Aperol Spritz Jelly: the easy and refreshing recipe

In Italy, Aperol is traditionally served as an aperitif, before meals. The light alcoholic, somewhat dry drink is meant to stimulate your appetite for the meal ahead. This Aperol Spritz Jelly recipe gives it a little twist so you can instead serve it as a light, refreshing dessert or sweet snack after the meal. It’s a great alternative to the classic Aperol Spritz cocktail. To need it you only need tangerines (for juice), Aperol, prosecco, and gelatin. It’s super easy to make and looks impressive enough to share when you have guests over. The flavor is fresh and zesty, while the texture is like that of a typical jelly. It’s like jelly, but for grown-ups! Serve it with a platter of Mediterranean bites and you’re on your way to an impressive meal.

What is Aperol Spritz?

If you’re looking for a taste of Italy in the summer, then an Aperol Spritz is the quintessential drink to have. They are so refreshing, perfect for summer. They’re also not that sweet. The Aperol Spritz is also colorful, in fact, some say it reminds you of the beautiful golden sunsets of Italy. The cocktail usually contains the following ingredients:

Aperol – this is a bright orange aperitif, with a zesty orange taste. You will find Aperol in any liquor store that stocks liqueurs.

Prosecco – a well-known Italian sparkling wine (very similar to champagne). Use the brut variety to prevent the mixture from becoming too sweet.

Sparkling Water – this just dilutes the mixture a bit so that it isn’t overly sweet.

Slice of fresh orange – this is used as a decoration on the classic Aperol Spritz. In this recipe, we used the tangerine shell as the holder of the jellies instead.

How to make Aperol Sprits Jelly

For this recipe, you first need to cut the tangerines in half and remove the flesh. Be careful that you don’t damage the tangerine shells, this will become the ‘holder’ for the jelly, so you want it to be presentable. The flesh is juiced and strained into a saucepan while keeping the seeds behind.

Gelatin is added to this mixture and heated until it has dissolved. Aperol and Prosecco are mixed and added to the gelatin-juice mixture. The mixture is now ready to pour into the tangerine shell molds. Place the molds into a clean muffin pan, and carefully pour in the mixture. Chill for one hour and cut into slices.

Expert Tips

– If you want to make this recipe alcohol-free, you can substitute the Aperol and Prosecco with 140mL orange juice or follow the Spritz mocktail recipe. If you’re afraid the mixture will be too sweet, or too fruity, you can add sparkling water instead, or even sparkling apple juice.

– You can serve these as jello shots. Just pour the mixture into shot glasses instead of the tangerine molds and chill for one hour.

How to store Aperol Spritz Jelly

The Aperol Spritz Jelly can be made the day before. Place the wedges on a tray and cover with clingfilm. Take it out a few minutes before serving just to allow it to get to room temperature.

If you make these in shot glasses, they will keep up to 5 days in the fridge.

Instructions

Cut the tangerines in a half.

Remove the tangerine flesh from the tangerines, taking care to keep the halves whole.

Add the tangerine flesh to a juicer and squeeze out the juice.

Pour the juice through a strainer into a small saucepan.

Mix it with gelatin powder and heat until combined.

Mix together Aperol Spritz and Prosecco Champagne.

Add this mixture to the gelatin mixture.

Put halves of tangerines in a muffin tin.

Fill the tangerine shells with the gelatin mixture.

Chill for 1 hour.

Cut into slices and serve.

Notes

The Aperol Spritz Jellies taste delicious when served with an Italian or Mediterranean-inspired platter. Foods like olives, sundried tomatoes, cheese, fresh fruits, and Caprese skewers will be a perfect match.