Tuesday 1 May 2012

Rosehips at Dawn

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!
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2 comments:

  1. Ellen12 May 2012 at 00:02

    Now this is something that I've got to try. The only thing is...I don't know what rosehips look like on the bush. Is it something that you can purchase as a plant to grow? I think making something from foraging is so wonderful.

    And that pancake looks yummy. More of a crepe, really. Do you have a recipe?

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    1. Yasmin, Phil, Ava and Felix12 May 2012 at 19:46

      Hi Ellen,

      Thanks for your comments. Rosehips tend to grow on older/heritage varieties of roses. You could ask at the local nursery (garden store) about which rose varieties produce rose hips as not all roses do. The ones I found were growing on a wild rose beside the road! They are produced after flowering and mature during autumn.
      As for the pancakes, you have inspired me to write another tutorial, so I'll take photo's and post during the week, so check back.
      Have a great weekend! Yasmin

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