Rose petal syrup

  Rose petal syrup is as decadent as it sounds, and it requires only four ingredients. I had originally thought it might be too floral a taste for me, but after I made it I am hooked. It does take an impressive amount of petals, think Roman Emperor Nero smothering people under drifts of rose petals. Okay, maybe not that many, but it seems like it. 

And you need to sniff the roses first. We live in an age when perfect symmetry and longevity  seem to have edged out perfume and blowzy flamboyancy. Make sure the roses have a lovely scent, or your syrup will taste like NOTHING. The petals should also be a shade of pink or red. Trust me. I have tried powerfully scented whites only to have a lovely taste with translucent bits of what looks like skin floating about- not appetizing! So, after much looking through recipes I put together what works for me and seems the best of all methods.

 Here are the simple ingredients:

 18 0z dark, fragrant rose petals (Measure these by packing loosely into a liquid measuring cup, not by weighing. You can gather these over several days, keeping them in a Ziploc in the fridge.)
18 oz white sugar ( measured in liquid measuring cup)
water (see instruction below)
1/2 fresh lemon

Rinse the petals and drain, then place in a bowl. The petals will still have droplets of water on them, you want that. Juice the lemon half over the petals and sprinkle with a some of the 18 ounces of sugar. Rub the petals gently between the finger tips, massaging the sugar in. Add more sugar if each petal doesn't have some on it to rub. Bruise the petals, but don't tear them.

  When you are done they will have wilted down to where it will look like you don't have nearly enough rose petals, but it's perfect. 

You have just released all the rose oil (you know, the expensive stuff they use to make perfume) into your sugar. And do you see how the liquid is stained pink? Gorgeous!

    Cover and let sit at least 2 hours, or it can even be left out overnight. Pour the leftover sugar into a nonreactive saucepan. Then scrape the macerated rose petals and all the lovely liquid back into your measuring glass and add water to reach the 24 oz (3 cup) mark. Pour into the pan with the sugar. Heat over meduim heat, stirring gently until the sugar dissloves. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and simmer gently 30 minutes. 

 Ladle into jars and either refrigerate, or continue with your favored method of canning. 
    The syrup will have a beautiful flavor, a lovely pinkish hue, and the shreds of petal are chewy in a delightful way, think peach bits in a jam. Here's the thing, sugar, I have lots of roses to choose my petals from, and a lot of deeply fragranced antique varieties. If you finish making your syrup and your roses do not impart enough taste, you can add a touch of storebought rose water. I would start with 1/8 of a cup, and not add more than 1/3. You want a delicate, subtle floral, not overwhelming cat lady in a hot car. Ahem! Try to wipe that thought from your mind while I show you some of the lovely ways this can be used...

Pavlova drizzled with Rose Syrup

 

Pour over delicately flavored cakes like pound or angel, over warm homemade bread with butter, tossed with berries for a salad, mixed with fizzy water for a drink. Drizzle over vanilla ice cream to show off the color, flavor, and those gorgeous pink shreds of petals! There are so many ways to use it.

Strawberry-Rose Cobbler with Rose Petal Syrup

    

 I did a luncheon for a wonderful group of ladies and I used both my rose petal syrup, and my rose sugar. Here are links to two different types of rose petal sugar, Fresh rose petal sugar, and Dried rose petal and Lavender sugars.  You can use this as the sugar in a pound cake, coat sugar cookies with it, sprinkle it on as garnish. I wouldn't use the dried type in teas or drinks as you will be drinking bits of dried petals, much like having your teabag burst. Not a pleasant way to get your fiber. But I haven't tried it with the fresh petal sugar, that might be quite nice...
     Here are some pictures from the luncheon.
This is the table setting...forks for salad, main, and desert. Spoon for homemade strawberry-mint sorbet as a palate cleanser, and a tea sized butter knife for homemade bread with lemon zest and parsley compound butter. The sorbet is swoon-worthy! Here's the Recipe

This is a buttermilk cake with raspberries baked into the batter, topped with fresh raspberries, crowned with freshly whipped cream, sprinkled with a garnish of rose sugar, and then surrounded by a drizzle of rose syrup. Leaning against it is a lime zest sugar cookie for contrast of flavor and texture.Yeah, I really like to do parties!

"But he who dares not grasp the thorn,

should never crave the rose."

~ Anne Bronte