Sunday 5 June 2011

Preserving the Glory of Summer

The summer has finally arrived as I'm sitting in my room & feel the heat.
Despite having hay fever in summer, I enjoy the sunny mornings.

After the success of making elderflower cordial, I wanted to make elderflower champagne but instead, I made elderflower liqueur.
It's very simple, all you need is a bottle of vodka & a clean jar.
Of course, with your spare time, go to a park & pick up some flowers.
Lucky for me, there're lots of elderflower bushes just a few steps by my front door at home.
The rose bush in the garden is blossoming, it smells wonderful & rosy.
It's perfect for garden rose petal jam.
Didn't quite get the jam though as there's no fruit pectin at home...
It turned out to be a syrup, still great!
Since I have dried rose buds lying in the cupboard, I put some in for a more intense rosy flavour.
You can pour it over ice cream, cheesecake, yogurt, in tea or milk... the possibility is endless!
Recipe:
Garden Rose Syrup
40 g fresh fragrant roses, I used pink and red
120 g sugar
250 ml water
1/2 lemon, juice only
10 dried rose buds

Rinse the rose petals with water & remove the white base.
Combine sugar & water in a saucepan, bring water to boil & stir to dissolve the sugar.
Add the rose petals & rose buds, simmer for 20 min.
Add lemon juice & boil for 1 min.
Pour in a sterilised jar & keep refrigerated for storage.

N.B. To make the jam, simply add 10-15g fruit pectin powder to get the right consistency at the end.

Elderflower Liqueur
10-15 elderflower heads, enough to fill a whole jar
1/4 lemon
1/2 bottle of vodka or gin
30-60 g sugar, to taste

Gently wash & shake to dispel any insects & water, remove the larger stems.
Place lemon & the flowers in a sterilised jar.
Pour enough vodka to cover & seal.
Keep in a cool, dark place for a month.
Strain the flowers off with cheesecloth & pour alcohol back to the jar.
Add the sugar & shake to dissolve.

2 comments:

  1. The rose petal jam looks gorgeous. And I only wish I had some elderflowers growing in my yard, because I love that kind of liqueur and boy, is it pricey in stores. ;)

    ReplyDelete
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