Rosehip syrup

I’d recently noticed a hedgerow containing rosehips whilst out and about. I think it used to be a cottage garden once and the hedges were full of old roses long since gone wild. Now it was full of lovely rosehips.

We checked that we had permission to pick, and one morning descended with thick gardening gloves and secateurs. We left plenty for the birds but picked enough to make a few generous bottles of rosehip syrup.

Always just take what you can use.

Rosehips are full of Vitamin C and natural antioxidants and I have distant memories of being fed rosehip syrup as a child to ward off winter colds. The flavour still stays with me to this day.

I used the River Cottage recipe as it was the simplest I could find – https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/rosehip-syrup for any of you wanting to try it.

First they needed to be topped, tailed and washed before being finely chopped ready for the next stage. I used gloves to protect my hands as the seeds can be irritant, and they’re chock full of them.

After ten minutes of fiddly chopping I gave up and zapped them with a few pulses in the food processor. Sometimes being purist in the kitchen isn’t a benefit.

They’re next simmered until soft and the resultant mixture is strained through a double layer of muslin, leaving the fruit juice. The juice is strained a second time, has sugar added to it and then is heated again.

It’s finally decanted into hot, sterilised bottles and jars ready to be cooled.

The part filled bottle went into the fridge and we’ve been using it as a cordial with soda water for a sharp-sweet, healthy drink. We’ve also tried a splash of it with gin and tonic. It’s delicious. I swear I can taste a faint hint of roses.

I’m going to try elderberry syrup next as I have a jar of dried elderberries on the pantry shelf waiting for inspiration, and I love the look of the dark, purple cordial.

Very hedgewitchy