Spicey Rosehip Syrup

I am always on the look out for different or interesting recipes  and those made with foraged foods are always dear to my heart.  It is another Sarah Raven recipe from

Sarah Raven's Complete Christmas Food and Flowers ISBN: 978-0-7475-9510-6

To quote Sarah

"Rosehip syrup made with hedgerow rosehips is delicious particularly with the additional spicy flavours of cinnamon, cloves, and star anise.  It is also famously full of vitamin C and so excellent for drinking through the winter to keep colds and flu at bay.  It tastes good as a cold or hot drink diluted one part of cordial to five of water or drizzled over ice cream.  Make plenty for yourself and some extra bottles to give away.  Use small bottles as the syrup will not keep for more than a week or two once it has been opened".

Ingredients

1kg rosehips

2 cinnamon sticks broken up (optional)

6 cloves (optional)

3 star anise (optional)

450g granulated sugar.

Method

Crush the Rosehips.  Bring 1.7 litres of water to the boil in a large saucepan.  Tip the rosehips into it and bring back to the boil.  Then remove from the heat and allow to stand for 30 minutes or so to infuse before straining through a jelly bag or muslin bag.  Leave the liquid to stand.  Bring a further 800ml of water to the boil in another saucepan and add the pulp from the jelly bag.  Bring back to the boil and infuse and strain as before.  Mix the two extracts together in a clean pan.  Add the spices if using and boil over a brisk heat until the volume has reduced by half.

Add 450g sugar to this and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved before boiling hard for 5 minutes.  Strain and pour into small warm bottles that have been sterilised in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes or run through the dishwasher.

I will then water bath process the bottles for 15 minutes. Then will seal, label and date the bottles.

Once opened store in the fridge and drink within a couple of weeks.

Note:


I seem to remember that Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall made an apple and rosehip ice cream using a couple of bottles of rosehip syrup.  This spicy version would make a very unusual spicy ice cream.

I will have to have a play.  I am destined to go foraging for Rosehips and Rowan berries this weekend if the weather plays ball.  Its dreadful here today again it was wet n damp yesterday and I am a bit like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz a bit stiff to say the least.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

xx