Category: Preserve Recipes

Follow the links for simple home-made preserve recipes. Or have a look at the Recipe Index for lots of other brilliant easy recipes!

In this section you will find lots of preserve and jam recipes and a few fruit curds. My home-made jam recipes use seasonal ingredients and often have a bit of a flavour twist.

I use my home-made jams and curds in a lot of my baking and dessert recipes. They are a brilliant way of adding flavour. But I also love them spread on a some good bread for breakfast or an afternoon snack!

Jam and Curd

Rose Petal Jam

Rose Petal Jam with Fresh Rose Petals

Rose Petal Jam is sweet rose-scented heaven! I love floral flavours, particularly rose. They taste wonderful but there is also something romantic and exotic about edible flowers.

I love travelling and one of my favourite places to visit is Morocco. I have had many trips there over the years and have wonderful culinary and cultural memories! Morocco is known for its wonderful roses and rose petals and rose water are used in both sweet and savoury dishes. The province of Ouarzazate, south-east of Marrakesh, is the centre of rose production. Each year in early May in El Kelaa M’Gouna, a small town in the Moroccan “Valley of Roses” there is a Rose Festival to celebrate the annual harvest.

Making Rose Petal Jam reminds me of Moroccan breakfasts and exploring a different culture. However, it also makes me of my own home. I make it using roses from my garden in Gloucestershire and, sometimes, from wild roses that flower in June and July along my regular dog-walking routes.

What you need to know about Rose Petal Jam

What does it taste like? Well, the quick answer is that it tastes of eating roses! It is a sweet, semi-set jam. The petals are not generally removed, although you can do this if you wish, so it has a bit of texture to it too. The long answer is that it tastes of memories, exotic places and also of home (see above!).
How do I use it? It is pretty versatile. I’ve listed a few of the ways that I use it below to offer some inspiration!
- First off, you can use it, as you would any jam, spread on bread and butter for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.
- It is also great as an accompaniment to cheese. Use it as you would a chutney with hard mild cheese, such as Lancashire or Wensleydale. Drop a spoonful over soft cheese such as ricotta or a good cream cheese. Or drizzle it over fried haloumi.
- It is also good stirred into plain Greek yogurt or with vanilla ice cream.
- If you are making pancakes, a dollop of rose petal jam, and maybe a spoonful of whipped cream, will make them taste sublime.
- It also is a good addition to many plain pudding recipes. Stir it into rice pudding, add it to bread and butter pudding or use a spoonful, together with some whipped cream, to sandwich a pair of meringues.
- It is good as a filling for cakes, particularly Victoria-sandwich style cakes.

How do you make it?

It is really quick and easy to make Rose Petal Jam. It takes only 20 minutes and the list of ingredients is very short.

The time to make this jam is in the summer when the roses, in your garden or in the hedgerows, are in full bloom. Choose new open flowers – rose buds and older roses that are going brown are not as good. It is best to pick them on a sunny day as the flavour will be stronger. Choose fragrant varieties. The stronger the scent of the roses, the stronger the flavour of the resulting jam.
As with all edible flowers, you need to make sure that those that you are gathering have not been treated with any chemicals. Do not ever use roses from a florist as they are very likely to have been chemically treated.
There are two views regarding preparation of rose petals for culinary use.The first is that you should not wash the petals s as this will impact the flavour and you should just shake the flowers and pick through them to remove any insects. The second is that the blooms need to be washed to remove the bugs, and any dirt, regardless of any reduction in flavour. I tend towards the “no-wash” view when making this jam but the choice is yours.
It is vital to add pectin to this jam (step 5) as your jam will not set without it and it does not occur naturally in rose petals!
This jam will keep for around three months. Once you have opened the jar, you should keep it in the refrigerator.

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Other rose-flavoured recipes

I love the flavour of rose and rose geranium. If you are inspired by my Rose Petal Jam, you might like some of my other rose-flavoured recipes.

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Home-made Rose Petal Jam recipe

Rose Petal Jam

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

Author: Tastebotanical
Prep Time: 5
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 1 large jar 1x
Category: Jam
Cuisine: English

Print Recipe

Description

This delicious jam is made from fresh rose petals and has an amazing floral taste.

