Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots! So pretty, they demand appreciation! Beautiful fruit tang yuan in au naturale colors, poised in sweet whisky jello. Too much whisky is barely enough? Make this and have more 😍 😍 !

I had the pleasure of collaborating once more with Channel 8 Mediacorp to demonstrate a non alcoholic version of this delicious fruit tang yuan on Hello Spore <狮城有约>. Check it out here.

The Sugar Crumble having an incredible day …

Being on TV again was phenomenal but what brought on the biggest smile was the fact that after filming, Jiayi, the producer (and I believe Mr CameraMan too) went home and tried my recipe successfully.

That truly made my day 😊 😊

Thank you Jiayi, Jeffrey and Png. Thank you Mediacorp.

Thank you Mediacorp Team!

Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots, a delicious cool tang yuan dessert, perfect for Winter Solstice and for Lantern Festival on this sunny island. Check out my recipe tutorial below and hope you will try & enjoy it as much as we did!

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here 😊.

& if you are interested to see my maiden foray re Life & TV demonstrating another recipe – Durian Creme Brulee on <狮城有约>, check it out here (note: start @3:05min).

So what’s the tradition of Tang Yuan?

Tang Yuan (汤圆) is a versatile glutinous rice dumpling with a chewy and sticky texture. It can either be served in its simplest form, as plain white balls, or stuffed with fillings like black sesame, red bean and peanut paste. For a pop of color, some even serve it up in varying shades of pink and red for an auspicious spin or in zodiac style.

My traditional Tang Yuan ala piggy style!

These rice dumplings are usually served hot in a bowl of gingery syrup and eaten during important Chinese festivals like Lantern Festival (元宵佳节) during every Lunar New Year and Winter Solstice (冬至). For me, tang yuan is always eaten with family and it symbolizes family cohesiveness (团圆) and that all shall be prosperous and well in the coming year (圆圆满满).

Some tang yuan trivia …

Did you know – once upon a time, these rice balls were called Yuan Xiao (元宵)? Legend has it that during Yuan Shikai‘s rule in the Yongle Era, he disliked the name yuanxiao (元宵) because it sounded identical to “remove Yuan” (袁消); thus he gave orders to change the name to tang yuan – meaning ‘round balls in soup’.

The Sugar Crumble wanted to do a different take on the traditional tang yuan and on one extremely hot hot hot day, she had an epiphany along with the heatwave on this sunny island.

Icy cold perfection!

🤔 To temper the heat, how about a cold fruit tang yuan version? Wait wait … even better… how about a cold fruit tang yuan served with lotsa booze jello?

😬 😬 Hence birthed this Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots.

These Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots are such easy and fun treats, we usually pop two in a row even three! And you can serve them in all shapes and sizes – as a shot, in a martini glass or even in a wine tumbler.

The Whisky Connoisseur is happy

But beware, served icy cold, these Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots are super addictive, imperceptibly boozy & so easy to pop, you might feel lightheaded even before realizing what hit you! For the kiddos who love tang yuan and jello, please serve these Tang Yuan Jello Shots with strictly No Alcohol and they can have as many as they want 😊 !

Remembering this batch made for Mediacorp

What to watch out for …

#1 Work quickly with the tang yuan dough

Whilst traditional tang yuan is usually made with glutinous rice flour, I decided to use tapioca flour (木薯粉) instead for this recipe. Dough made with tapioca flour has a dreamy translucent texture when cooked which allows a lovely see through to the fruits, giving colourful au naturale fruit tang yuan.

Lovely dreamy fruit tang yuan

However, tapioca flour needs hot/boiling water to form a dough. Therefore stir briskly & work quickly once it is added to the boiling water to work it into a dough. Watch the recipe tutorial @ 0:40 min to see how this is done.

Work the warm dough quickly

I found that different brands of tapioca flour absorbs water differently, so experiment with yours. Adjust if necessary. If the dough feels dry during kneading, add a bit more room temperature water. If it feels too wet, add a little more flour. For the brand of tapioca flour I used, check here.

