Rosellas the fruit, that is; not the birds. And you’d be surprised by how many recipes they can inspire.

Well, all those rosellas I was sent from Queensland?  They were quickly processed.  I made cordial syrup, jam and soft set jelly.

The flavour of the rosellas is delicious.  Apparently you should avoid cooking them for to long as you lose the wonderful intense colour.

Why soft set jelly?  Because I want to use it for a range of things – to flavour a jus or gravy.  I used just a teaspoonful or so in a roast pork gravy on Sunday – delicious.

I’ve also made ice cream from this ‘jelly’.  If it’s  firm set it clumps in little blobs in the mixture – soft set gel means it mixes in well.  The ice cream matched very well indeed with gooseberry pie.

In case anyone would like the recipes, here they are:

Rosella Syrup

Rosellas

Sugar

Citric acid or lemon juice

Cover the rosella fruit with water and bring to the boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Strain of the liquid through a colander, then strain again through a sieve lined with muslin.

For each cup of liquid, add 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil, stirring.

Reduce heat and simmer one minute. For each litre of the syrup, stir in 1 teaspoon citric acid (or 2 tablespoons lemon juice) and one tablespoon cider vinegar.

Bring back up to the boil, then immediately pour into warm sterilised bottles and seal immediately.

Soft-set Rosella Jelly

Rosellas

Sugar

Citric acid or lemon juice

 Barely cover the rosella fruit with water and bring to the boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Strain of the liquid through a colander, then strain again through a sieve lined with muslin.

For each cup of liquid, add 1 cup of sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring.

For each litre of the liquid add 1 teaspoon citric acid (or 2 tablespoons lemon juice).

Bring back to the boil and then cook briskly for 30 minutes. Remove any scum that has formed on the top with a slotted spoon.

Pour into warm sterilized jars and seal immediately.

Rosella Jam

 1kg rosellas

Sugar

Lemon juice

Remove the seed pod from the rosellas (this is made easier by using an apple corer). Place the pods in a saucepan and barely cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer 15 minutes. Strain off and retain liquid (discard seed pods).

Meanwhile place the red calyxes and bracts in another saucepan and barely cover with water. Bring to the boil and then simmer 5 minutes.

Add the seed pod liquid. For each cup of this mixture add 1 cup of sugar and to each litre add 1 teaspoon citric acid or 2 tablespoon lemon juice.

Bring to the boil and cook briskly until setting point is reached. (about 25 minutes). Pour into warm, sterlised jars and seal immediately.

Rosella flavoured ice cream

2 cups cream

1 cup milk

150ml soft set rosella jelly

Mix together with a whisk and then churn in an ice cream machine.