Karla's Rose Petal Jam & Jelly

Years ago Steve's Dad, Don gave me a rose bush. This beautiful rose is off that rose bush. It is a patented rose and it truly, honestly is named "Dolly Pardon". It is a beauty and it does have the biggest blooms I've ever seen. I have had more than one person stop and ring the bell to ask me, "what is the name of that rose?" It is also a very fragrant rose and so it was perfect for making this recipe. But rest assured that if you don't have a "Dolly Pardon" rose bush you can still make this recipe!!

Now that I have made a few batches and have experimented with a couple of various recipes here is my final recipe.....and if you aren't sure that you will like it go ahead and make it.....you will be glad you did!! My family definitely thought I was setting myself up for a flop.....and thank goodness they were wrong. So far they all seem to like it.....just have a few more that need to try it. Lacey thought it sounded horrible and she swore she would not like it and she definitely was not going to taste it. But, when she saw how pretty it looked she relented and tasted it and then she wanted a jar to take home with her.

KARLA'S ROSE PETAL JAM and/or JELLY
8 cups of fresh picked Red or Pink Roses - the most fragrant make the best jam!!
Trim off the white/yellow part where the petal was attached. I grab the whole rose and pull off the petals and then with a pair of scissors I trim that part off all the petals at once. (I learned this after having to trim each petal individually the first time.) Then wash the petals, discard any that are wilted/damaged and then spread them out on a cookie sheet. Pat them dry with a paper towel,it is ok if they are not totally dry. Then sprinkle them with about 1/2 c. sugar. Let sit for 6 to 8 hours.
Place in a large kettle:
8 c. water
4 c. sugar
the juice of 4 lemons - (microwave the lemons before juicing them for about 1 minute to release the juices, then cut in half and squeeze out the juice.)
Cook and stir to dissolve the sugar. Continue to cook and stir in the rose petals. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Increase heat and bring to a boil and continue cooking until the mixture thickens and reaches 220 degrees. This will take 30 to 40 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from heat.
For JELLY place small strainer inside of canning funnel place on jar and then pour the cooked mixture into the stainer, stir with a spoon and remove the petals. Once the jar is full place lid and ring on jars and seal.
For JAM place all the mixture in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour into jars and seal.
Water bath  in boiling water for 10 minutes for elevation of 2,000 ft.
If you are going to use it within 1 month you don't need to seal it, simply store it in the refrigerator.
This recipe makes about 9 - 4 oz. jars of jelly or 11 - 4 oz. jars of jam
If you don't want this much you can cut the recipe in half. OR If you want some Jam and some Jelly, strain the first 5 jars for jelly and then blend up the rest and make 6 jars of jam. Serve on all kinds of breads but it is especially good on Dainty English Scones. Enjoy!!!

Next time I want to try this recipe as I think it will set up better without all that cooking time.....

http://woodridge.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/rose-petal-jelly/

Roses and rose hips have been used for their scent and nutritional values for centuries.  But it wasn’t until last year when I was inspired by a blogger friend’s post on Wild Rose Jelly, that I gathered Rose petals to make a batch of this jelly.

I used Rose petals from a very large cultivated Rose bush growing on our property. While gathering petals, I picked a few extra Roses for a tiny bouquet.

Rose Petal Jelly

• 1 1/2 cups Rose petals, tightly packed
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 1/2 cups sugar (preferably white sugar)
• 3 oz packet liquid pectin

Gather fresh Rose petals to measure 1 1/2 cups tightly packed. Rinse petals and pat dry. Place petals in large pot and bruise petals so the scent and color can be extracted.

Add 2 1/4 cups of water to the petals in the pot and heat to boil. Turn down heat and simmer for several minutes, making sure the petals impart their color in the water. More than likely, the water will appear somewhat grey — the color will brighten with the addition of some lemon juice.

After the Rose petals have simmered for a few minutes, remove from heat. Using a fine sieve, strain the petals from the liquid.  Discard the petals and measure 1 3/4 cups of the distilled liquid for the jelly. Return the liquid to the pot, then add 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice and stir. The petal water will brighten significantly.

Add the sugar and stir to dissolve, then heat to boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Add liquid pectin and return to hard boil. Then allow jelly to boil for 1 minute while stirring continually.

Remove from heat and ladle jelly into 4 sterilized half-pint jars leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Add sterilized lids and rings. Process in water bath for 5 minutes.

Yield:  about 4 half pints