Let’s get wild with wild blueberries. This low carb Jello Ring is a fun and healthy take on a totally retro dessert. Whether you call it stained glass jello, jello cake, or gelatin dessert, it’s an eye-catching summer recipe. This post is sponsored by Wyman’s of Maine.
Let’s discuss wild blueberries for a second here. I am becoming convinced that they should be renamed wild Purple-berries. Oh sure, so they look all blue from the outside. Or really, a deep, deep indigo. But they bleed purple all over. Cook them, and you get purple juice. Stir the into a cake or a muffin batter, and you get purple swirls. They stain your fingers (and your clothes if you’re not careful) a distinct purple. Especially the frozen wild blueberries, which I love to keep on hand at all times for smoothies and baking and just general snacking. . My kids love to eat them right out of the bag and their purple-tipped fingers are a dead giveaway that they’ve been into the freezer.
I think I’ve told you that my dad was a serious wild blueberry lover. Apparently he passed that trait on to his grandchildren in spades. So I always purchase the big bag of Wyman’s Wild Blueberries and quite honestly, it doesn’t last that long in my house. And thank goodness, because as a mother of three kids (two of which are pre-teens now!), I am in that age old battle of trying to get them to make healthy choices. I’d love to tell you that, as a healthy low carb food blogger, I have it all figured out and I can get them to eat good stuff all the time. But it’s simply not true and I can use all the help I can get.
So wild blueberries to the rescue! They are pretty amazing little purple berries, with more antioxidants than almost all other fruits and vegetables. Wyman’s recently challenged me to “get wild” with my wild blueberry recipes. And I confess I was a bit stumped. I can think of all sorts of uses for wild blueberries but they all seem pretty darn tame. Pancakes, muffins, scones, cakes, smoothies, ice cream, popsicles…distinctly un-wild stuff. I considered drinks and cocktails, being the wild party animal that I am (not so much) but I have a low carb blueberry mojito recipe already.
I decided to go a slightly different direction and do a fun and “wild” dessert that looks super cool and eye-catching. It is actually very retro and old school, and yet still very much out of my realm and my comfort zone. I guess you could say that for me, this Blueberries & Cream Jello Ring is really quite wild. It’s fun, it’s funky, and it tastes like blueberry ice cream! Wild blueberry ice cream. It’s a great way to get all the amazing anti-oxidant benefits of those purple-berries, as well as the gut-healing properties of grassfed gelatin.
Blueberries and Cream Jello Ring
Ingredients
Blueberry Jello
- 1 3/4 cups Wyman's frozen wild blueberries
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp grassfed gelatin
Vanilla Jello
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp grassfed gelatin
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Additional 1/4 cup frozen blueberries optional
Instructions
Blueberry Jello:
- Line a 9x9 square baking pan with parchment paper and set a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into the sieve and press on the solids to release as much juice as possible. Transfer all the liquids back into the pan. Whisk in the sweetener and gelatin and bring back to a simmer, whisking continuously until they have completely dissolved.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Cut into cubes.
Vanilla Jello:
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the water to just a simmer. Add the gelatin and whisk briskly to dissolve.
- Whisk in the cream, sweetener and vanilla extract. Allow to cool to lukewarm (should be still liquid and not really beginning to firm up).
To Assemble:
- Lightly spray a bundt pan or jello mold with coconut oil spray and wipe out the excess (you want it very lightly greased but you should not be able to see drops of oil or they will show up on your final product).
- Pour about 1/3 of the vanilla mixture into the mold and sprinkle with the blueberry jello cubes. Pour the remaining vanilla mixture over and sprinkle with some of the extra wild blueberries, if using. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 more hours.
- To release, fill a large bowl or your sink with very warm water (not hot or boiling). Place the whole pan into the water so that it comes up the sides but not over the top of the pan (you don't want water to actually touch the jello), and let sit 20 to 30 seconds. Remove from the bowl and cover with a serving platter, then flip upside down together. Give a few good shakes and the ring should release in one piece.
Nutrition
Many thanks to Wyman’s of Maine for partnering with me to bring you this recipe.