Friday Cheer ~ Lychee Jello Cups with Rum

It's Friday. Hooray! We've survived another week of work and chores and getting to bed too late/waking up too early. To start that weekend off properly, you really do need a drink. Okay, you don't actually need a drink...but it certainly is nice to sit back and relax after leaving work on Friday. The way I practice that action is most often with a drink in hand.

Today, my Friday Cheer is inherently fun--an adult (read: alcoholic) jello cup with some unique flavors...Lychee Jello Cups with Rum.

Lychee Jello Cup

Lychees are the fruit from a tropical tree originally native to Asia.  On the tree and immediately after harvesting, the lychee looks like a small pinkish-red sphere, about the size of a ping-pong ball, with bumpy, hard red skin that must be removed before eating.  Inside the protective skin, the flesh of the fruit is white, succulent, and highly nutritious (vitamin C, copper, phosphorous, potassium, polyphenols).  Fun fact: the white portion of the fruit is called an aril, just like pomegranate seeds!  In the center of the fruit is a single dark brown seed that is inedible. Lychees have been consumed in China and other parts of Asia for centuries (back to 2000 BCE!) and are known for their delicate, perfume-y flavor, though the perfume-y flavor is typically lost when the lychee is canned (so try it fresh for maximum impact).  

I've been intrigued by lychees and wondered how to use them. Honestly, I imagined they'd have the crunchy texture of a water chestnut, but they're actually a great deal softer and squishier. I stumbled across a recipe using lychees in jello and decided that was my chance.  So here we go...

Lychee Jello Cups with Rum

Adapted from Ingrid Hoffman, Simply Delicioso.

Ingredients:

2 small boxes of jello mix (preferably flavored with pineapple, lime, or tropical fruit)

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 can of lychees (preferably in juice, but mine were in heavy syrup), with 1 cup of juice/syrup reserved

1 cup water

1/3 cup white rum

To make:

-Bring the water to a boil.

-While that happens, combine the jello mix and sugar in a heatproof bowl.

-Add the boiling water to the jello-sugar mix and stir until the mix is fully dissolved (you'll know this has happened when you can no longer see or feel--with your spoon!--any gritty pieces of jello mix or sugar on the bottom of the bowl).

-Add the lychee juice/syrup and rum, stirring to combine.

-In each serving container for the jello (go for something heatproof here, like ramekins or glass cups), put a few lychees, cut in half.

-Ladle or pour the jello over the halved lychees.

-Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours. 

Notes: 

-Thinking a bit ahead is key, since you need to refrigerate to set the jello. I make mine the night before I plan to eat them, though this is simple enough that you could make it in the morning before work.

-You could also use fresh lychees (skin and seed removed) and substitute a fruit juice in for the lychee juice/syrup.  Or you could use a fruit other than lychee entirely. 

--Depending on your taste preference, you could swap the white rum for vodka.  Or you could make it non-alcoholic; maybe add some seltzer or sparkling water for a fun, fizzy texture instead.

I only used half my can of lychees, so I'll be testing some other lychee cocktail recipes in the near future!

Happy Friday!