Our driveway is lined with climbing roses, a couple that were already there when we moved in, but many which my husband has carefully dug up from ones that have popped up around our property and transplanted. Each autumn once the flowers have died off, the rosehips form, begging me to do something with them. Last year I simply harvested and dried them in our dehydrator, adding them to herbal teas over the winter months. But this year, I wanted to make full use of their beauty and goodness, so I decided to turn them into a herbal syrup. High in Vitamin C, this ruby-red immune-supporting syrup also happens to be absolutely delicious. It can be taken as a herbal syrup, poured over pancakes in place of maple, or used as a drink base, topped up with sparkling water for a refreshing treat!
Rosehip + hibiscus syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh rosehips
- 1 tablespoon dried hibiscus
- 1 cup organic raw sugar, brown rice syrup or honey
Instructions
- Place fresh rosehips into a food processor and pulse until roughly ground. Transfer to a large saucepan, add dried hibiscus and 4 cups water (preferably filtered). Bring to the boil, turn off the heat, cover with a lid and set aside to infuse for 4 hours, or overnight.
- The following day, strain the tea through a sieve lined with muslin or a nut-milk bag into another large saucepan. You don't want any trace of the tiny (throat irritating) fibres from the inside of the rosehips, so strain twice if need be). If you're using sugar or brown rice syrup, add to the tea, bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve, reduce heat and simmer until a thick syrup has formed (the time will differ depending on how little or how much you make as this recipe can be easily doubled or quadrupled if you have lots of rosehips on hand). If you're using honey, simmer the strained tea until reduced by two-thirds, remove from the heat, then stir through the honey until dissolved. Don't return to the heat.
- Pour syrup into sterilised bottles, label and store in the fridge for up to 3 months.
