Exotic Orange Blossom Water and Rose Water - Make Your Own!

French Tart's Note:

Cooking with unusual ingredients can be very rewarding, and we all love to impress our guests with unusual recipes and flavours. Using rose water and orange blossom water is a way of doing just this, with their unique taste, but purchasing these rare treats can be expensive. I cook with rose water and orange blossom water a lot; especially in historical (Medieval and Victorian) and Middle Eastern recipes. I have numerous highly scented old fashioned shrub roses in my old cottage style walled garden - great for rose water, and also an orange tree - great for making orange blossom water! Although I can buy both scented, flavoured waters in France and England, there is always something very satisfying about making your own - give it a go, I am VERY happy with the results. This recipe was found on a leaflet from a water distilling company in the UK; you DO need to use distilled water for these two recipes, which is easily purchased in most countries - I use it for my steam iron!! NB: Remember to use petals and blossom which are free of pesticides and traffic pollution. (Quantities and yields are dependent on how many blossoms and petals you use.........last time I made rose water, I used 4 ounces of petals and had a yeild of 4 small bottles.)

• Total Time: 336 hrs
• Prep Time: 336 hrs
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 Jars or ...

• rose petal (From scented roses, red and pink are best)
• orange, blossoms
• distilled water

Directions:

1. How to go about making your delicious Rose and Orange Blossom water:.
2. Pick your petals and blossom early in the morning, ideally those which have been grown completely organically.
3. Rinse the petals and blossom carefully in cold water, taking care to remove all dirt and any pesky insects.
4. Crush the petals or blossom with a mortar and pestle, and leave them to rest for a few hours, place them in a jar with some distilled water - don’t go overboard with the water as you can always add more later.
5. Leave the jar, with the lid on, in the sun for a couple of weeks, and check the scent. If it is too weak, continue to leave in the sun for another week or so.
6. Experiment with the quantities of water and petals to see what works for your water, and voila, you will be known as a culinary genius. Good luck and happy cooking!

Reviews

[Baby Kato]

I can't wait to taste and use this recipe Tartlette. I'm so excited, I love food that has been flavored with rose water and your recipes never disappoint. The flavored water was so easy to make, using the beautiful dark fushia roses from my vines. I will post a picture and rate the recipe of the rose water at the end of the month . Made for Aussie Swap #41 :) Update: What a wonderful flavor the rose water has, I can't wait to make a lovely drink with it. I am currently waiting on the weather...will post a picture of the drink once the weather permits. Kudos on a great recipe my friend. :)

[Mami J]

No stars yet because the jars are in the sun waiting to be ready. I'll post a photo of the finished products and update on the results :) Made for Swizzle Chicks and ZWT6.