Introduction: In-Dentured Jello

About: Hands-on DIY lover and borderline crazy crafter. I love Halloween and creepy food.

Looking for a positively party stopping dish to bring to your next retirement celebration?

Tired of being asked to bring food to events you're not even really interested in attending in the first place?

Want to solidly cement your child's educational future by bringing something to the next bake sale that the PTA will be talking about for years?

Or are you just looking for something sweet that you can really sink your teeth into?

If you answered yes to any of these questions...do I have the dessert for you!

Behold, the In-Dentured Jello mold.

Inspired by an anonymous brave soul who went before me to create and then shared this monstrosity (which was then unleashed upon the social media world via Reddit, Instagram, Twitter, and many others) which means I am the first to admit that no, I am not the original creator, but as there are zero tutorials online for how to accomplish this jiggling monument to oral fixation, I am going to claim the title of the original creator of the full, readily available, online tutorial.

(Which also means, if you do know who was the original mad genius to come up with this dish, please let me know!)

To start this toothy adventure, you will need:

For the gums:

  • 1/2 package unflavored gelatin powder
  • 1 package red colored flavored gelatin (I used raspberry, but cherry or strawberry would work equally well)
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (give or take)

For the teeth:

  • 1 1/2 envelope unflavored gelatin powder
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

For the clear gelatin encapsulation:

  • 4 cups boiling water
  • 4 cups cold water
  • 4 packages unflavored gelatin powder
  • 2 teaspoons citric acid
  • 2-3 cups sugar (depends on how sweet you want the final gelatin)

You will also need:

  • Large pot to boil stuff in
  • Two microwave safe bowls
  • Wooden spoon
  • Eye Dropper or very small spoon
  • Denture mold (I got mine online here)
  • Small food safe paint brush or some clean, wadded up paper towel
  • Bundt pan
  • Cooking spray
  • Plastic food wrap
  • Medium sized plastic food storage box with a lid

Step 1: The Tooth, the Whole Tooth, Nothing But the Tooth...

Before we start, let me give you guys all a heads up about timing with this recipe. Because making the gelatin dentures takes so long, I strongly suggest doing this first step at least 2 days before you plan on sharing the final product with anyone. When I did this, it took me a full day to mold all my dentures and then another full 8 hours for the encapsulating clear gelatin to set. So, just keep this in mind when you start this project and make sure you budget your time appropriately.

Okay, enough of that...let's make some teeth!

Spritz a small amount of cooking spray on a food-safe paint-brush or corner of your paper towel and give all the interior spaces of your mold a quick wipe down, ensuring that the entire thing has a thin light layer of oil. While this isn't necessarily a required step, it does make getting your final gelatin product out a million times easier.

Pour your 1/4 cup cold water into the bottom of your cooled pot and sprinkle your unflavored gelatin on top. Allow to bloom for 5-10 minutes.

Once it's bloomed, add in your 1/2 cup boiling water and again bring the temperature up to just below a simmer. The idea is to bring up the heat of the water warm enough that all the gelatin is dissolved, but not so warm that it boils. After all the gelatin has dissolved, mix in your 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk. Remove from heat and transfer to one of your microwave-safe bowls and allow the white liquid gelatin to come to room temperature.

After your white gelatin has cooled, carefully use your tiny spoon or eye-dropper to fill the teeth of your mold with white.

Pop the mold into the fridge for about 15 minutes so the white sets.

While your white gelatin is setting, we can get our pink gums started.

Pour 1/4 cup cold water in the bottom of your pot and sprinkle with your 1/2 package unflavored gelatin. Allow the gelatin to bloom for about 5-10 minutes. Once it's bloomed, add in your red gelatin and mix well. Add in your 1/2 cup of boiling water and again turn your stove onto low and heat to just below a simmer.

Once your gelatin is dissolved, add in your sweetened condensed milk a little at a time until you achieve a proper "gum" pink. I found this happened right around 1/4 a cup, but add more or less depending on your preferred hue.

Transfer this to your second microwave-safe bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once your white gelatin is set and your gum pink gelatin is cooled, gently spoon some room temperature gummy pink over the top of your teeth and use it to fill the entire mold.

