I am sure that those of you who celebrate Midsummer feast (mainly in the Scandinavian countries – am I right?) are all set with your pickled herrings, new potatoes, elderflower cordials and strawberry cakes by now. Right?
We will be celebrating Midsummer eve tomorrow with friends in Falkenberg, a bit south from Gothenburg, and the rest of the weekend we’ll just relax, eat some more pickled herring and new potatoes (!) and hopefully enjoy some sun too.
I just popped by today to share a wonderful discovery of a new to me ingredient – dried hibiscus flowers.
Have you ever tried it?
Basically they are the dried flowers of the hibiscus plant. They are packed with antioxidants and vitamin C and can be used as a tea – hot or cold – or use them like I did here for flavor in ice pops or a summery cocktail. The taste is citrussy and a little bitter and adds an extra zesty element. And luckily they go very well with both strawberries and rhubarb that are at the peak of its season right now here in Sweden. Love!
I hope this inspires you to try hibiscus flowers in one way or the other. You’ll probably be able to find them in tea stores and health stores. I got mine here.
Enjoy and Happy Midsummer!
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Printable recipe
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Strawberry, hibiscus and watermelon ice pops
makes about 12 pops
4 tbsp dried hibiscus flowers + 1 cup water
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup strawberries, hulled
2 cups watermelon, roughly chopped
pinch of sea salt
1) Put the hibiscus flowers and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pull the pan off the heat and leave for about 30 minutes so the flowers can flavor the water. Strain and chill.
2) Place the chilled hibiscus water with the other ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
3) Pour the mix into ice pop moulds (makes about 12) and freeze for at least 4 hours.
Enjoy on warm summer days or after your workout!
Rhubarb hibiscus cocktail
For this cocktail you need to prepare both the rhubarb cordial and hibiscus flavored water/tea in advance. It doesn’t take much time or effort though, and once you have them prepared the cocktail is done in no time. You could use store bought rhubarb cordial here, or make your own which of course tastes a little better. And the choice is yours to make it an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink.
Rhubarb cordial
1 kg rhubarb, roughly chopped
1,5 litres of water
2 cups raw cane sugar
juice from 2 lemons
1) Place the rhubarb in a pot with the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes without stirring – if you stir, the cordial could become cloudy.
2) Strain the rhubarb through a muslin cloth, catching the juice. This can take several hours, or even better, overnight. Don’t rush it – if you squeeze the rhubarb, your cordial will go cloudy.
3) In a large pot add the rhubarb juice, sugar and lemon juice, bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Turn off the heat, pour into sterilised bottles and seal. You could also freeze the cordial in plastic containers.
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Hibiscus flavored water/tea
3 tbsp dried hibiscus flowers + 1 cup water
1) Put the hibiscus flowers and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pull the pan off the heat and leave for about 30 minutes so the flowers can flavor the water. Strain and chill.
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For the cocktail
serves 4
1/2 cup rhubarb cordial concentrate
1/2 cup hibiscus flavored water/tea
sparkling water or dry sparkling wine to fill up each glass
ice
red currants/lemon slices/herbs to decorate
1) Divide the rhubarb cordial concentrate and the hibiscus flavored water in four glasses. Add ice and currants/lemon slices/herbs and fill up with sparkling water for a non-alcoholic cocktail or sparkling wine for an alcoholic cocktail.
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