Rose petal jam is used mainly in pastry. It adds a sweet taste to your cake and biscuits. Rosa damascena petals are gathered in the morning before they start to fade. They are washed to remove debris, soil or dust, then they are air-dried. Petals are separated, pollen grains are removed through a filter net – this will also remove other “impurities” – then petals are weighed.

  • Freshly picked roses ©Ghida Dirani

Tips:
Make sure your roses are not sprayed with any pesticides;
When picking the roses, pluck roses by hand just below the calyx, in other words remove the whole rose and not only petals.

Ingredient

4 cups of clean rose petals, well packed

4 cups of sugar

1 ½ cups of water

½ cup of rose water (mawared)

½ cup of lemon juice

Rubbing rose petals with sugar will accelerate the release the rose aroma

Preparation Steps:

  1. In a cooking pan, mix the rose petals with the sugar. Rub them well to drain water from the petals. Roses will release their aroma and the sugar will soak in the dark pink juice
  2. Add the water, water rose and lemon juice then place the pan on medium heat until sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes from boiling
  3. Remove the mixture from heat, set aside to cool overnight and cover with a kitchen towel
  4. On the next day, cook again on medium heat for another 10 minutes until the required consistency is obtained. Total cooking time should not exceed 30 minutes
  5. Fill clean jars with rose jam while hot. Tightly close the lids and turn the jars upside down for a couple of hours. Store jam in a cool place. Place the jar in the refrigerator once opened