Milk Jello Recipe with Sugar Free Option

This Milk Jello recipe has all the richness and creaminess of traditional Mexican milk jello, minus the carbs and calories! Made with only a few simple ingredients, this jiggly gelatin cake with hints of caramel and cinnamon will shake for you. You can even make it sugar free if you want to and it offers over 8 grams of protein per serving!

This Mexican Milk Jello is incredibly delicious and easy to make. Best of all, evaporated milk replaces sugary condensed milk, giving you control over the sweetness. Use regular sugar or a zero-calorie sweetener like monk fruit – it’s up to you. To help you get the perfect result, I’ve included step-by-step photos to guide you through the process. So, enjoy this simple gelatin recipe with milk – or, as we say in Spanish, this postre de gelatina con leche!

Or try a silky, pink Strawberry Milk Gelatin Cake.

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It was my Mexican father who revved my interest in milk jello. He’s from El Paso, Texas, and basically remembered it from his childhood days working at his grandmother’s grocery store. But he’s older now and very careful about what he eats, so I swapped the sugary condensed milk for evaporated milk which doesn’t contain added sugar. Then, I sweetened this jiggly treat with monk fruit, a natural, zero-calorie, sugar replacement. So, my version of this Mexican milk jello recipe has a lot less carbs and calories than the regular version – and it’s just as delicious.

In This Recipe

Of course, if you aren’t diabetic or on a low carb or sugar free diet, you can make this recipe with your favorite sweetener.

You might also like my decadent Chocolate-Kahlua Cake.

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So Many Reasons to Love This Mexican Milk Jello Recipe

If you haven’t tried it before, you really should, because Mexican milk jello is in a class of its own. Beautiful and delicious, it gets its unique flavor from evaporated milk which is a common ingredient in Mexican desserts.

Moreover, it’s like an intensely creamy cross between Italian panna cotta, pudding, and vanilla ice cream. So, if you like those desserts as much as I do, you’re going to love this soft-and-silky milk gelatin dessert.

Or try Orange Milk Jelly.

Make This Milk Jello Recipe for Special Occasions and Turn Heads

I serve this gelatin cake a lot at birthday parties. It’s definitely an attention-getter and people often don’t know what it is. Then they try it and are totally hooked. Whether you top it with fruit or serve it nude, it’s a mouthwatering creation.

Popular now: How to Lose Weight without Counting Calories.

Evaporated Milk Vs. Condensed Milk

Milk jello is traditionally made with condensed milk, which contains added sugar.

However, evaporated milk offers the same creamy texture without the added sugar, giving you full control over how to sweeten the recipe.

By using evaporated milk, you can choose your preferred sweetener and, for example, opt for a diabetic- or keto-friendly option like zero-calorie monk fruit. That’s how this sugar free Mexican milk jello came to be.

Trending now: Keto Chocolate-Walnut Protein Cookies.

Ingredients in Jello with Milk

• Gelatin – Unflavored gelatin powder.
• Milk – Whole or lowfat milk is the main ingredient in this milk jello recipe.
• Cinnamon Sticks – are essential and add to the good taste. Do not use powdered cinnamon which floats to the surface.
• White Granulated Sweetener of Choice – To make sugar free jello with milk, use a zero-carb, zero-calorie sugar substitute such as monk fruit.
• Evaporated Milk – doesn’t contain added sugar, so there are fewer carbs and calories than condensed milk. You can use regular, low fat or non fat – or even some combo of these. The milk jello will, however, be a little less creamy if you use lowfat or nonfat evaporated milk. Room temperature evaporated milk is fine, since you’ll be heating it anyway.
• Vanilla Extract – enhances the flavor.
• Heavy Whipping Cream – adds to the creaminess and also helps keep the carbs down in the recipe. You can, however, replace some or all of the cream with milk. The milk jello is, of course, creamiest with the full amount of cream.
• Caramel Flavor (Optional) – adds a caramel nuance.
• Baking Spray (Not Cooking Spray) – Lightly spray the inside of the cake pan to ensure a smooth release.
• Fresh Raspberries (Optional) – Jewel-toned raspberries look gorgeous on Mexican jello cake and lusciously complement the flavors.
• Berry Sauce (Optional) – Homemade: 2 cups (frozen) berries, cooked and puréed. Then, strain to remove seeds and add 3-4 tablespoons of sweetener of choice.
• Rompope Liqueur (Optional) – My dad loves pouring a little Rompope on his Mexican jello. Rompope definitely isn’t sugar free but a little goes a long way. If you aren’t familiar with it, it’s a cane liqueur from Mexico that comes in a bottle with a nun on it. After all, the nuns used to make it.

How to Make Jello with Milk with Step-By-Step Photos

These photos show the full procedure, but the instructions with measurements are below in the Recipe Card. You can make jello with milk in a jello mold, bundt pan, loaf pan, bowl, or cups. I make mine in a bundt pan and these are the exact steps I follow. It’s so much fun to make. So enjoy!

