Rose petal jam

This recipe is very special to author Beata Zatorska. When she was four, she used to collect rose petals for her grandmother Jozefa, who used to make this delicious jam. This fragrant jam is Beata's favourite filing for Polish doughnuts (paczki). It is best made with fresh petals from the wild rose Rosa canina. A good tip is to gather the wild rose petals in the morning, before they have been in the sun too long and have released all their fragrance.

• prep

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3–4 large handfuls of fresh rose petals (wild Rosa canina)
• 500 g granulated sugar

Instructions

Place rose petals in a stone mortar or makutra.

Slowly pour in the sugar and use the pestle to crush the petals together with the sugar. The juice in the petals will gradually blend with the sugar to form a deep red paste. No further cooking is needed.

The jam can be preserved in sterilised glass jars for up to 2 years.

Beata Zatorska and Simon Target are the authors of Rose Petal Jam: Recipes and Stories from a Summer in Poland.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.