Sugar-free Rose Petal Jam

This has been my first season working with roses and I am kicking myself for not jumping on the rose band-wagon years ago! This rose petal jam is absolutely amazing AND sugar-free (sweetened with xylitol or agave). Dollop it on ice cream, gluten-free toast, or eat it straight out of the jar!

• 4-5 cups lightly packed fresh organic rose petals
• 2 lemons juiced
• 1.75 cups xylitol or agave
• 3 cups filtered water
• 1 package low-sugar or no-sugar pectin (I use this Pomono’s Pectin)

The day before you plan on making (or canning the jam), take your fresh rose petals and toss them with the lemon juice and 1 cup of the xylitol (skip this if you are using 100% agave and just toss the petals with the juice). Let this mix sit overnight.

Bring your 3 cups of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the rose petal mixture and the rest of the xylitol (or all the agave if using). Boil for about 20 minutes and then SLOWLY add the directed amount of low-sugar pectin (about 3-4 tsp of Pomona’s was perfect).

Bring to a boil and boil for another minute before adding to jars to can, or freezer can. One 16 ounce jar lasted us a whopping 3 days, if that gives you an idea of how fast this stuff goes! My favorite is to eat it on toast with coconut cream (I’ll do butter too, but coconut cream doesn’t distract from the rose flavor while still providing the fat needed to digest the grains in even gluten-free breads!)

Enjoy this lovely goddess food!

Note: If your pectin clumps like crazy, stir in what you can and then spoon off the clumps with some of the jam-liquid and add to a blender or magic bullet, puree and then add back to the pot.

*Follow the directions as needed on your no-sugar pectin. For instance, Pomona’s includes a bit of calcium to add to the water…if using this brand, simply add the 3 tsp of calcium water to your 3 cups of water before boiling.

*Xylitol is naturally anti-bacterial so this will last for at least a month in the fridge even when NOT pressure-canned (and longer in the freezer).