How to make vodka jelly in an orange
Need something to turn your lame-ass party into a super-mega-fun blast 6000? Then look no further! These oranges are a great and extremely cost-effective way to get everyone at your party talking, interacting, having fun and imbibing.
The best part? It can all be done for about €16 euro! And the amount you get for this price means that everyone at the party will get a few shots, unless you’re throwing a huge party in which case solidified fruit vodka probably isn’t the biggest of your worries. The recipe can be done with oranges, lemons, or limes, but we’ll focus on oranges, as they are the easiest and cheapest.
What You’ll Need
14 Large Oranges (I bought 2 packs of 7 from Supervalu for a total of €3.58)
2 packs of Chivers orange jelly cubes (€1.50 total)
400ml of vodka (€11)
500ml of boiling water
180ml of ice cold water
Preparation
Ideally, you should make these 2 days in advance. 99% of the time, one night is fine, but I did have one occasion where it didn’t work and I had to dish out sludge and refer to it as “Gloop”. Everyone still drank it, cos hey, free Gloop! But it’s less embarrassing to actually succeed, which is why from then on I used two packs of jelly instead of one, and prepared it two days in advance.
Be sure to use 2 packs
The jelly will set better is the vodka is chilled, but be careful. Despite what you may have heard, all spirits are capable of freezing, and you don’t want to get vodka and glass all over your freezer and ruin your plans for amazing vodka.
Preparing the oranges themselves is the messiest and most time-consuming part of the whole thing, but just bear in mind that pretty soon, you’ll be consuming a lot more than lame-old time.
You should lay out a towel (preferably orange) to absorb the drippings, and have another to wipe your hands. You’ll need a large knife (be very careful with that!), a small, sharp knife or scissors, a tablespoon, and a large bowl or container to put the actual oranges in (which you can later blend up to make cocktails if you feel like buying a litre of vodka instead of a shoulder. Go on. Be a good host).
Like this
Cut the oranges in half, and make sure you cut them from top to bottom, and not straight through the middle, as this will prevent juice leaking out the holes and wasting precious alcohol. So cut “North to South Pole” instead of “through the equator”.
There may be a “main line” inside the orange, running from one side to the other. Snip the ends of this to make it easier to separate the skin from the innards. You can also run the knife along the edges of the orange, but be careful not to pierce it. Use the spoon to scoop out the orange. Repeat this until you’re done. You should put something on to watch while you do this, possibly Orange is the New Black if you want to be hilarious.
Once you’ve finished series 3 of OITNB, boil 500ml of water and gradually dissolve your two packs of jelly. Then add the cold water and vodka, and mix thoroughly.
Place the orange peels onto a tray. A muffin tray would be ideal, but otherwise just try and keep the oranges level. Pour out your mix, pop it in the fridge, and make sure that the fridge is cold enough (which of course means you’ll have to try and figure out if 10 is colder than 1. I think the higher the colder, usually).
Hopefully, you’ll have your fruit by the next morning. They should be solid enough to turn upside down without falling out, so if that’s not the case, leave them in a while longer. Then simply cut them into wedges and pass them around. Be warned, they are deceptively alcoholic, so pace yourself!