Rose Hip Syrup

Is it possible to make rose hip syrup from any kind of rose hip? I have a rugosa rose in the garden which produces huge hips each year but all of the recipes I have seen for making syrup state using wild rose hips. It seems such a waste, all of the lovely fat juicy hips going to waste.

 

As far as I know, all rose hips are edible but they aren't all as palettable as one another. I know dog roses are recommended for syrup here but rosa rugosa does make nice syrup as it has a nice flavour as well. The one thing to make sure you do is remove the irritating hairs in the hip, or make sure none get into the syrup.

 

I have googled rose hip syrup and am going to live life dangerously this year. I am 83 and have never made or tasted rose hip syrup or jelly. There is a first time for everything.
I am going to harvest the hips on my rugosa as they ripen and freeze them until I have enough to make some syrup, if there are enough I will also try making some jelly. (God willing I am still around and not pushing up the daisies). One year I made some autumn fruit jelly using elderberries, blackberries, sloes and apples. It was unique and delicious. The flavour is determined by the quantities and different types of fruit so probably never replicated year on year.

 

Go for it Goldenlily, I found a recipe for a hedgerow jam last year that included hawthorn, elderberry, and a few more things that I may try this year. The recipe book is far older than I am but had rose hip jam in it, for which I collected the hips and froze them but didn't get any further.
I did make grape jam though which was a great success.

 

As @Thevictorian says it is vital to make sure that the hairs are removed. I did look into making a syrup some years ago from our dog rose but decided that this was too difficult for me to do. I do though make quince jelly and medlar jelly but then they don't have those hairs.

 

We have a medlar tree which has tons of fruit every year. I did makes medlar jelly a couple of times but we found it a bit underwhelming

 

I tried eating a raw medlar when "bletted", ripe, when I was a kid. It was so disgusting! I have heard medlar jelly is delicious but have never had access to any medlars since my one and only encounter.
I have the remains of a bolt of muslin so straining the rose hips is not a problem.
Moons ago I made some grape water ice. It was delicious but I have lost the recipe and never seen another recipe for it since. I remember lots of whisking egg whites was involved.

 

I remember those hairs from my school days.
There was a big rose bush at one end of the playground, it was great fun to creep up behind some and put some down the back of their shirt.

 

@Butterfly6 medlar jelly produces such an amazing colour. Yes it is such a fiddly process but worth it. The quinces also allows you to make membrillo which keeps for AGES when you wrap it up carefully. Great to have with cheese.

 

I have a slab of membrillo in the freezer. Made from the few quince from my tree before it stopped producing.

 

I love membrillo and have made it in the past. Our quince tree is in very poor health so we rarely get any fruit. It’s bark split during the “beast from the east” and it’s steadily declined ever since.

I agree medlar jelly is a fabulous colour but the flavour was, imo, underwhelming and if stronger might have been one of those maybe described as “an acquired taste”

 

My quince tree has been struggling for a few years. I think maybe the roots have reached the compacted shale layer below the top soil I planted it in and it is in a struggle to get its roots down through the moisture less layer. I have noticed other deep rooted trees and shrubs have a similar behaviour. The quince loses its leaves easily and early and does not produce fruit despite flowering profusely. Hopefully once the sub layer has been penetrated the tree will improve.
I did wonder if it had some kind of disease but there is no sign of anything and no damage. A small golden yew I planted took several years to get going, now growing well, also a nameless shrub. My garden is on the edge of old clay pit workings and spoil heaps hence virtually no proper top soil and compacted sub soil.

 

They are lovely trees, medlar and quince. Both of ours flower very well and such pretty blossom. Our quince is at its best when the foliage is new and then in blossom. From then on its goes downhill and by now the foliage is quite rusted and scabby. Such a shame

 

@Butterfly we had the same problem with the quince in our garden. So one year we pollarded it and the next year we had good strong growth with leaves that weren't rusty or scabby. We didn't have any flowers that year. The following we did. Not a lot but enough. Each year since the harvest has been better. However this year we are having massive quince fruit drop. Probably due to lack of rain for so long.
It is interesting that medlar trees always want to grow at an angle!

 

I wouldn’t dare pollard our quince. The bark split is almost completely around the trunk and quite low down, I’m amazed it’s still alive to be honest.

Yes, our medlar is quite an architectural shape as well. A fabulous shape but very sprawling and low. It does make me chuckle when I hear them described as ideal for small gardens. I suppose it depends on your idea of small. Our Medlar must be about 6m or more across and a lowish canopy and we have trimmed it back every year since we arrived.