In Autumn our Rosella Hibiscus is producing flowers and, more important, the red fleshy calyxes in abundance. The flowers are attracting pollinating insects to our garden and the calyxes can be turned into yummy treats for us gardeners.
Carefully remove the calyxes from the stems, so the plant can produce more of them.
The seed pod inside needs to be removed. If you’d like the calyxes intact, an apple corer is a great tool to pierce the calyx from the under-side and pop the pod out. If you’d like to make jam just cut the fleshy calyxes into pieces and discard the pod.
Rosella in Syrup
These are the flowers in syrup that you can buy to add to a glass of champagne, have a go at making your own:
Carefully remove the seed pods using an apple corer. Wash calyxes thoroughly. Sterilise preserving jars. Make a simple syrup (equal weight sugar and water) and bring to the boil. Add all broken rosella calyxes (about a handful to a litre of syrup will do) to flavour the syrup, cook for 5 minutes and strain (you can use the rosella bits you strained off for making jam). Place intact calyxes into the syrup and boil for 30 seconds. Preserve in the jars covered with the syrup.
Rosella Jam
Here is Mo’s rosella jam recipe:
Cut the calyx to remove the seed pod and wash. Place in a pot and add enough water to almost cover. Simmer. Fruit will collapse. Add rose petals if you have some, and some rose water.
Add sugar to taste. Simmer until jam doesn’t drip down a cold plate. Preserve in sterilised jars.