Yes, we all love roses! Be it any colour, season or occasion; roses bring an enduring charm to our moods. They have been adored a lot as stunning decorations, a sweet little gift and also to please a woman’s heart!

Apart from these, fresh roses are also used in many parts of cooking like rose petal jam, rose water and spice mixes. Every variety of rose is edible, and each one brings out sweet, floral and little zesty flavour, but do you know how beautifully we can use dried rose petals in our kitchens? Read on…

I picked this vibrantly soft bunch of roses from Tesco which easily stayed for a week blooming the beauty of my living room, but when the outer edge of the leaves started wilting a little, I dried the petals in oven to save them for many uses – (I have mentioned the procedure in my beauty page – @the.palette.delights)

More than using them just for potpourri, skincare needs it can be used in kitchen, but make sure to use organic roses in cooking.

·       Dried rose petals can be steeped in hot water to make fragrant rose tea or add a pinch of these petals to your black or green tea to enhance the flavour.

·       Add dried rose petals to a granola mix with your choice of dried berries. Mix with your favourite yoghurt and fresh fruits for a healthy snack.

·       You can use dried petals to decorate any desserts like cake, cookies, mousse.

·       Steep dried petals in simple syrup overnight, strain, then use the pink nectar to sweeten cocktails or soak biscuits for shortcake.

·       Grind the dried petals and use them to make flavoured sugar. Add one part of the petals and two parts of sugar in an airtight container, and then sieve out the petals after a couple of weeks. Use them for coating cake, donuts, fruits…options are endless.

Note – To know about using them for your skin, check out my post on beauty page – @the.palette.delights

Tip – Dried rose petals should be stored in a sealed glass jar and kept out of the sun.

Do you know any other uses? Reply in comments