HOW TO MAKE ROSE PETAL SUGAR
Now Summer is in full swing, I’m so lucky to have roses in bloom. They smell divine and Pinterest planted the seed in my brain to try making rose petal sugar.
1. Once you’ve picked your roses, give them a wash to remove any bugs or dirt.
2. I used a salad spinner to remove as much of the water as possible.
3. I then laid the petals out on a tea towel for final bug check.
4. I used a mug to measure my caster sugar and petals, using a ratio of 1:1.
5. I really packed out the mug with petals.
6. I had 2 cups of petals, so did 2 batches in my food processor.
7. The colour and smell was amazing but I did panic about the wetness of the mixture so add a couple more tablespoons of sugar.
8. Spread mixture into a large tray to dry out. It will take 2-4 days to dry. Turn the mixture occasionally to help drying.
9. I laid a tea towel over the top to protect the mixture whilst drying.
10. By the next morning the colour had dulled quite a bit, but the fragrance was still very strong.
So first off my biggest mistake was attempting make this in the evening after my girls were in bed, not ideal for lighting of photos. I was pottering in the garden doing a little deadheading and I thought why not make some rose sugar, with no idea if I even had enough sugar. I also have a tendency to go off piste with measurements. I really wanted to capture the vibrant pink so I upped the ratio of sugar to petals to 1:1. The mixture I made was super vibrant but quite wet, so I did add a bit more sugar. Over a couple of days of drying the colour really dulled. My mixture was still quite moist so I put the tray in the oven at 40°C for couple of hours and it looking more like sugar granules.
I’m definitely going to make this again, but next time I make this I might try drying the petals out whole, in layers of caster sugar to preserve the colour more and use a higher ratio of sugar before blitzing (like actually follow the instructions!)
I want to try rose petal jam next, as that is delicious on top of scones with clotted cream!
