April 21, 2009

hibiscus flower syrup

for the past five years a tin with dried hibiscus flowers was sitting in my cupboard... now and then a used a few pedals to add to a herbal tea, but never a lot. what should i do with them? i want to get rid of that tin and use the flowers. my mind was racing and trying to come up with something, of course "google" helped me.
rosella syrup! yeah, that was it and it looked so pretty. a very strong dark red.
so i got started and it's super simple, smells wonderful in the house and we ended up with two bottles of syrup. what more did i want, nothing more.

these are the dried flowers with light brown sugar, add water and bring to a boil. keep on low fire for a while.

these is left after pouring the syrup in to bottles. i tried to eat the petals and it was like eating sour candy. lovely, just what i craved for.

the two bottles of syrup are now in the fridge and will be used up before i know. maybe i will buy some dried hibiscus flowers again, maybe next week.... who would have thought!
i already used some syrup for a raspberry-tiramisu, delicious what a great substitute. instead of coffee i used this and it looks so pretty. i left the lemon zest away as the syrup is already tangy enough.
no photos of that dessert, i guess i have to make it again and bring it to the blog.

Hibiscus Flower (Rosella) Syrup

1 ¼ cups dried Hibiscus flowers
1 ½ cups brown Sugar
5 cups Water

Place all ingredients in to a large pot and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool and strain through a sieve. Discard the petals.

Keep in the fridge and add a little to a glass of chilled water to make a refreshing – and ‘different’ – drink ! We have also added sparkling mineral water which make a great “fizzy” drink for kids.

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