Looking for a Winter tonic? Try this easy and delicious recipe sent in by a reader for rose hip syrup, which contains 20 times more vitamin C than oranges.
☛ Wash about a kilo of berries and break off the stalks. The chopped rose hips should be put into 1.75 litres of boiling water as quickly as possible as vitamin C begins to break down as soon as they are damaged
☛ Once boiling, turn off and allow to stand for 15 minutes.
☛ Pour the mixture through a jelly bag or muslin.
☛ Put the chopped rose hips back in the pan, add another litre of water and repeat the straining process. You could probably do this three times and still get goodness out of the rose hips.
☛ Add about 750g of sugar for each litre of syrup that you have – and bring to the boil again. No need to boil away for hours. Once the syrup is boiling, you can start bottling it.
☛ Bottle the rose hip syrup in sterilised bottles. Best to use small ones as the syrup will go off if the bottle is open for too long. Store in a cool, dark place and refrigerate after opening. It is a delicious drink either hot or cold – dilute to taste. You can also use it as a sweetener on your muesli or in savoury dishes or desserts.
