Making rose petal jam

On my wish list of recipes to try was rose petal jam. I'm extremely fond of all things rose flavour; shower gel, perfume, turkish delight.... you name it, I'm keen. For the last year I've been desperate to give it a try but conscious that the window for collecting petals is short and also the volume needed would be tricky to source. It's dog roses which are needed, the pale pink ones which adorn hedgerows. Each flower has 5 petals so collecting any number would be a challenge.

Fortunately on C's new walk we found a holy grail of a hedge which proved to be the perfect place to pick. We took what we could without taking too many and left feeling satified.

The rose petals then needed to be mixed with sugar and left overnight to mascerate. The smell was incredible. The next day lemons were peeled and added along with a little water. Over the heat it all melted together (again, the smell was heavenly). Although we had a teeny tiny batch it was still necessary to use the huge jam pan as the temperature had to go up to even higher than regular jam. Aka, a crazy molten, spitting, terrifying mess. It got there and was decanted into sterilized jars, two. Plus a lump for the fridge. We may have over reduced it!

I have been chewing on the spare in little spoon's worths and it's a real treat. Can't wait to open a jar for porridge or as a sneaky topping to toast. It's very precious!

Take care,
Sophie