When was the last time you had a Jell-O shot? College? Six months ago at your cousin’s birthday barbecue? Two hours ago? (Lucky you.)
The thing with Jell-O shots is that they’re an ingenious idea—spillproof, tasty, bite-sized vessels of alcohol—that has unfortunately been culturally tied to some rather unsavory settings. Frat parties, for example, where guys named Chad only take breaks from beer pong to do pull-ups on a steel bar wedged in the doorway and subsequently make jokes about “tickets to the gun show.” Blech.
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Or maybe you’ve had insipid sugar-free strawberry versions at your cousin Brandi’s bachelorette party, surrounded by girls staggering around in high heels and trying to maintain a sense of feminine charm while slurping a combination of cheap vodka and powdered animal hooves out of a hastily ripped Dixie cup.
Put all of those thoughts aside and wipe your brain clean of any misconceptions. Now imagine that Jell-O shots have the classiness of a beautiful duck terrine or delicate aspic served at the loveliest brasserie in Paris, where you’re sitting across from a girl named Veronique who is gingerly eating hers out of a tiny cup with a beautiful vintage sterling spoon.
Now, that’s the right mindset. And we’ve got a recipe for you to match.
If you’re lucky, you’ve spent some time in the summer sun sipping on an Aperol Spritz—a fizzy, boozy concoction of Aperol, Prosecco, and soda—at some point in your life. And the flavors of the drink make for the perfect revamp of the oft-shamed Jell-O shot.
Freya Estreller, founder of Ludlows Cocktail Co., demonstrated how to make Aperol Spritz Jell-O shots for MUNCHIES, and rest assured that it’s worth the bit of extra prep compared to the bad-rep versions you’ve seen before. These ones combine fresh clementine juice with sugar, Aperol, and—of course—sparkling wine for a nuanced rendition of the classic cocktail combined with the novel presentation of being served in clementine peels.
Guess it’s time to grow up.
