Maryellen's Pineapple Jello Rings & Piña Colada Molded Salad

Two gelatin desserts for the price of one!

It just wouldn't be a trip through the 20th Century without at least one recipe spotlighting the ubiquitous gelatin, right? Well, I've got two for you today: one straight out of the 1950's, and one that's a little more modern. Ironically, I liked the older recipe significantly better than the modern one, enough that I'm planning on bringing it along to my friend's 1970's themed house warming party in a few weeks. Can you guess which one is which? 

Both recipes also feature canned pineapple, and while that treat had been enjoyed by Americans since the turn of the 20th Century when James Dole opened his pineapple plantation on Oahu, it really found new life in the 1950's and 60's. Read on to see how this fruity treat could be adapted to pretty much anything your heart desired.

Food advertising is one of the most interesting ways of tracking food trends through time. They can give you a good idea of everything from what was the hot new item everyone wanted to make and show off to friends and family (remember the recent cake balls craze?) to how attitudes about food safety and nutrition have changed over time. 

In the mid-century, many companies were actively producing advertisements that included recipes you could make using their products. After admiring their beautiful staged photography and seeing how simple these treats would be to recreate yourself, you could rush off to the grocery store with your copy of The Saturday Evening Post in hand and buy up all the necessary ingredients. It's a lot of fun when I'm doing research at the Library of Congress about something completely unrelated and I stumble upon one of these ads telling me why I should buy Bisquik or French's Mustard. 

Dole was very big on these ads, like the one that inspired this post: pineapple rings suspended in lime jello. You make it right in the Dole pineapple can!

Recipes like this one were staples in the luau party trend of the mid-century. Dozens of advertisements emphasize the product's connection to Hawaii, and some even employ the use of other tropical fruits to make the dish look even more exotic and appealing. 

I love basically everything about this recipe. The product placement, the emphasis on how quick and convenient it is to make, even the kind of weird but appealing look of the final product make it quintessentially mid century. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to give it a try, as did my wife who is a bit of a pineapple nut. She's been having a good time with the recipes I've been spotlighting this month! 

This recipe is very easy to make, and really only requires two ingredients: a can of pineapple rings and one packet of lime gelatin. Although it does require use of the stove, it's easy enough that a younger chef could definitely take the lead on making it... with parental supervision of course, especially if they're anything like Maryellen. This is absolutely she or one of her sisters could whip up to help their mom out while planning a fun family dinner or a larger get together. 

You'll see I didn't end up using authentic Dole pineapple. My grocery store was all out of their rings, so I had to go with store brand. Oh well!

All you need to do is pour off the liquid from your can of pineapple, and then prepare your lime gelatin following the packet's instructions, but using half the amount of water it calls for. This will ensure your final product is really firm and can support the weight of the fruit! 

Pour your gelatin into the can with the pineapple rings and let it chill in the fridge for at least four hours before attempting to get it out.

After four hours (or several days in my case... it's been a busy summer!), run the can under hot water to loosen the sides and cut off the bottom of the can. Gently push the gelatin out onto a plate. Mine came out very easily, creating this delightful monstrosity!

As you can see, my pineapple floated up in the can, leaving a large bottom ring of Jell-O with no fruit. I think next time, I might try to suspend the fruit in the Jell-O by smooshing it down when the Jell-O has started to thicken, but hasn't fully firmed up yet. 

Slice it into rings and serve! Nice and easy, right?

Gelatin recipes of the 1950's, 60's and 70's were often marketed as being simple to put together, while still appearing elegant and fancy when all was said and done. I think this one fits that bill pretty nicely, as the final slices do look nice all laid out on a plate. 

One of my favorite things to discover for this blog are historical recipes that are simple enough for younger chefs to try out themselves. This is definitely something an older kid familiar with stove safety could be trusted to make themselves, and with the cool effect created by the Jell-O saturating and suspending the fruit, it looks a lot more complicated to make than it actually is. This would definitely be something to consider adding to a Maryellen themed birthday party, or should just be tried out if you like her books!

But I wasn't content to leave it at that, oh no. Several years ago now, I stumbled upon a recipe for Piña Colada Molded Salad. Intrigued, I put this aside in the long, long list of recipes I plan on sharing on this blog, and dragged it back out to compliment my pineapple rings. 

To start this one, you need to sprinkle two envelopes of unflavored gelatin over a saucepan of 1/2 cup of cold water. Let it stand for one minute, then cook and stir over low heat until the gelatin has dissolved completely.

I'd never worked with unflavored gelatin before, and watching it swell up and cook down was interesting.

Take it off the heat and stir in 1 cup of cream of coconut, 1 cup of sour cream, 3/4 of a cup of lemon lime soda (I used Sprite), and the juice from a 20 oz can of crushed pineapple. Once this is combined, transfer everything into a large bowl. This needs to be covered and refrigerated for 30 minutes, and the recipe recommends stirring it occasionally while it's in there. 

Mine did get thicker, but it never really "thickened" the way I'd expect it to. It was still very liquidy by the time 30 minutes was up, and leaving it in longer didn't really change anything.

Once you're done with the initial chill, fold in the drained crushed pineapple from your 20 oz can, 3/4 of a cup of sweetened shredded coconut, and 1/2 cup of macadamia nuts. Finally, pour everything into a six cup ring mold that's been sprayed with cooking spray and put it back in the fridge for at least three hours, or until it's firmed up. 

I checked on this after three hours, and honestly, I didn't think it felt firm at all. I don't have a lot of experience making gelatin dishes, but I expected the texture to be a lot more similar to my grandmother's molded salad, a recipe I shared with you guys several years ago. This felt like partially firmed up cottage cheese, and so I was really nervous to take it out of the mold.

Fortunately, it came out no problem! There was a little bit of melting around the edges, but the shape held firm. The recipe instructs you to decorate by filling the center with more coconut and chunks of pineapple. I cheated and used canned pineapple here, which felt like a very 1950's thing to do. 

The final product came out looking pretty nice!

But taste?

Ho boy, I did not like this. I wanted to, believe me, because I really love coconut, pineapple, and macadamia nuts, but once again, the mac nuts were super overpowering and everything else just tasted a little funky. The pineapple really didn't come out at all, so it sort of just tasted like sour coconut. Texturally, it also wasn't great - again, it felt kind of like cottage cheese gone wrong. 

I think if this had firmed up and was less liquid, I probably would have liked it better. I also question why the original recipe calls for unflavored gelatin over pineapple or something similar because it was genuinely kind of flavorless. Maybe swapping something else in would make it better? 

For a contrasting opinion, my wife really liked it and felt like the flavor did come through. Maybe I'm just all pineappled out?

In contrast, I really did like the pineapple rings. It's a very simple dessert and is easily customizable if you don't like lime jello. Who would have guessed I'd like the historic recipe a lot better than the modern one? 

(Everyone. Everyone should have guessed that.) 

We have one Hawaiian inspired recipe left for June, and it just might be my favorite of the five I've featured. This unusual treat might have been something Melody looked forward to after a long summer afternoon of tending her garden - light and refreshing, and featuring some of our favorite Hawaiian inspired ingredients! Stay tuned.

Now to go back to trouble shooting these Jell-O recipes...