Katey’s Rosehip Syrup recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Cordials and Syrups | 224 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.
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What abou the seeds? do they impart a bitterness? or is it fine to chuck the whole hip in?
Hi Debbie
We were given a teaspoon of roship syrup a day as children. It’s good poured over ice cream too.
Hello Rose
Hope that it turns out well for you!
Hi Margaret
The bottles need to be sterilised and sealed warm so plastic bottles wouldn’t work.
Would it be possible to bootle the syrup in plastic bottles, i.e. empty water/coke bottles?
Hi there…this is just the site I was looking for…great stuff!
I am new to Prague and have just noticed all these rosehips along the roads and paths…will be collecting some tomorrow to try your recipe…used to have to buy the syrup from the drugstores in Singapore but since I can make my own…with your wonderful recipe of cos!(everyone who has tried it raves about it!…)I will try soon 🙂
Hope I can taste homemade rosehip syrup soon…if my culinary skills don’t fail me!
Thanks again!
OK, I’m a scientist so done a bit of research – Vit C decomposes at 190oC – shouldn’t deminish during these recipes. Will leech if you use copper pan. I thought that something used for hundreds of years to stave off colds wouldn’t be wrong!
Its meant to get frosty here tonight so I’m off picking in the morning – yay! Looking forward to it. My granny is very proud! Thanks for the recipes!
What a great site. I have never eaten rosehips before and came upon your site after seeing wonderful hips in my hedge rows and thinking there must be something I can use them for.If I make rosehip syrup,how much would you reccomend to take each day and what other uses are there for the syrup, if any.
Hi Margaret
Thanks for your input, much appreciated!
Hello Leaf
No ideas for he pilp as yet. Thanks for dropping by.
Hi John
Great that you like it!
Hi,
I’ve just made my 1st batch of syrup from your recipe and it’s delicious.
Thankyou
John
Hi I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a use for the pulp left over from making rosehip syrup as it seems such a shame to waste it? Thanks for the recipe, we used to drink it as kids, so nice to make my own.
Hi,
Just finished bottling my rosehip syrup which was made to the recipe I found on here. I say I bottled it but thats not quite true because I’ve had to put it in jars as I couln’t find any bottles in any of the shops in town, well yes I did,but the cheapest I could find were £2 each so in future I will be saving my bottles instead of giving them to the recycling bin. I guess it won’t be wasted what ever recepticle its in as it is lovely and will keep the winter chills at bay and hopefully keep my joints going too.
Thanks again for a great site, will let you know how the sloe vodka works out when its ready.