Rosehips are packed with vitamins A and C and you can make jams, jellies, wine and tea with them. I might use this syrup for puddings at some point, but I’m much more likely to use it for cocktails.
I’m thinking gin, soda and rosehip syrup, or just with water it’s lovely as a cordial, or with soda. You can also have it with hot water as a warming winter drink. I’ve also got an idea that it might be nice in a posset, say rosehip and blackberry posset. I’ll have to try that.
Take about three large handfuls of hips – about 500g. Wash them carefully, getting rid of any dirt, chaff and bugs. Then blitz in a food processor until quite fine and add to a pan of about 800ml boiling water. Bring back to the boil briefly and then let them sit for about 15 mins. Then pour through a jelly bag or muslin, or as I improvised, kitchen roll over a sieve. Leave to drip for an hour.
Repeat the process by adding the pulp to another 800ml of boiling water, bring back to the boil, then the recipe says to let it sit for another 15 mins, but I let one batch sit overnight and got a much stronger syrup, so leave it as long as you can. Drain again for 1 hour.
Finally, combine both lots of strained juice (it should be about 900ml) pour into a pan and add 600g granulated sugar and heat until dissolved. Boil for 3 mins then pour into a sterilised bottle or jars. It will keep for about 4 months.
I’ll keep you posted on my cocktail experiments!
