Tuesday, March 12, 2013

kombucha finger gelatin


A wonderful thing has happened: I have discovered a beautiful marriage between the super-beverage, kombucha, and the super-food gelatin.

Did you know that gelatin is a super-food?  It is - real gelatin, that is.  (HERE is an article about it, but there is a lot of information out there if you decide to go looking.)  I'm not talking about the technicolor stuff shelved in your grocery store's pudding aisle.  Stay away from that artificial junk.  Made from the connective tissues of healthy animals, the best gelatin is from grass-fed cows.   Great Lakes Gelatin and Bernard Jensen are good places to buy real, healthy gelatin.

I've read a few different recipes for kombucha gelatin, and I didn't like the idea of heating the kombucha.  After all, heating fermented foods damages the microorganisms which provide those healthful benefits.  But then  Kimi from The Nourishing Gourmet posted her recipe for Kombucha "Jello" which didn't place the kombucha into the heat at all - bingo!

This finger gelatin recipe is based off of The Nourishing Gourmet's wonderful idea.  You can use kombucha purchased at a store or home-brewed stuff.  I used blackberry and chose to strain the fermented berries out.  The kids really enjoyed this; even my sole son who doesn't care for kombucha said "This is good!"  I'm so pleased to have a fun way to serve such nourishing stuff to my family.


Kombucha Finger Gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
6 teaspoons gelatin
2-4 Tablespoons honey (depending on how sweet/tart your kombucha is)
2 cups flavored kombucha

In a medium saucepan, add water then sprinkle gelatin over it.  Let this rest 5 minutes.   After 5 minutes, stir in your honey and turn the heat to medium.  Stir and heat for several minutes, allowing the gelatin to dissolve completely.  Make certain it is dissolved - trust me, you do not want a gritty result.

Remove from heat.  At this point you can stir the kombucha into the mixture, or transfer everything to a glass bowl to combine.  Stir well, then pour into an 8x8 or 9x9 glass pan.  Refrigerate, then cut and serve.

Enjoy!




2 comments:

Ami said...

Interesting, and I wish I was closer so you could add me to your list of kombucha students. ;) I don't know anyone locally who makes/drinks it. Anyway, I usually don't comment on typos on blogs (I'm sure there are many on my own), but being a recipe... you left out the unit for gelatin. So, 6 tablespoons? Or something else?

Mindy said...

Thanks, Ami! It's fixed now.