Katey’s Rosehip Syrup recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Cordials and Syrups | 225 comments
August rose hips in our garden
As a child this delight and a daily spoonful of rosehip syrup heralded the start of winter. At home we queued up, in order of age, as my mother doled out the syrup from a small bottle. She called it medicine. I’m sure that this is why it took me ages, as an adult, to consider trying rosehip syrup again. I discovered that homemade rosehip syrup is delicious and worth making. It is a good natural source of vitamin C. It also contains vitamins A, D and E, and antioxidants.
We have two large rose bushes growing on the east wall at the back of the cottage, that produce hundreds of hips each year. We use these to make apple and rosehip jelly in October. When the hips are softened by November frosts, we make syrup. Lots of it. We give a few bottles away to friends who are laid up with bad colds but most of our giant batch is guzzled by us throughout the winter. It tastes too good to be earmarked solely for the sick bed. Danny loves it stirred into creamy yoghurt or swirled over some home made vanilla ice cream. Somewhere in the barn, a demijohn of rosehip wine is still fermenting from last autumn.
If you don’t have roses in your garden there are lots of briar roses in the hedgerows. They are difficult to spot from a car so if you are somewhere rural and have half an hour to spare, it’s well worth walking or cycling along a footpath or a quiet country lane to see what you can find. Try and avoid busy roads as the fruit will have been exposed to exhaust fumes and nasties. Keep a couple of carrier bags in your coat pocket, just in case.
This recipe was given to me by my friend Katey. It is similar to the recipe given out by The Ministry of Food during WW2, although their’s has more sugar. She remembers being frogmarched to pick hips for rosehip syrup as a child. This didn’t put her off, she still makes it today.
Katey’s Rosehip Syrup recipe
Ingredients:
- 4.5 pts of water
- 2 lbs of rosehips
- 1lb of white granulated sugar
Method:
- There is no need to top and tail the rosehips if the liquid is going to be strained through a muslin bag. If you are using a steam juicer, pass the liquid through muslin – it will only take a few minutes.
- Bring 3 pts of water to the boil.
- Mince the rosehips through a course profile mincer (or food processor).
- Transfer the fruit into fast boiling water and bring to the boil again. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes.
- Pour through a sterilised jelly bag/or muslin square (how do I sterilise a jelly bag or muslin square? See Tips and tricks below) and allow the majority of the liquid to drip through.
- Return the pulp to the pan and add 1.5 pts of fresh boiling water and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes.
- Strain through the jelly bag again.
- Pour extracted liquid into a clean saucepan and boil to reduce the liquid to 1.5 pts.
- Add the sugar and boil rapidly fro another 5 minutes. Pour into hot sterile bottles and seal immediately. (How do I sterilise bottles? See Tips and tricks below).
Tips and tricks:
- Use small bottles (we use recycled vinegar bottles) as it only keeps for a week or so once opened. If you don’t want to use bottles the syrup can be frozen in cubes.
- How do I sterilise a jelly bag or muslin square?
Both can be scalded with boiling water. If you are using a clean muslin bag or square you can iron them with a hot iron. This also works with tea cloths.
- How do I sterilise bottles?
The sterilising method that we used is simple. Just before making the syrup, I quickly wash and rinse the bottles and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160? (140? fan-assisted). When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The bottles will stay warm for quite a while. sterilise the lids by boiling these for a few minutes in water.
Leave a reply
Hi The Bee Lady
I haven’t tried juicing them so can’t help.
Hi
I was wondering if anyone has tried juicing rosehips and has any tips on getting the best results.
the Bee Lady
Hi Mary
I do hope that you find relief for your arthritis with this recipe. It’s tasty too!
Hello Sian
Just had a dip in your site – great stuff, thank you.
Do hope that the hawthorn brandy turns out well. I’d be really interested to hear how it turns out for you – if you have a moment.
Hi Diane
Hope that you had a great and bountiful day!
Hello Margaret
Do hope that it helps with your arthritis. It tastes delicious anyway.
Hi Grace
I haven’t used rowan berries for anything so can’t advise. Most fruit tastes better infused in vodka rather than gin, so that’s a god starting point. I’d love to hear how any experiments work out!
We seem to have an ambundance of rowan berris, unlike elderberries so am going to try using them for jelly with crab apples. I guess its just trial and error for making it! Do you think it is worth trying these in vodka too?
Grace
Hello everybody,
Thanks for your recepie, I made rosehip syrup about 25 years ago, but had lost the pages. Now I can make it again. My husband collects all sorts or hedgerow fruits while out walking our dog, so rosehips will be the next batch I guess – he swears by it for colds and as one of your comments suggests it might help with my arthritis.
Thanks again for a great site.
Hello Katey
What a fabulous website! Thanks for taking the trouble. I’ve made elderberry cordial for years (oh, those perfect autumn days, gathering the berries in the still, hazy sunshine out in the beautiful open countryside with my Dad – quality time!) this time, Dad suggested having a go at the rose-hips – I just needed a recipe! Thank you so very much, we’re off a-gathering tomorrow, I intend to freeze them to soften as I just can’t wait!
What a beautifully friendly and knowledgeable site. Thanks for responding so quickly to my e mail, but I see that if I had had the wit/patience to read the comments here, my question would have been answered!
Amazing info here. I have never heard of hawthorn brandy before which is great as we have shedloads of hawthorns here and I have been moaning that I can’t do anything with them…
Thanks so much, you’ve been very helpful
Just about to make my very first batch of rosehip syrup. I have Rhuematoid Arthritis and I believe Rosehip syrup will help. Thanks for all the great tips and comments that have been very, very helpful.
Hi Jenny
Thanks so much for the feedback.
The birds ate most of our precious elderberries this year. So I reckon that you were right to harvest early. Perhaps global warming is having a knock on effect on wildlife – there just isn’t the usual food available.
Hi Francesca
Keep the tops of the bottles in the future. These can be sterilised along with the bottles. Pasatta jars are great for syrups.
Corks are good for vinegar bottles.
Hello Tania
Thanks for answering this question! Quite often, these days, I don™t have access to my computer and can™t answer urgent queries.
Thanks for that Tania, I’ll get hunting for some xx