Return the filled mold to the fridge and allow to fully set for at least 60 minutes.

Once your molded dentures are fully set, gently remove from your mold and admire your work!

Continue making dentures following the above steps until you run out of your gelatin. I found this recipe makes roughly 16-18 dentures, depending on how full you fill them. (If you're only using one mold, there's a very good chance your white and/or pink gummy gelatin will set in your microwave safe bowls before you get the opportunity to mold it. Gently zap either color for about 15 seconds and then allow to recool to room temp before molding. And remember, always make sure to allow your pink layer to cool to room temperature before pouring over your white teeth. Adding it while it's too hot will melt the white layer and you'll just end up with a swirly pink and white mess.)

Take your molded gelatin dentures and store them for now in the covered Tupperware container in the fridge.

Step 2: Clearly This Is Clear Gelatin

Now that you have your gelatin teeth, let's make something to put them into.

Bloom your 4 packages of unflavored gelatin in your 4 cups of cold water in your pot on the stove. Give the gelatin 5-10 minutes to really soak up the water. Once it's bloomed, add in your 4 cups of boiling water and your 2- 3 cups of sugar (personal preference here...taste the mix and see if you want it sweeter or not) and bring the temperature of your stove up to low. We'll essentially just be repeating the steps from the dentures we made earlier, but making a much larger quantity...so keep that temperature just low enough to melt all the gelatin and dissolve the sugar but not come to a boil.

Once the mixture is completely melted/dissolved and crystal clear, sprinkle in your 2 teaspoons of citric acid and remove from heat.

(A few people have asked me why add the citric acid. To be honest, it's just to give the gelatin a bit of flavor. Without it, the gelatin just tastes...meh. With it, it gives the clear part a nice light citrus flavor which works well with the raspberry and ends up with a sort of "raspberry lemonade" taste. Of course, the citric acid can easily be replaced with any clear flavor oil of your choice that compliments the flavor choice of your pink gummy teeth.)

Allow the clear gelatin to cool to room temperature.

Step 3: This Whole Project Is So...moldy!

Lightly oil your bundt pan and pour in enough of your clear gelatin to make a layer about 1/2 inch thick. Pop your bundt pan into the fridge for about 15-20 minutes. This will thicken the gelatin to a pudding-like consistency. You want the gelatin to be sludgy but not solid. If you try to embed your dentures in the liquid clear gelatin, they will just float all over the place and your mold will come out looking wonky. If you try to set them on top of solid clear gelatin, they'll just lay there looking all boring. Sludgy clear gelatin is thick enough to let your dentures stay in whatever position you jam them in, but not so solid that you run the risk of hurting your dentures.

Gently stick 4 or 5 of your gelatin dentures into your sludgy clear gelatin and pop back into the fridge for another 30 minutes.

Add another layer of clear gelatin and again let it set up to sludge stage before adding more dentures.

Continue sludging your clear gelatin and adding in dentures until you run out of dentures and you're happy with how your layered mold looks. Make sure you save enough clear gelatin to put one final layer over everything at the very end.

Cover the entire thing with plastic wrap and pop into the fridge for a good 6-8 hours to completely solidify up.

Step 4: Yanking the Teeth From the Mold

Okay, it's been 8 hours and you're DYING to see how your denture gelatin mold has turned out.

To de-mold your masterpiece, use the flat part of your hand to gently pull the edges of your gelatin away from the edges of your mold. Because we used a little cooking oil, it should release fairly easily. If you didn't oil your pan first or you notice your gelatin is sticking more than you like, a quick dip of the outside of your bundt pan in hot water should do the trick.

Invert your mold over a plate and shimmy it just enough to release the seal between the gelatin and the sides of your pan. Hopefully, the whole thing should slide right out and land on your plate with a very satisfying "plop."

Step back and marvel at the disturbingly gorgeous monstrosity you just made.

Slice and serve to your closest friends, bridal shower, den mother meeting.

If you want even more unique and strange recipes, swing by my main Instructables page or check out my horror themed food blog, The Necro Nom-nom-nomicon.

Bone appetite!

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