Uh, I hope it's not too late for a rosehip recipe!
As I mentioned in some of my posts, I was gathering a lot of rosehips this winter, for they grow in abundance here in the valley. It was a nice side mission on my walks :-)
Most of them were meant for drying and tea (you can read about it here: Rosehip as Vitamin C Supply in Wintertime), which turned out a great success, we love it! :-)
But I also experimented a bit with making syrup!
Or ... actually it turned out more like a juice ^^
I found a few recipes online, but they usually boil the rosehips for a long time, and I didn't really like the idea, because my aim was, to preserve the precious Vitamin C as good as possible.
So I tried it my own way, inspired by a recipe for nettle syrup, which I'm gonna share another time (in spring, when the fresh young nettles start to grow again).
I'm not really good with recipes, I rather experiment in my own way.
But I can tell you, what worked for me, even if it's not perfect, and some possible improvements for next time.
My "recipe" was really easy actually.
I basically just let the rosehips soak in water and sugar for one or two days, press it through a sieve, and fill it in a bottle ^^
I took:
I've cut the rosehips, so the flavor comes out more easily.
Then I've dissolved the sugar in warm water.
The rosehips and the water-sugar-mixture go in a pot (with a lid on it) and then I've put it in a dark, cool place to rest for one or two days.
After that time, I've stirred it again, and pressed it through a sieve. Then filled it in a bottle and put it in the fridge.
As I said, it turned out a bit more like juice than syrup. We had to mix it with water in almost a 1/1 ratio, to make it taste good. But it still was a success and very delicious! :-)
I don't really know how long you could keep the juice in the fridge, because we only needed two or three days to finish ours ^^ But because of the amount of sugar, and when it's kept cold, I would guess about one week.
If one would want to make a bigger amount of syrup/juice, like several bottles for storing, I would recommend, boiling it at least for a moment, filling it in sterilized bottles, and keeping it in a cool and dark place.
Improvements for Next Time
I think next time, I'm gonna take only half of the water, so the consistency gets a bit more syrup-like.
Also I want to try it with different sweeteners. I'm pretty sure, it would work with honey as well. And I'm definitely sure it would work with xylitol, because I've already tried it with quince-syrup.
I won't bother again with cutting all the rosehips, it's such a lot of work. Instead I'm gonna just blend them, it's faster and much more effective.
I would like to not only press it through a sieve but also through a piece of cloth, to minimize the amount of particles in the juice.
Well, this post turned out a bit chaotic ^^
But I hope you enjoyed it anyway.
I'm looking forward to next winter, next rosehip-season, when I have a chance to improve my syrup with everything that I've learned this time :-)
all images by me
