Ribbon Jello — The Colors of Coming Home

Mardi Gras Day. I went home — the fifteen-minute drive that feels like a portal between my college self and my family self, both of whom are me, both of whom are real, and the commute between them is the work of becoming someone who contains multitudes. The Robinson house was in full Mardi Gras mode: Mama's jambalaya on the stove, Daddy pretending he would not eat king cake and then eating king cake, Kayla back from BRCC in beads and a purple shirt, the house loud and sweet and full.

MawMaw Shirley came this year. She drove herself from Baker, which she is doing less of, but today she drove, and the driving was a statement: I am here. I am present. I am seventy-eight and I will eat king cake and jambalaya and I will sit in this chair and watch my family be loud and it will fill me the way food fills a person, from the inside out.

Uncle Terrence was there. He is approaching his sobriety anniversary — it will be two years in May — and the approach is visible in the way he carries himself: steadier, quieter, but present in a way that the drinking version of Terrence was not. He ate three slices of king cake. He found the baby. He held it up and said, "I owe y'all a king cake," which is the tradition — the person who gets the baby brings the next one — and the fact that he said it, that he committed to a future event, that he placed himself in the timeline of our family's traditions, was more significant than the king cake itself. Terrence is coming back. Not to who he was — that man died with DeAndre — but to someone new, someone sober and careful and willing to show up and find the baby and promise the cake.

I brought my scratch king cake and Mama's Rouses king cake sat on the counter next to mine, a silent competition that is not a competition because Mama's was store-bought and mine was homemade and the comparison is not fair, but also mine was better, which I am saying in this journal and nowhere else because you do not tell your mother that your king cake is better than her store-bought king cake. That way lies civil war.

Uncle Terrence found the baby in my king cake, and I kept thinking about layers — how a family is built in them, how MawMaw Shirley driving herself from Baker is one layer, how Terrence placing himself in the future of our traditions is another, how Kayla showing up in purple beads is one more. When I got home that night I wanted to make something that looked the way that day felt: vivid, distinct layers that hold together. This Ribbon Jello is exactly that — you make it in stages, each color set before the next is poured, and when you slice it, every layer is still itself while being part of something whole, which is maybe the best way I know to describe a Robinson family Mardi Gras.

Ribbon Jello

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 4 hours (includes chilling) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 3 boxes (3 oz each) flavored gelatin in your chosen colors (such as grape/purple, lemon/yellow, and lime/green for Mardi Gras)
• 3 cups boiling water, divided (1 cup per color)
• 3 cups cold water, divided (1 cup per color)
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 envelopes (1/4 oz each) unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water (for cream layer)
• 1 1/2 cups cold water (for cream layer)

Instructions

1. Prepare your pan. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
2. Make the first color layer. Dissolve one box of flavored gelatin in 1 cup boiling water, stirring for 2 minutes until fully dissolved. Stir in 1 cup cold water. Pour into the prepared dish and refrigerate for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until fully set.
3. Make the cream layer. Sprinkle both envelopes of unflavored gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water in a bowl and let bloom for 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water and stir until dissolved. Whisk in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Pour 1/3 of this cream mixture gently over the first set color layer. Refrigerate for 30–40 minutes until set.
4. Repeat with second color. Dissolve the second box of flavored gelatin in 1 cup boiling water, add 1 cup cold water, let cool slightly, then pour gently over the set cream layer. Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes.
5. Add second cream layer. Rewarm the remaining cream mixture gently if needed (it should be pourable but not hot). Pour half of the remaining cream mixture over the set color layer. Refrigerate until set, about 30–40 minutes.
6. Add third color layer. Dissolve the third box of flavored gelatin in 1 cup boiling water, add 1 cup cold water, let cool, then pour gently over the set cream layer. Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes.
7. Finish with final cream layer. Pour the last of the cream mixture over the top. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until fully set and firm throughout.
8. Slice and serve. Run a thin knife around the edges, cut into squares or rectangles, and serve cold. The ribbon layers will show beautifully on the cut edge.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 160 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 3g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 95mg