Ingredients

Scale

250 ml (8 fl oz) water
450 g (1 lb) caster sugar
50 g (2 oz) fresh rose petals
100 ml (3 fl oz) pectin
Juice of half a lemon

Instructions

Put the water and sugar in a heavy-based pan. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
Check that the rose petals are free from insects. You can wash your petals if you wish. However, to ensure a stronger flavour, it is better not to wash them.
Add the rose petals to the saucepan containing the water and sugar.
Bring the mixture to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the lemon juice and pectin and then pour the mixture into a sterilised jam jar. Cover with a lid and allow to cool.

Notes

You can sterilise your jam jar by washing it in warm, soapy water, rinsing well and then drying off for 15 minutes in an oven set at 140C/120C fan/gas 1.

Keywords: rose petal, jam

This recipe has been shared on #CookBlogShare with Curly’s Cooking and #Fiesta Friday with Fiesta Friday and Mollie @ Frugal Hausfrau

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Elderflower Vinegar

Easy Elderflower Vinegar recipe

This recipe for Elderflower Vinegar is incredibly easy. In essence, you just have to combine fresh elderflowers with a light vinegar and leave for two weeks for the flavour to develop. At the end of this time, your vinegar will have the delicious floral scent of elderflowers and will keep indefinitely.

What you need to know about Elderflower Vinegar

The time to make this vinegar is in late spring or early summer when the elderflowers are in bloom. When you start to look for them, you will see them everywhere in hedges in May and June. The elderflower heads consist of hundreds of small creamy-white flowers and have a distinctive elderflower aroma.
These are the key points to remember when you are picking your elderflowers. They are best picked on a sunny day as the flavour will be stronger. Choose elderflower heads where the flowers are fully open but which have not yet started to turn brown. As with all foraged food, you need to make sure that the flowers that you are gathering have not been treated with any chemicals.
There are two views regarding preparation of elderflowers for use in cordial, gin or vinegar. The first is that you should not wash the elderflowers as this will impact the flavour and you should just shake the flowers and pick through them to remove any insects. The second is that the blooms need to be washed to remove the bugs, and any dirt, regardless of any reduction in flavour. I tend towards the “no-wash” view when making flavoured vinegar, which is strained and has antiseptic properties, but the choice is yours.
You can choose any kind of good quality light vinegar to make this recipe. I generally use either white wine vinegar or cider vinegar. However, you can also use rice vinegar. Malt vinegar is too harsh and is not suitable for this recipe.
Although it is a matter of minutes to combine the elderflowers with the vinegar, you need to allow two weeks for the flavour to develop. During that time, keep the jar at room temperature, shake it occasionally to ensure the ingredients are combined. If any of the elderflowers are not covered by the vinegar, push them under the surface.

Uses for Elderflower Vinegar

Elderflower Vinegar can be used as a substitute for non-flavoured vinegar in recipes where its distinctive floral aroma will enhance the taste of the finished dish. I use it in two main ways but I am sure there are lots of others and I would love to hear from anyone who has used it in other ways.

I use Elderflower Vinegar is to make a simple vinaigrette salad dressing. Put 50 ml of vinegar and 150 ml of olive oil in a jar together with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of honey. Close the lid on the jar and shake it for a couple of minutes to combine all the ingredients. I generally use the vinaigrette with salads that contain fruit especially strawberries or melon. Simply combine some green salad leaves, some sliced strawberries or melon and maybe a few cubs of feta and add the dressing.
Sprinkling balsamic vinegar onto fresh strawberries is an excellent way of bringing out their flavour. I think using sweetened Elderflower Vinegar is better. I mix 50 ml of vinegar with two teaspoons of honey or sugar and then sprinkle it over the strawberries. You can either eat right away or leave for half an hour so that the vinegar will draw out the delicious strawberry juices.

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Other Elderflower Recipes

I am a big fan of elderflower and love its distinctive floral flavour. I have lots of recipes, some using fresh elderflowers and some which can be made with shop-bought elderflower cordial.

Fresh Elderflower Cordial – very easy to make with fresh elderflowers and can be diluted as a drink and also used as a flavouring in other recipes.
Home-made Elderflower Gin – very easy to make with fresh elderflowers and great drunk on its own or as the basis for floral cocktails.
Elderflower Cupcakes – quick and easy and can be made using shop-bought cordial.
Simple Elderflower Ice Cream – delicious floral ice cream which can be made using shop-bought elderflower cordial.
Elderflower and Gooseberry Sorbet – a refreshing floral sorbet that celebrates the brilliant flavour match of elderflower and gooseberry.
Elderflower Pannacotta – light and creamy summer dessert,