How To Make Rose Petal Jelly

Homemade Jam Recipes

Ingredients: Rose Petal Jelly Recipe

1 lb / 500 grams of fresh rose petals (scented roses with thin petals are best to use in this recipe. Make sure they the plants / flowers are pesticide-free)
1 1/2 lb / 750 grams of white sugar (try to only use white granulated sugar and not caster)
8 fl oz / 250 ml of tap water
1 large lemon

Method - What To Do

A recipe made using the petals of flowers is always a talking point at the dinner table, and this particular jelly is worth talking about, with its strong and slightly unusual flavour. It is best served on biscuits, cakes or pastries, as part of a traditional English afternoon tea. Or, you can just eat it by the spoonful on its own!

Pick large rose blooms that are in full flower, in the sunshine (and not wet). Pluck out all of the petals carefully and, using a pair of scissors, cut off and discard the white base of the petals. Next, roughly cut the remaining petal pieces in a glass bowl (do not cut too finely) and mix in around half of the white sugar.

Allow the rose petals and the sugar to stand for between 24 and 48 hours, preferably the latter. By this time, the rose petals will have started to darken in colour and infuse their fragrance - the sugar should have gained a strong smell of roses.

Tip the rose petals and sugar into a saucepan, stirring in the rest of the sugar, the water and the juice from one large lemon. To add extra pectin to this jelly, also include all of the pips from the lemon. These will be removed at the end, and so unless you are happy to spoon these out, they can be placed in a muslin bag or similar straining device.

Stir the mixture to start dissolving the crystals of white sugar and add the pan to a low heat. Continue stirring until all of the sugar has gone and then boil strongly for a minute, reducing to a simmer for between 15 and 20 minutes, until it starts to take on the appearance of a thickening syrup.

Test the setting point by dribbling some of the rose petal jelly onto a plate (chilled in a freezer or a cold fridge) and after a minute, run your finger through the syrup to see if it has formed itself a skin, becoming jelly like. If so, your jelly is ready to pour into jam jars (minus the lemon pips and any scum). Otherwise, simmer some more and continue to test like this, until setting point arrives.

Rose Petal Jelly Recipe - More Jelly Recipes.