Rosehip-Apple Syrup and Spread

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 700 g rosehips, fresh
• 400 g apple peels (leftovers) or apples
• 1 ½ liters of apple juice, homemade
• 5 g citric acid
• 1 kg sugar
• 1 pack of gelling sugar, 3:1 (500 g)
• ½ lemon(s), the juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest period approx. 1 day; Total time approx. 1 day 1 hour

Use of leftovers from the pressed material or apple sauce

Remove the stems and blossoms from the rosehips, wash them, and place them in a saucepan with the washed fresh apples (or apple peels) and the homemade apple juice (or store-bought). Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Then let the mixture cool and stand overnight. The next day, strain the rosehips and apples/peels through a sieve. Bring the resulting juice back to a boil with the kilogram of sugar, add the citric acid, and skim off any foam. Then pour the still-hot juice into the rinsed, hot twist-off bottles, put the lids on, turn briefly, and then let cool. The juice may solidify slightly due to the high pectin content of fruit! I then turn the rest of the fruit that was caught in the sieve into a spread by adding a little more liquid to make it ready for jam. I then bring it to the boil again, put it through a food mill, and thus obtain a puree, which I then cook with a little liquid, the juice of half a lemon, and the gelling sugar (3:1). I follow the instructions on the package. When it’s ready, everything goes into prepared twist-off jars as usual. Here, too, I have some leftover gelatinized mixture, which I spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper. I dry this mixture in the oven at around 60°C. Once the mixture is dry, I chop it up and can then be used again as an infusion tea by placing it in paper tea bags and pouring the tea bags over it.