Ambrosia Salad Jello

Ambrosia salad jello is a perfect summer dessert. Made with pineapple flavored jello and coconut milk, it’s the perfect base and the addition of the juicy mandarin oranges, sweet cherries, peaches and mini marshmallows, makes it  a wonderful combination of flavors.

Ambrosia Gelatin Mold-1-11

Ambrosia Salad Jello is just the dessert you will love making in the hot weather. Summer is the time for cold, fruity and refreshing desserts. It’s also extra nice if it’s easy to make and doesn’t require any baking. This is why gelatin desserts are absolutely perfect for this time of year.

When I found this recipe on Cook’s Illustrated, I knew immediately that I wanted to give it a try. So, of course, I made it for the next family gathering and it was devoured by all.

The flavor of this gelatin desserts reminds me so much of Pina Colada, since it’s made from pineapple flavored gelatin and coconut milk. With the addition of mandarin oranges, peaches, cherries and mini marshmallows, this dessert has so many awesome surprises in each bite. The fruit isn’t too sweet and is very juicy and tastes refreshing. The mini marshmallows are like little pillows of soft sweetness. All in all, you’ll want to make this for your next party.

It’s so easy to make, can be made in advance and is such a wonderful way to cool off. 
Ingredients:

4 (3 oz.) packages pineapple flavored gelatin

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup cold water

2 (13.5 oz) cans unsweetened coconut milk

1 – 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1 (15 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained

1-2 peaches, peeled and chopped (or 1 (15 oz) can of canned peaches, drained)

1 cup fresh or frozen cherries, pitted and halved (or 1 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries, drained and halved)

Instructions:

Ambrosia Gelatin Mold-1-16Dissolve the pineapple gelatin in the boiling water. Add the cold water and the coconut milk. Whisk until evenly combined. Ambrosia Gelatin Mold-1-15Place it in the refrigerator and cool, uncovered for about an hour. The mixture should be thickened at this point.

Add the marshmallows, mandarin oranges, peaches and cherries. Mix to combine. Ambrosia Gelatin Mold-1-14Lightly spray a 12 cup bundt cake pan or other mold with oil. Pour the gelatin into the bundt pan. You can also use a 13×9 inch rimmed baking pan, or even divide the gelatin into individual serving containers.

Ambrosia Gelatin Mold-1-13Chill in the refrigerator until the gelatin is completely set, about 4 hours. You can even make this a day or two in advance.

Fill your sink with hot water and dunk the bottom of the bundt pan in the water for about 30 seconds and then invert onto your serving plate.Ambrosia Gelatin Mold-1-12

Ambrosia Gelatin Mold-1-11

Not only does this dessert taste phenomenal, it looks so beautiful too, don’t you agree? A think that the slice looks so much like a pretty stained glass window. Ambrosia Gelatin Mold-1-9

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Ambrosia Gelatin Mold

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  • Author: Olga's Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 5 hours 15 mins
  • Total Time: 5 hours 15 mins
  • Yield: 8-10 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 (3 oz.) packages pineapple flavored gelatin
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 2 (13.5 oz) cans unsweetened coconut milk
  • 11 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
  • 1 (15 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
  • 12 peaches, peeled and chopped (or 1 (15 oz) can of canned peaches, drained)
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen cherries, pitted and halved (or 1 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries, drained and halved)

Instructions

  1. Dissolve the pineapple gelatin in the boiling water.
  2. Add the cold water and the coconut milk. Whisk until evenly combined.
  3. Place it in the refrigerator and cool, uncovered for about an hour. The mixture should be thickened at this point.
  4. Add the marshmallows, mandarin oranges, peaches and cherries. Mix to combine.
  5. Lightly spray a 12 cup bundt cake pan or other mold with oil. Pour the gelatin into the bundt pan. You can also use a 13×9 inch rimmed baking pan, or even divide the gelatin into individual serving containers.
  6. Chill in the refrigerator until the gelatin is completely set, about 4 hours.
  7. Fill your sink with hot water and dunk the bottom of the bundt pan in the water for about 30 seconds and then invert onto your serving plate.

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19 Comments

  • Katy | Her Cup of Joy

    This gelatin dessert looks so beautiful, and I couldn’t believe how easy it is to make! Thanks for the detailed instructions, now time for me to make this dessert soon!

  • Lidiya Y

    This gelatin desert looks amazing! I tried making it last night and sooo dissapointed now, when i woke up this morning it was runny. And never got solid =( I followed all your instructions and it didnt work. =(

    • OlgaF.

      I am not really sure what happened 🙁 I didn’t have any problems with making this cake – I followed instructions and got great result!

  • mary beth

    this looks good but I think I would leave out the marshmallows, do they really add anything? with the gelatin and coconut milk I would think it would be sweet enough

  • Cynthia

    Wow, this looks incredible. I’ve seen a few of these molded jellos like this lately. I’m glad you can use coconut milk instead of regular milk. I’m wondering if there is any other kind of gelatin that would work beside jello since I would like to NOT use sugar or even artificial sugar, but just fruit or juice for sweetness. May have to leave off marshmallows also; but maybe just try it once like it is.

  • Tanya

    I visited 5 stores and couldn’t find pineapple flavored gelatin anywhere. Which store did you buy is at?

  • Mariya

    Can you use regular milk instead of coconut? Would the jello set? I just don’t have any coconut right now. Thank you looks amazing

  • Mariya

    If using frozen cherries do u have to thraw then our first or can they be used straight out of freezer? About to make this today. Have been wanting to since you posted it but kept not having this or that. Can’t wait! Thank you

  • Pakins

    This was really good! My only issue was all the fruit was on the bottom and marshmallows on the top. Any ideas why this happened??

    • olgak7

      It is because the jello wasn’t cold enough before you mixed in the fruit and the marshmallows. In the instructions, I wrote to chill the gelatin mixture in the refrigerator for about an hour before adding the rest of the ingredients. The mixture should be thickened, (kind of the consistency of egg whites) which will keep all the added ingredients evenly dispersed throughout. If yours didn’t thicken enough in an hour, try chilling it a little bit more next time.

  • Sascha Are

    Hi Olga! I followed this recipe to the letter and the jello would not set. I even used the same brand of coconut milk pictured here. Can you try this recipe again and find out where the error is? I would love to make this and have it turn out like the photo!

  • Jan Neumann

    Did you drain the mandarin oranges and peaches before adding to the gelatin mixture? The recipe doesn’t say to? Could this added liquid have been the reason some people had trouble with theirs thickening sufficiently?

    • olgak7

      Yes, I drained the mandarins (you can see that they are drained in the step by step photos). I also used a fresh peach, not canned peaches (also seen in the step by step photos). I will make sure to clarify it in the instructions.

  • Jan

    Thanks for your reply, Olga. I don’t always use the step photos so I missed the cue to drain canned ingredients. I made the recipe over the weekend, and it congealed very well. Clarifying the instructions would be good for folks like me who go straight to the recipe. I hope it encourages those for whom it didn’t congeal to give it a try again.

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