Rose Petal Jelly

Our famous Rose Petal preserve is absolutely delicious spread across a fresh-popped piece of morning toast, but a jam it is not. It's a jelly. And the difference, according to our in-house jam geniuses, is in the consistency.

 

In a traditional jam - like our strawberry, raspberry or even banana varities - you'll find pieces of plump fruit. A jelly, on the other hand, has a bright and crystal-clear texture, free from fruit solids.

 

 

Our Rose Petal is a prime example of that; bright red, almost pink, and so clear it shimmers.

Before the jelly reaches your tastebuds, the story starts in a single garden in Oxfordshire, where all our roses are grown and picked.

 

Starting at midday on a June afternoon - in 2016, it was a Tuesday, for the curious among you - and continuing weather-permitting until dawn, a team of rose-handlers harvest the best-blooming flowers by hand, before delicately removing their petals one at a time.

 

 

The image below shows this year's beautiful crop.

 

 

The brushed pink petals are then transferred to a large tombola, complete with a riddling grid attached, which allows the larger petals -- which will make it into the next phase of the recipe -- to be separated from the smaller petals, which sadly do not.

 

The whole process is very traditional, oh-so-English, and utterly timeless -- much like the taste of the jelly itself.

The following morning, the petals which have made the grade are added to a large silver pot of gently bubbling water to soften. At this stage, the pink colour is drained from the petals, turning them a ghostly pale white and the water around them a deep, dark shade of pinkish-red.

 

Sugar is then added to the mix, darkening the mixture still further, and restoring some of the natural pinkness to the petals themselves.

 

 

Once the mixture has cooled naturally - always in its own time, never rushed or artificially hurried - it is hand-spooned into jars, the lids are added and tightened and the jars are stored upside-down, until the natural build-up of pressure inside cause the familiar top button of the jar lid to pop outwards.

 

 

The jars are then ready for hand-labelling and hand-polishing - by the same hands which plucked the petals in the first place - and readied for shipping and (more importantly) for eating.