Lemony, zesty and subtly sweet. These homemade lemon lollies (or jellies) are surprisingly easy, packed with vitamin C and as they contain pure gelatin are also wonderful for gut health. Gelatine helps to restore and maintain a healthy stomach lining and as it also absorbs water can help to keep fluid in the digestive tract (which enables smooth healthy movement). It also has lots of other benefits including helping to keep your skin healthy and beautiful (being involved in the formation of collagen) and keeping your joints strong and healthy. For a vegetarian or vegan alternative, you can use agar agar in place of gelatin, which also works to create a perfect jelly-like lollie. These lollies are just a fun immunity boosting treat for us adults and kids too.

I used natural gelatine sheets, however you can use gelatine powder or agar agar (see options below). Any juice, fruit puree or smoothie works well too, for example freshly squeezed orange, a green juice, a fruit smoothie or a mixed fruit and vegetable juice. Another lovely option is coconut milk – try a mix of coconut milk, lime and lemon for a ‘pinacolada style’ jelly, it’s beautiful!

You need:

• 150ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (or alternative juice) or 150ml fruit puree or smoothie (eg. pureed rasberries, banan smoothie, green smoothie)
• 4 sheets of gelatine (or 2 tsp. gelatin or agar agar powder)
• 3 tsp (or more) of maple syrup (or alternative sweetener eg. honey, you may like to add more sweetener. As I’m a fan of very lemony sour things I only used 3 tsp. of maple syrup)
• 2 rubber ice trays (see photo below, these worked perfectly)

Other nice additions:

• Turmeric powder (a great immunity boosting spice)
• Freshly grated ginger
• Other fruit juice
• Fresh soft fruit (made into a pulp e.g. raspberries)

Method

1. Soak gelatin sheets in a bowl or jug of cold water for 5-10mins, just until they soften a little.
2. Place juice and maple syrup in a sauce pan and heat until syrup is dissolved and the juice begins to boil. Remove from heat. Have a taste at this point as if too sour you may like to add more sweetener.
3. Remove gelatin sheets from cold water, squeezing water from them, and add one by one to the lemon juice, stirring as you add them. The gelatin will dissolve instantly. Once all is dissolved carefully pour juice into your ice tray. Place trays in the fridge to allow lollies to set.
4. Once cool and set (this will take a few hours) remove from trays and keep in an airtight container. The lollies keep fresh and lovely for a week at room temperature (during the summer, keep in the fridge).

Gestational Diabetes –

While these are fun and delicious I would advise not making these to enjoy if you have GDM. One jelly lolly is likely to be fine but for many women fruit juice isn’t so good for maintaining steady BGLs that stay within the healthy range. There are plenty of other recipes here that are suitable, so hopefully you find a few other ideas. If you are wanting to make these however I suggest you speak with your Dietitian for some tips or feel free to reach out to me for personalised guidance via email or social media.