Rosehip Syrup

So - as promised, Ray and I made some rosehip syrup with the handy haul of hips (alliteration there) we snaffled whilst clearing the new rows down at the Band Produce greenhouse.

We got about half a kilogram (that's a pound to you) of rosehips.

Not withstanding a minor hiccup in using too much water, our syrup turned out pretty well. Going to put it on pancakes or something.*

So the general method:

Take all the stalks and whatnot off, and chop up the hips pretty roughly.

For half a kilogram add a litre of boiling water, bring it to the boil and then turn off the heat. Leave the brew to 'steep' for half an hour.

Should look something like this.

Once the steeping is done, filter and strain - we used a coffee filter. Keep the remaining pulp to one side.

Straining the liquid.

Chuck the hips back in your pan, add another half litre of boiling water and repeat as above, steeping and straining.

By now you should have 2 bowls/jugs or orangey red liquid, that is pretty fruity, but not very sweet!

To make into a syrup, put the liquid into a saucepan and reduce by half, and add half a kilogram of sugar - keep boiling until it has reached a syrupy consistency. Then, transfer into sterilised jam jars and it's all done.

* Sidenote - when is pancake day again?