Lurgy-busting rosehip syrup recipe
Rosehip syrup is something I remember from my childhood, although I can’t pinpoint where I had it. The chances are it would have been at my Grandma’s house, as she was an avid forager and maker. But there’s a distant memory of having it at part of school dinners. Could that really be? And if so, what a brilliant idea for upping kids’ vitamin C intake and blasting all those winter lurgies away; weight for weight, rosehips have around 20 times more vitamin C than oranges, as well as being high in vitamins B, A and E and full of antioxidants.
Rosehips can be picked from mid-autumn, after the first frost (or earlier, and you can pop them in the freezer like I did). You have to be careful with the insides as they are full of seeds and tiny hairs which can cause skin irritation - which explains why they were traditionally used as itching powder! That’s why I did a double strain in my recipe, just to make sure there were no nasties left behind.
You need to pick a lot of rosehips to make this syrup, as you lose a lot in pulp and the liquid reduces a lot. Annoyingly, I didn’t weigh my foraged haul, but it must have been close to 1kg.
Method
Wash your newly picked rosehips then pop them in the freezer overnight. This softens the fruit once defrosted.
Chop off the ends, then blend to a pulp in a food processor or blender. If you have more patience, you can do it with a sharp knife.
Put them in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
Sieve the pulp and collect the liquid in a bowl, then strain the liquid again through a muslin or jelly bag.
Measure your syrup and return to the pan. For every 100ml of liquid, add 60g of sugar. (Some people use raw honey if they don’t consume sugar, but you’d have to check quantities).
Heat gently, skimming off any scum that appears on top until the sugar has dissolved.
Funnel into a sterilised glass bottle and store in the fridge.
You can experiment with adding different things, for flavour and/or health properties, which you would do at step 3. Star anise, cloves and cinnamon are all popular choices. Some recipes add brandy after step 6 to prolong the syrup’s shelf life.
You can take a teaspoon of syrup every day as a general immune tonic, or mix with water to make a cordial or tea. Or simply use as you would maple syrup - drizzled over porridge or pancakes. It is so delicious, I don’t think ours will last that long!
Thanks to Lola at All Things Foraging for showing me the best local spot for rosehips. You can read all about our foraging adventure here.
