Rose Petal Jam
February 11
Having made perfume from rose petals last spring, my daughter and I decided to make a jam from the remainder of the petals. Many varieties of roses are edible and can be used in different forms in the kitchen and this simple recipe is just one of them.
What you need:
2 cups of petals
2.5 cups of water
3 cups of granulated sugar
The juice of 1 lemon
NB Petals should be collected from plants which have been organically grown and free of all pesticides.
Collecting the Petals
Make sure the petals you pick are not discoloured or have been eaten away by bugs. In fact, make sure there are no insects mixed in with your petals! Depending on what rose bush you have, the best petals to use are red but all petals are edible and the stronger the fragrance the better the jam. The right time to pick petals is after the morning dew has evaporated but before the sun reaches its hottest.
Preparation
Next, place the petals in a baking tray or bowl and cover with a generous sprinkling of sugar. Make sure all the petals are coated with sugar. Cover and leave in a cool place for 24 hours.
Cooking
Heat up the sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan. Lemons are naturally good for producing pectin which helps to thicken up the jam. You can leave the pips in but remember to take them out before putting into a jar! Continue to stir until the sugar dissolves.
Add the petals and simmer for a further 30mins. You should see the jam begin to thicken. Bring back to the boil for another ten minutes if it doesn’t look thick enough. The test to tell if your jam is the right consistency is to place a blob on a cold saucer; if it sits nicely and doesn’t slide then you know it’s ready.
Bottling
Jars should be sterilised and sealed if you can wait before you eat it. Otherwise, pour into a clean jar and tuck in!
Muffins, scones or crumpets, as a filling for a sponge cake or with a pudding of ice cream or rice pudding (my favourite!)
I also had some surplus petals so I froze them (make sure the bag/container is completely airtight) and were used later for making my salads more colourful.