Did you know that rosehips are packed with antioxidants and they have more than 110% of your daily vitamin A. They also have 50% more vitamin C than an orange which accounts for 710% or your daily vitamin C allowance. Having stumbled across this information I though this little fruit was worth looking into and adding into our diet.
I originally made a medicinal syrup to help the kids fight off colds through the winter months but it has also been used to make a mocktail for those of us who don’t fancy drinking and just want something tasty and festive to drink. Someone, who will remain nameless, also mixed up rather a yummy cocktail with the Rosehip & Cranberry Syrup, a dash of soda water and a generous slosh of vodka too and that went down far too easily ! As it has been so versatile and handy to have in the kitchen this winter I thought I would share the recipe with you and you can try it out with the tipple of your choice. I also thought it would make a great gift as it keeps well.
Rosehip and Cranberry Syrup
INGREDIENTS
1 generous bag of rosehip, freshly picked
1-2 x 250g tub of fresh cranberries (could use frozen)
1 litre of water
300g of sugar (I use coconut sugar) for every 500ml of liquid
1 tsp citric acid
DIRECTIONS
Roughly chop the rosehips in a magimix or other blender so they are broken up but not pulverised. Pop the rosehips in a saucepan with approx. 1 litre of water (sort of depends on how much fruit you have). Boil until they are fairly soft then add in the cranberries and cook until they start popping. Take off the heat and let them cool down. When cooled, spoon everything into a straining bag and hang till all the juice has come through. (this could be left over night). Please note for health and safety purposes that this will be very hot and sticky and burns easily so take care.
Pour the liquid that has been stained into a pan and add 300g coconut nectar for every 500ml of liquid – adjust to taste (to reduce our sugar intake I used approx ⅔ coconut nectar to ⅓ xylotil (any more and it may taste bitter)). Boil fast for 10 minutes and spoon off any scum. Add the citric acid to taste, give it another good boil until you have a lovely syrup and bottle in sterilised bottles.
NOTE
If you can’t find any Rosehips to pick you could just do this recipe with 3-4 tubs of cranberries instead as they are lovely and festive at this time of year and are also packed with vitamins and very good for you.
This recipe is by no means exact as your quantities may vary so you will have to taste and adjust as you like. The citric acid will lend a bit of sharpness and preserve your syrup so it will last for ages in the fridge but you really don’t need very much at all so go light with that.
To make the cocktail I just mixed up the syrup with fizzy water and served with orange peel but you could also mix the syrup with a dash of fizzy water and a slosh of vodka ! Yum.
The Wellness Reset 