A jelly by other name would smell as sweet

The beauty and scent of a rose has been the poet's subject for ages, but have you ever tasted one? Candied rose petals, fresh rose petals or perhaps rose petal jelly?

Have you ever had one of those weeks where the same topic crops up enough times that you decide to take it as a sign that it's meant for you? That's what happened to me and rose petal jelly - I don't think I'd ever heard of it before and I kept hearing about it, so I decided to give it a try.

Collecting and washing my petals...

I have to say at this point I was a bit skeptical on what this was going to look like since I was using striped petals that were mostly white.
*Note: be sure to only use rose petals not treated with chemicals, pesticides or the like.*

Washing my jars...

Into the blender go the ingredients. Now I'm quite encouraged! Look at that lovely color!

Don't be alarmed if it appears to lose that lovely color in the saucepan. The petals will bleach out and look a bit like small bits of sauerkraut, but do not worry.

By the time you add the rest of your ingredients and pour them into their jars I still had this lovely shade of rose:

Doesn't that look divine?

The flavor is very subtle with a hint of tart from the lemon (at least with this recipe). Be sure to boil your jelly to the proper temperature or you will end up with rose petal syrup like I did in my first batch. :)

Other recipes you may enjoy:

Candied rose petals

Assorted rose recipes