A classic Mexican treat – with my favorite bubble tea flavors!
If you’ve spent any time on the social media foodverse this summer, you have undoubtedly come across pictures of gelatina mosaico (mosaic gelatine). Colorful, brilliantly shiny, and endlessly customizable, it’s a dessert seemingly tailor made for the ‘gram. There are as many recipes for gelatina mosaico as there are food bloggers, but all consist of various flavors/colors of gelatine, cubed and suspended in a milk-based, opaque white gelatine, giving the appearance of a stained glass mosaic. Gelatine-based desserts were definitely a part of my millennial, semi-midwestern childhood, but not as an especially fond food memory (jello “salad”, anyone?). I’m sure I would have felt differently if my childhood gelatine experiences had involved something as majestic and ethereal as gelatina mosaico.
I’ve had my sights set on trying gelatina mosaico ever since Epicurious printed a recipe from Esteban Castillo – classic fruit-flavored gelatine suspended in a horchata flavored milk gelatine. I recently discovered the Mexican recipe aggregator Kiwilimón, which boasts 30+ versions (!) of the jiggly concoction in a dizzying array of color and flavor combinations – pina colada, coffee and cream, dulce de leche, and cherry cola, just to name a few. But when Tasty Japan recently posted a recipe for matcha mosaic gelatine, I had a flash of inspiration.
I have to restrain myself from ordering bubble tea more than a few times a year (they are seriously addicting), but when I do treat myself, I invariably order either matcha or taro (purple sweet potato) milk tea with extra boba (tapioca pearls). The springy, bouncy texture of boba is not all that unlike a jiggly gelatine dessert – which made me think those flavors would be awesome in a gelatina mosaico.
The end result was absolutely delicious! The sweet condensed milk gelatine is a perfect canvas for the creamy flavor and texture of the taro gelatine and the brighter, slightly vegetal matcha gelatine. It’s super refreshing and light, perfect for a summer pick-me-up with your afternoon iced coffee or as a dessert at your next barbecue.
To make this gelatina, I used unsweetened powdered pure matcha and taro powder because it is what I had on hand. Using taro and matcha flavored powdered bubble tea mix may work as well, but you may want to sub water for milk since many of these already contain powdered creamer.
I used a 8-inch round cake pan with 3-inch sides to mold the gelatina, but you can use whatever pan you’d like – a small-ish bundt pan or a loaf pan would make for interesting slicing and presentation possibilities! Just make sure to lightly coat whatever you use with non-stick spray to help the gelatina unmold without breaking.
Taro and Matcha Gelatina Mosaico
Ingredients
- 1 box unflavored powdered gelatine, divided
- 10 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (slightly less than a full can – save the rest for iced coffee!)
- 5 cups milk, any percentage
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened powdered taro or ube powder (see above to link to brand I used)
- 1.5 Tbsp powdered culinary grade matcha
- 1/2 cup sugar, divided
Directions
- Spray 2 heatproof shallow dishes with nonstick cooking spray (any shape or size will do, as you’ll be cutting the gelatines into cubes later).
- Make the matcha gelatine: Mix 3 tsp gelatine in 2 tbsp water and set aside to bloom. Sift the matcha into 2 cups of milk along with 1/4 cup sugar into a small saucepan. Heat on low until matcha and sugar are dissolved. (Don’t worry if there are little lumps of undissolved matcha, we’ll strain those out later.) Remove from heat and stir in gelatine mixture until dissolved. Strain into 1 of the prepared dishes and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 2 hours.
- Make the taro gelatine: Mix 3 tsp gelatine in 2 tbsp water and set aside to bloom. Sift the taro powder into 2 cups of milk along with 1/4 cup sugar into a small saucepan. Heat on low until taro powder and sugar are dissolved. (My powder didn’t produce any lumps, but if yours does, strain as you did the matcha mixture.) Remove from heat and stir in gelatine mixture until dissolved. Pour into the other prepared dishes and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 2 hours.
- Spray a cake pan, loaf pan, or medium/small bundt pan with at least 6-cup capacity with nonstick spray. Remove the taro and matcha gelatines from the refrigerator and cut into cubes. Arrange the cubes in the prepared pan however you like. Don’t fret if they all are clumped at the bottom of the pan, they will disperse more evenly when you pour in the milk gelatine!
- Make the milk gelatine. Mix 2 0.25 oz. envelopes gelatine with 1 cup water and heat in a small saucepan over low until dissolved and just steaming. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup milk and and sweetened condensed milk.
- Pour milk gelatine over your taro and matcha cubes in your prepared pan, cover with plastic wrap or foil, and refrigerate until completely set (mine needed ~3 hours).
- Carefully run a butter knife around the pan edges to loosen, and invert onto a serving plate to slice and serve. Enjoy!
That looks beautiful! The cubed geometry appeals to the latent mathematician in me. Looks delicious and great photos too!
Thank you Thomas! Yes, it was super fun and satisfying to see the mosaic pattern when I cut into it (even though I’m far from being a mathematician!)