As a child, my grandmother made this syrup with fresh roses from her garden, when roses actually smelled of roses. She simmered the freshly washed petals with the sugar syrup. The roses infused the syrup with their soft scent and tinted the syrup a bright ruby red.
A favorite treat she made in the summer was homemade popsicles. She crushed the ice and molded it into balls on a stick and poured the sticky ruby red liquid all over it. It was such fun, sitting in her garden amongst her flower pots, indulging on what was once growing on the shrub next to us.
Well with summer around the corner, it’s time to bust out the ideal recipe for a cool refreshing drink. My take on the perfect drink is a homemade rose syrup that’s been infused with cardamom pods, complimented with a hint of licorice flavor, from the fennel seeds and a bit of a zing from the ginger. I seldom use organic red roses to add to the syrup as they cost ‘an arm and a leg’ but if you have access to them, a handful of red petals should do. In my recipe I’ve used a good quality rose essence to infuse this syrup instead.
Rose Syrup Sans Rose Petals
You can whip up the syrup in a jiffy and store it in a jar for most of the summer. Just pour a big splash of the syrup in a glass and add ‘a little bit of this and a bit of that’ and you have yourself a refreshing summer cocktail.
I personally add about a 1/8 of a cup of rose syrup to a glass of crushed ice, top it with cold water and stir in a dollop of previously soaked chia seeds*. The jelly-like seeds, against the coolness of the drink are a match made in heaven.
Rose Syrup with Chia Seeds
So here goes… the recipe for homemade rose syrup. This is the recipe you wish you always had.
Ingredients for the Rose Syrup
1 cup organic cane sugar
½ cup water
10 green cardamom pods
¼ tsp. fennel seed powder
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¾ tsp. rose water essence
To Make
Place the sugar into a small pan.
Dissolve the sugar on medium heat.
Bring to a boil and let simmer for about a minute.
Remove from the stove.
Lightly crush the cardamom pods with your thumb and forefinger, allowing some of the seeds to spill into the syrup.
Toss in the cardamom pods too, its okay if there are some seeds remaining in the pods.
Add the ground ginger and the fennel seed powder and stir the syrup.
Lastly swirl in the rose water essence and close the lid of the pan.
Allow the syrup to steep for at least 2 hours.
Strain the rose syrup before using.
Homemade Rose Syrup before Straining
-
Tips
Rose water essence is found at any good natural food store.
I sometimes use this syrup to soak sponge cake and serve it with whipped cream and fresh berries.
Another idea would be to use the rose syrup as a sweetener for freshly made lemonade.
*Soak 1 tbsp of chia seeds in a cup of warm water and wait for about 15 mins for them to get puffy and jelly like.
Chia seeds soaked in warm water
For The Love Of Ghee 
I cannot wait to try this myself! Looks delicious. I put chia seeds in anything these days, mango juice, plain old water…orange juice! Thanks for sharing 🙂
LikeLike
Aren’t chia seeds just awesome! I r been loving making a coconut pudding with them too. So yummy. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
LikeLike
Woa, this sounds amazing!! I love rose and cardamom, so can only imagine that I would love this drink. I am always looking for more ways to incorporate floral essences into my cooking. I will definitely be trying this out this summer! Thanks so much!
LikeLike
That’s awesome! Let me know how it works out and thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
I had no idea you could cook from roses 🙂 We cook a lot with ghee, too, as my son can’t have dairy, so I look forward to reading through your recipes!
LikeLike
Laura,
Isn’t it awesome that we can cook with roses! both my grandmothers decorated pastries with a sugar glaze and a fresh rose petal. No sprinkles for us 🙂 Just something fresh thrown in from the garden!
LikeLike
It’s so good to see your post, and a pleasure to meet you!
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by Raoul. It was great meeting you too. Looking forward to reading your posts!
LikeLike
I love the idea of adding a little of this and that to make a summer cocktail…May have to experiment this weekend!
LikeLike
That’s great Cheryl! So how did it turn out? 🙂
LikeLike
I enjoyed reading your post on making Rose Syrup and am inspired to get started on my blogging journey. Wonderful photos…..I love the close-ups and “rule of third” crops!
LikeLike
HI Barb. I’m glad that I was able to inspire you to start your blogging life. Please let me know your blog name when you ready to share it. Looking forward to that!
LikeLike
I’m glad to have inspired you on your blogging endeavor. Please share your blog name when you ready to. Thanks for noticing the effort put into the photos, it was so useful to take the blogging workshop. Looking forward to your blog posts 🙂
LikeLike
nice! This looks lovely and the popsicle part sounds good, too 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for taking a peek at For the love of ghee. I was totally blown away by yours. Love it!
LikeLike
I can just smell it 😊
LikeLike
Smells devine, I tell you! Thanks for stopping by again! It’s always good to hear from you Sanjana 🙂
LikeLike