The finished dough should be quite smooth and soft but not sticky. If you are not using the dough straightaway, wrap it with cling film to avoid drying out.

#2 Why Fruit Tang Yuan?

One might ask – why not use traditional tang yuan? Traditional tang yuan is usually served hot. However if they are chilled, the filling which typically has butter or oil content becomes hard and has an unpleasant doughy texture when served cold. 

Fruit … such an easy filling

Therefore I substituted with fruit which is a natural complement to jello and tastes just as delicious, chilled.

Assemble in 2 layers for a floaty effect

#3 Choice of fruit

The tang yuan dough gets sticky when it comes into contact with water. Therefore choose small round fruits which do not require peeling or cutting so that the juice is all contained within and makes for easy assembling. For this Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots, I used green grapes, red grapes, blueberries and gooseberries for a variety of colors.

Use small round fruits

I also added cut red and white dragonfruit and some mint leaf in the jello layers for more shape and color variety. You can easily substitute these with cut strawberries, watermelon or other fruit as preferred. Go with your feel! These will add to the taste, look and color of the jello shot making it look even more festive!

Mint or rosemary for a dash of green ♥️

#4 Choice of alcohol

When it comes to the choice of alcohol, choose whatever you love! You can go with vodka, rum, gin, even brandy or champagne. The sweetness of the jello will balance out the taste of alcohol on the palate and yet deliver a nice boozy kick on the shot (assuming enough is added 😄 )

Your choice!

#5 Choice of jelly and amount of water

I used Aiyu jelly as it is not too sweet and has a light color which nicely showcased the colorful fruit tang yuan. I wanted a more gloopy/bouncy jello and hence used less water (420ml) instead of 500ml per the instructions. Depending on the brand of jello you use, adjust as appropriate to get the preferred jello texture.

Beautifully showcased in clear Aiyu jelly

#6 Make ahead & storage

The fruit tang yuan can be made ahead and kept frozen for ~ 1 to 2 weeks. When ready to serve, cook them frozen in boiling water and assemble them in the jello shots.

These Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots are best consumed on the day it is made. Always keep them chilled and consume within two days (note: if kept longer, the jello still keeps well but the tang yuan dough will harden in the fridge and the fruit tang yuan will start to taste doughy).

Pretty and boozy!

Did you make this? I would love to know how it turned out. Please leave me a comment or tag me on Instagram or FB hashtag #thesugarcrumble

Thank you!

Print Recipe

Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots

Whisky Tangyuan Jello Shots. Beautiful fruit tang yuan in au naturale colors, poised in sweet whisky jello. A delicious cool tang yuan dessert perfect for the Lantern Festival (元宵) and Winter Solstice (冬至) on this sunny island!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Freezing time20 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: cold tangyuan, whisky jello

Servings: 10 shot glasses

Author: Kai

Ingredients

Tang yuan dough

• 40 g tapioca flour
• 80 ml water

Tang yuan filling

• Blueberries, grapes and gooseberries (~ 15 to 20 pieces)

Whisky Jello

• Aiyu jelly powder 1x100g sachet
• 420 ml water
• 1 kaffir lime
• Whisky shots (add to taste according to size of shot glass)

Other decor

• Dragonfruit
• Fresh mint

Instructions

Tang Yuan Dough

• Bring 80ml water to a boil. Add in half of the tapioca flour and stir briskly immediately until it forms a sticky gooey mess. Switch off heat. Add the remaining flour and stir quickly until a dough forms.
• Transfer onto a rolling mat and knead immediately whilst the dough is hot. This is a sticky dough so flour as required. Knead until the dough is soft and stretchy but not sticky (~ 5 min). Wrap in cling film when not in use so that the dough does not dry out.

Assembling the Fruit Tang Yuan

• Roll the dough into a rough cylinder and cut into small inch size portions. Taking one inch size dough, using thumb, press into the centre of the dough and form a small bowl shape.
• Following the bowl shape, form dough into a rough circle. Place in the fruit and seal seams (see note on choice of fruit). Pinch off excess dough and roll gently into a ball. If the dough becomes sticky, flour a little or as required. This recipe makes ~ 15-20 fruit tang yuan.
• Cook the fruit tang yuan in boiling water. Once cooked, the tang yuan will float to the top. Scoop out the fruit tang yuan and soak immediately in ice water, to prevent it from sticking together.

