When I started brainstorming dessert recipes for my first cookbook,Chicano Eats: Recipes from My Mexican American Kitchen, I conjured the bakery section of a Mexican grocery store, and themercadosandtianguisyou find anywhere in Mexico. There, among the cakes andconchasandchurrosis another category of sweet offering: gelatinas. Suddenly I remembered how, growing up, whenever there was a celebration, there were gelatinas alongside the cakes on our dessert tables.
And like that, I found myself with a long list of different cake and gelatina recipes—and not enough space to include them all.
What is it about gelatinas that makes them so popular? To find out, I went to the source I trust most: my mom. She boiled it down to accessibility. Gelatinas are inexpensive to make, often requiring just a handful of ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry: unflavored gelatin, milk, sugar or condensed milk, and fresh fruit. They work well when you’re feeding a large group, because they travel well and are inexpensive to make in big batches. (The economy of gelatinas is also the reason why they’re a popular item among street vendors.)
Mom also mentioned how much gelatinas allow for creativity: You can create vibrant layers of color and flavor (like the Duvalin Jello in my book, inspired by a Mexican candy with its vanilla, hazelnut, and strawberry layers), and, if you like, you can work in fresh fruit. One of the gelatinas that my mom would make for my siblings and me every summer featured two distinct layers. First, she poured a creamy milk jello layer. On top of that, she’d add a layer of fresh, ripe peach slices. Finally, she’d pour in a peach-flavored gelatin, being careful so as to not disturb the fruit. It was a match made in heaven, the juicy peaches contrasting with the richness of the milk jello.