferred.  All in all, this was a fun, easy project that returned some tasty, cute jellies. Just not as cute as Ellie…

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