Rosehips are abundant at this time of year, their ruby red skins a welcome burst of red brightness as we head into autumn.

Once we’ve had the first frost they are perfect for picking. The birds and wild animals like eating these sweet berries too, so don't forget to be mindful of leaving plenty for them too...

Rosehips are full of vitamin C as well as bioflavonoids, vitamin E, and a few other compounds that are good for you. The rosehip benefits are many and varied…

Rosehip syrup is a wonderful way to use the immune boosting properties of rose hips at the same time as making a delicious, sweet topping for your yoghurts, porridge, pancakes, even drizzled on your cakes or toast (instead of jam). Who says medicine has to taste bad!

This is a super simple, minimum fuss rosehip syrup recipe that is refined sugar free and that you can keep for up to six months. This is my favourite way to include rosehips in my diet and get all the rosehip benefits daily.

Taking a desert spoon of syrup a day through autumn & winter will not only help your body fight of colds and flu, but is also good for your skin & will relieve exhaustion too!

And its only 3 ingredients!

Tips for Making Rosehip Syrup

If you haven’t attempted using rosehips or making rosehip syrup before here are a few of my tips to make the process a little easier for you:

soak the rosehips in hot water for 5-10 mins before blending to soften them up a little.

if you are going to blend your rosehips slow pulse them. You just want to break them up, not liquify them!

wear rubber gloves or washing up gloves when you are straining the pulp/liquid. Sounds strange but trust me you will not only protect your hands from any stray seed hairs, but it will allow you to get hands on squeezing all the liquid from the pulp without burning your hands.

melt your set honey in the microwave for 1-2 minutes so it is liquid enough to pour. This will save you time trying to measure the amount with spoonfuls and make it easier for it to melt into the Rosehip mixture.

Rosehip Syrup Recipe

Ingredients

500g Rosehips

500g Set Honey

1.5 l of water

Method

Wash your rosehips and remove any dead leaves or seed ends from the hips.

Chop up 500g (or 1lb) of rosehips. You can do this by hand or in a blender.

Add Rosehips to 1 litre ( 1 3/4 pints) of boiling water & bring to the boil.

Turn off the heat, cover, and leave to infuse for 30-40 minutes.

After 30 mins strain the mixture through a muslin cloth to remove all the fine, irritating seed hairs.

Put the liquid to one side.

Put the Rosehip pulp back in your pan with another 500ml (17 fl oz) of boiling water & bring to the boil.

Leave to infuse again & repeat the straining process. Combine all of your infused liquid and strain for a second time.

Put the double strained liquid into a clean pan and boil until the liquid is reduced by half.

Add approximately 500g of set honey and stir until dissolved.

Bring the mixture to a boil for 5 minutes to ensure all your ingredients are combined.

Switch off the heat and allow your syrup to cool before decanting to sterilised jars for storage.

NB. Always ensure you sterilise your storage jars/containers with hot water and/or vinegar before use to ensure you are killing off any bacteria that may be lurking around.

Because this recipe is completely natural there are no preservatives to protect your syrup if it comes into contact with bacteria so sterilising your jars first should stop your syrup from going moldy and going to waste.

Store in the refrigerator once your syrup has cooled, and Enjoy!

xo Emily