Rose Hip Ice Lollies -

These Rose Hip Ice Lollies are a brilliant way to get children enjoying Ros hips on these hot late summer days.

Japanese/Dog Rose (Rosa Canina/Rugosa)

This is a deciduous shrub growing from 1-5ms tall. The plants numerous stems are woody and strong, containing thorns and prickles all over.

The leaves grow from3-6cms long are odd-pinnate, containing 5-7 leaflets and serrated edges, the top of the leaf is rough and dark green whilst the under-side is slightly lighter with soft hairs all over.

The flowers range from white to pink and light red with yellow stamens, are approximately 3-5cms across and hold 5 petals, typical of flowers in the rose family.

The fruit goes from green to a deep orange-red, when ripe, it ranges from a ball or droplet shape as on Japanese rose to more of a rugby ball or egg shape on dog rose.

Both Dog rose and Japanese rose can be used in this recipe; personally I use the hips for everything from sundried rose hips, to making soups and salads. It’s a little like a sweet tomato – the classic is rose hip syrup, however here we’re making creamy rose hip ice lollies (a great way to get kids to top up their vitamin C levels)

Click here to see our Rose Hip Foraging Guide

What you’ll need (to make 6 ice lollies):

150g rose hips – ripe and soft
150g granulated sugar
300ml full fat milk
400ml single cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method to make Rose Hip Ice Lollies

In a food processor place all of the ingredients and blitz until a seedy pulp is made
Pass the whole mixture through a fine sieve – like the kind you would use for flour. This will remove all of the seeds.
Pour your remaining mixture in to ice lolly moulds and leave in the freezer over-night until frozen.
Or to make ice cream, freeze in a tub and before serving quickly blitz the frozen block in a sturdy food processor for 30-50 seconds to churn and soften up.