Whisky Jello & Final Assembly

• Dissolve the Aiyu jelly powder in 420ml water. *Optional - Add in the juice of one kaffir lime. Put it on low heat until it boils briskly. Sieve the jelly liquid to remove any pulp and it is ready for the final assembly.
• Assemble the jello and fruit tang yuan in 2 layers for a floaty effect. Layer in 1/3 of the liquid jello in the shot glasses and pop in one fruit tang yuan into each glass. Add in two whisky dropshots (or add according to preference) to this first jello layer and freeze for 10min to set.
• Once the first layer is set, repeat and do the 2nd layer. Add in some dragonfruit (or other cut fruits like strawberry or melon) for variety and lastly mint leaf for a dash of green. Freeze for another 10 min to set. Remove from freezer and chill in the fridge until Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots are ready to serve. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here 😊

I also had the pleasure of collaborating once more with Channel 8 Mediacorp to demonstrate a non alcoholic version of this delicious fruit tang yuan on Hello Spore <狮城有约>. Check it out here.

 

#1 Work quickly with the tang yuan dough

Whilst traditional tang yuan is usually made with glutinous rice flour, I decided to use tapioca flour (木薯粉) instead for this recipe. Dough made with tapioca flour has a dreamy translucent texture when cooked which allows a lovely see through to the fruits, giving colorful au naturale fruit tang yuan.

However, tapioca flour needs hot/boiling water to form a dough. Therefore stir briskly & work quickly once it is added to the boiling water to work it into a dough. Watch the recipe tutorial @ 0:40 min to see how this is done.

I found that different brands of tapioca flour absorbs water differently, so experiment with yours. Adjust if necessary. If the dough feels dry during kneading, add a bit more room temperature water. If it feels too wet, add a little more flour. For the brand of tapioca flour I used, check here.

The finished dough should be quite smooth and soft but not sticky. If you are not using the dough straightaway, wrap it with cling film to avoid drying out.

 

#2 Why Fruit Tang Yuan?

One might ask - why not use traditional tang yuan? Traditional tang yuan is usually served hot. However if they are chilled, the filling which typically has butter or oil content becomes hard and has an unpleasant doughy texture when served cold. Therefore I substituted with fruit which is a natural complement to jello and tastes just as delicious, chilled.

 

#3 Choice of fruit

The tang yuan dough gets sticky when it comes into contact with water. Therefore choose small round fruits which do not require peeling or cutting so that the juice is all contained within and makes for easy assembling. For this Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots, I used green grapes, red grapes, blueberries and gooseberries for a variety of colors.

I also added cut red and white dragonfruit and some mint leaf in the jello layers for more shape and color variety. You can easily substitute these with cut strawberries, watermelon or other fruit as preferred. These will add to the taste, look and color of the jello shot making it look even more festive!

 

#4 Choice of alcohol

When it comes to the choice of alcohol, choose whatever you love! You can go with vodka, rum, gin, even brandy or champagne. The sweetness of the jello will balance out the taste of alcohol on the palate and yet deliver a nice boozy kick on the shot (assuming enough is added 😄)

 

#5 Choice of jelly and amount of water

I used Aiyu jelly as it is not too sweet and has a light color which nicely showcased the colorful fruit tang yuan. I wanted a more gloopy/bouncy jello and hence used less water (420ml) instead of 500ml per the instructions. Depending on the brand of jello you use, adjust as appropriate to get the preferred jello texture.

 

#6 Make ahead & storage

The fruit tang yuan can be made ahead and kept frozen for ~ 1 to 2 weeks. When ready to serve, cook them frozen in boiling water and assemble them in the jello shots.

These Whisky Tang Yuan Jello Shots are best consumed on the day it is made. Always keep them chilled and consume within two days (note: if kept longer, the jello still keeps well but the tang yuan dough will harden in the fridge and the fruit tang yuan will start to taste doughy).