Rose sugar with fresh petals

It seems that my roses were happy to have me home from Paris- they have been blooming their little heads off! I love a rose on a stem as much as any gal, but some I planted just for the color and scent of their petals. In other words, some roses are cooking roses.

I had only been home two days before I gathered my first big batch and made rose petal syrup. It is such a lovely thing to make that it  gives me joy. I mean, I wander about in the garden pulling rose petals, get to massage them with sugar, then fill the house with the intoxicating scent of them bubbling away on the stove. I hardly dare to call that work. If you're interested, see Rose Petal Syrup.

After that I gathered bits of petals here and there and scattered them to dry. 

When they are completely dry I pulse them with white sugar in a food processor and have rose sugar to cook with. To see more, go to Lavender and Rose Sugars

But the other day I saw that a lady made sugar with fresh petals. I thought, What on earth? All the moisture and oils would cause the jar to mold. Did she just use it immediately? No, she put it in the freezer...tricky, tricky.

So the very next day I copied her. I don't grow red roses. I've never really had a liking for them. But I have some vibrant pink ones.  

The sugar from them turned the most gorgeous hue! Doesn't that look like the prettiest jar of sugar you ever saw?

I was enthralled with it and tucked it straight into the freezer. But now is the quandary of deciding exactly the right thing to use it on, or in. It will be difficult, because rose has become one of my favorite flavors to play with. We'll have to see what my beady little brain comes up with!