[Mike Smith]

I've just tried making some rosehip syrup for the first time and it did not go as expected. Having had rosehip as a kid it was a nice bright red and all the recipesI have read (Sorry about the pun) also indicate this but instead it was still almost a clear liquid with very little colour. Any ideas why? I was wondering if I had picked the fruit to soon as the hips were still fairly hard although they were a nice red colour.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Mike Smith

[tode]

I made some a few weeks back, from ripe red hips (rugosa): came out very pale orange colour, and tasted of weak apricot juice.  No idea why.

[DD.]

Hi Mike, welcome to the forums.

I suspect the delicious rosehip syrup that we had when we were kids with our school dinners, was high in colourings & other E additives, that were actually bad for us. It was the only thing that made semolina palatable.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Mine is a mid orangy red colour (no added colour I promise). How did you make it? Did you squash them up to begin with?

[Mike Smith]

I put them in the blender to chop them up best it could then added 1.75 Litre of water to 1Kg of hips boiled gently for 15mins then left to stand for a further 10.

[tode]

Took hips taht were starting to go soft, dark red. Boiled with minimum of water.
Put through mixer, reboiled and strained.
Very weak taste.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Dunno then. That's what I did pretty much and it is lovely and rich, sorry, no explaination.

[tode]

Kate: where did you get your hips from: garden roses, or wild ?

[DD.]

England.

Not these weak Frenchie ones.

[tode]

Our froggie hips aren't full of artificial colouring   

[Spana]

How do you all get the tiny hairs out.  Is straining the syrup through muslin enough?

[Mike Smith]

I used wild ones.

[Spana]

Can you mix different varieties of hips?

[Kate and her Ducks]

I used wild ones too.

[tode]

Hmmmmm.  Will give it another go then. The hips are so ripe now, they're almost falling apart.