rosehip syrup and jelly

i went rosehip picking this weekend and came home with 1.5kg that needed to be put to good use. i’ve never had anything rosehip-y before but had read that they have a slightly sour floral fruity flavour, perhaps similar to hibiscus.

the fruit was easy enough to pick – swollen and slightly softened with tufty ends that made them look like scarlet baby squid!

i decided on rosehip syrup and a rosehip and apple jelly, both using recipes from the cottage smallholder. in each case the rosehips were boiled with water and then pressed through a muslin to remove the seeds etc. and then sugar is added.

for the cordial, sugar is added and that is it; for the jelly, again sugar is added but this time once it has been mixed with apple puree. the cordial is done and i’ll finish the jam off tomorrow (i've prepped the fruit purees and just need to add the sugar and boil it up).

i have to confess, i’m a little unsure about the flavour of my new syrup and expect the jelly to be similar but tempered by the apple. hopefully david will come up with some interesting cocktails using the syrup and i’ll fall in love with the jelly. any ideas for using either will be gratefully received…

if you fancy giving this a try, pick your rosehips soon before they soften too much!