The kinder run in the morning is normally pretty routine. That is, until I found these beauties growing on the roadside. We stopped the car and inspected the bounty - it was an exciting moment. I am a big fan of rose hips and have been wanting to make syrup for some time, but could never find a source. Until now. We have discovered a lone bush that provides us with the best rose hips I've seen!
So I set about finding a recipe to turn these into syrup. The River Cottage Cookbook provided all the information I needed to transform these rose hips into something special. After washing them carefully..
I blitzed them in the blender. They don't look particularly appealing at this stage!
Then into a saucepan of boiling water. Remove from the heat allow to steep, like tea, for half an hour.
Then strain through a muslin lined sieve and repeat the process above - (into boiling water, steep and strain).
Boil the strained syrup (it started to smell amazing and filled the house with a rosy perfume!) until it's reduced by a third. Then add golden caster sugar and simmer until it is thickened and reaches a syrupy consistency.
Pour into sterilised bottles - isn't the colour just amazing!
Enjoy on pancakes or ice cream - divine!