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Step 1: Put the gelatin in a small bowl and add a cup of tap water. In 5 minutes, it will thicken or “bloom.”

Step 2: Add milk to a large saucepan.

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Step 3: Add 2 cinnamon sticks. Snap them in half for a more pronounced cinnamon flavor.

Step 4: Add sweetener of choice.

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Step 5: Add evaporated milk.

Step 6: Add vanilla extract.

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Step 7: Add thickened gelatin.

Step 8: Stir at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the sweetener and gelatin dissolve.

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Step 9: Remove cinnamon sticks with a slotted spoon.

Step 10: If you notice any remaining cinnamon pieces in the milk jello, then run it through a sieve.

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Step 11: Spray a nonstick cake pan with baking spray and use a brush, if possible, to make sure the spray is evenly distributed.

Step 12: Pour milk jello into the cake pan and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

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Step 13: Before releasing, use fingers to pull the milk jello away from the sides of the cake pan.

Step 14: Place a serving platter on top of the cake pan. Then flip and place the platter on your work surface and remove the cake pan.

Chocolate Milk Jello Variations

Here are the chocolate milk jello and Mexican-chocolate milk jello recipes:

• Whisk 2/3 cup Dutched cacao powder into the heated milk – I use Hershey’s Special Dark 100% cacao. This is, by the way, the type of dark, mellow chocolate you find in American favorites such as Swiss Miss chocolate mix or Oreo cookies.
• Add the sugar after you add the cacao – I don’t change the amount of sugar. However, if you use a different cocoa brand or opt for non-Dutched cocoa, you might need more sugar.
• Cinnamon sticks, broken in half – I always include them since I love Mexican chocolate milk, but feel free to omit them.
  Before you pour the chocolate milk jello into the mold, be sure to strain it through a sieve to remove any remaining pieces of cinnamon.

To make yummy chocolate-Kahlua milk jello:

• Replace 1/4 cup of the heavy cream with Kahlua, a coffee liqueur made with rum, coffee, and sugar. Since it contains sugar, I recommend sweetening your milk jello after you add the Kahlua.
  So, firstly add the cocoa powder and Kahlua. Then, sweeten the milk jello.
• Cinnamon sticks – I include them in this version.

You can add other spices or flavors as well. You could, for example, add a shot of espresso if you wanted a mocha flavor.

Since the recipe contains gelatin, keep the quantities of liquid the same. In other words, pour a shot of espresso into a measuring cup. Then fill the rest with milk to make one cup of milk.

I don’t recommend using more liquid than the recipe calls for.

You can also make this with a different liqueur. The sky’s the limit.

What to Do If Milk Gelatin Dessert Gets Stuck in the Pan

This happened to me once, but hasn’t happened since I started spraying the pan with baking spray.

If, for any reason, the milk gelatin dessert doesn’t release from the cake pan, put the pan in a pot of hot (not boiling) water for 5 seconds.

Make sure that the water doesn’t splash into the cake pan.

Don’t put it in hot water for longer than 5 seconds because you can melt the cake.

A quick dip is all you need to help the milk jello loosen from the sides of the pan.

Also try my scrumptious Vegan Pumpkin Tart in an extra flaky crust.

FAQs about Jello Made with Milk

Decorating Tips for This Simple Gelatin Recipe with Milk

When decorating this milk gelatin dessert, there are several options to choose from.

• Use a pretty nonstick cake pan. For example, pictured is the Nordic Ware Jubilee Cake Pan.
• Serve nude or topped with fruit such as jewel-toned raspberries which provide the perfect tangy counterpoint.
• Pour berry sauce on it. Mine is homemade: 2 cups (frozen) berries, cooked. Then, strain to remove seeds and add 3-4 tablespoons of sweetener of choice.
• Dye the gelatin cake with natural or artificial food dyes.
• Pour Rompope, an egg-noggy Mexican liqueur, over a slice. It contains sugar but a little goes a long way.

Equipment You’ll Need to Make Jello with Milk

• 1 Large Saucepan or Pot – To mix and cook the ingredients in.
• A Sieve – You might need to strain the milk jello if pieces of cinnamon remain.
• A 10-12 Cup Nonstick Cake Pan, Jello Mold, Bowl, or Individual Glasses or Cups
• A Large Plate to flip the milk jello onto. I’d like to point out that after you flip it, you can’t move the cake anymore. It has to stay on whatever plate it lands on, so select a nice plate.

Storage Tips

To Store Milk Jello

Refrigeration is required. It’s not a good idea to leave milk jello out for more than 30 minutes. It will, however, keep for 5 days in the refrigerator.

Do Not Freeze This Milk Jello Recipe

Gelatin cakes are not suitable for freezing.

Looking for More Healthy Recipes?

Try my other milk jello recipes, homemade strawberry jello, or even healthy cake recipes!

Recipe Card