Autumn has come around once more. With a new season, comes new food possibilities. Nobody knows this better than our chefs at Fooditude, who cook up seasonal meals for our tasty delivered office catering service.
Alex Bailey, Fooditude’s company executive chef, shares his own method with us for making rosehip syrup. Now some of you may be thinking “where on earth do I buy fresh rosehip berries from?” – the answer is that it’s rarely sold fresh in supermarkets. It’s something that you’ll need to put on those wellies and go foraging for! Here’s a great article by The Spruce on how to harvest them.
Good question! Chef Alex recommends:
Dribble over a crumble with cream
Porridge topping
Scotch pancakes topping
Yoghurt sweetener
Sterilise a couple of bottles and vinegar-proof screw-tops (or stoppers)
Blitz the rosehips in a food processor in batches. Add water to loosen
Transfer the blitzed rosehips to a large saucepan and add roughly 1.5 litres of water (depending on how pulpy/ dry the mixture is)
Bring the blitzed rosehip to boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for around 15 mins
Strain through a double layer of muslin, letting the pulp sit for around 30 mins until the juice passes through
Pass again through a fresh layer muslin (or wash and reuse the used piece)
Measure the rosehip juice into a large saucepan. For every 500ml, add 275g of sugar
Heat slowly whilst stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the rosehip juice to boil, then boil for 3 mins. Skim off any scum that appears
1kg of rosehip berries – trimmed and washed
500g to 1kg of granulated sugar
…and voilà! Here is the rosehip syrup, all bottled up and ready to bring natural sweetness into your life