Today I did something that I have been wanting to do for a very long time, but had never quite managed to get done for one reason or another. I made Crystallised Rose Buds. The time was right. Our wild rose bush was covered with blooms and tons of cute little pink rose buds. I had nothing else to do, and so I just went for it. I was thrilled with the results!
These are actually a lot easier to make than one would suppose and use only three ingredients, four if you count patience. Rosebuds. Sugar. Water. That's it! Simple!
You want to pick really tiny rose buds. You want them to still be pretty tightly closed . . . these ones work the best. Loose petals would fall off when you are crystallising them, which isn't exactly what we are looking for here. We want buds.
We don't use any pesticides on our flowers, so they are pure and organic. That's really important, to use pesticide free rosebuds. You will want to wash them in cool water and then just shake them out gently in a colander. This will get rid of any insects that you might have inadvertently brought in with your flowers.
Gently, gently keeps them from bruising. We don't want that. Then you clip off the stems with a pair of kitchen scissors. I clip them off right below that little ball at the base of the bud, just so you know.
You make a simple sugar syrup by dissolving ordinary granulated sugar in hot water over moderate heat and then just throw in the rosebuds.
Once that happens, you just take them off the heat and keep stirring gently. Eventually, and it really doesn't take too long, you will see the sugar starting to crystallise and clump. It gets rather opaque as well. That's when you know the hard work is done. Just pop them into a wire sieve and gently shake them over a piece of newspaper or summat you can just throw away. This helps to get rid of any excess sugar. You might find some have clumped together and now is your chance to gently break them apart. Let them air dry after that and then store in a cool dark place in a glass jar with a lid! Voila!! You have some beautiful Crystallised Rose Buds.
*Crystallised Rosebuds*Makes about 3 1/2 cups Printable Recipe You can vary this recipe according to the number of rosebuds you have. Just make sure you pick the tiniest ones you can find, and that they are pesticide free.
600g tiny rose buds (4 cups)380g granulated sugar (2 cups)240ml hot water (1 cup)
Remove from the heat and continue to stir gently, stirring until the syrup resembles the texture of coarse meal.
Store in a cool, dry and dark place
You might think these would smell really rose-like, but they don't. They just smell like a garden . . . green and foresty. I can't wait to use them as a decoration for cakes or cupcakes. Ohh, they would be lovely on sugar cubes, and then when your guests put one into their tea, the sugar would all melt off and they would be surprised with one perfect rosebud in their cup! Magic! Bon Appetit!
PS - Have you checked out the cost of buying crystallised flowers? I did ant they are astronomical! These literally cost me pennies and there are no preservatives at all. I discovered a mix of violets, whole roses, acacia petals and fennel seeds and they wanted £25 for them, with a total weight of 235g for all of them.