Hibiscus Syrup

I think I'm falling in love. Or maybe it's just an obsession for me. I don't know which it is, but whatever it is, I'm loving it!

I'm talking about hibiscus. Remember when I made my Peach Hibiscus ice cream a few weeks back? And it had that luscious red syrup dripping down the ice cream? Well, that was hibiscus syrup.

I've been meaning to share it with y'all after I did that post but I forgot and one thing led to another. Kind of like when you go into a room looking for your car keys and you notice clean clothes you still haven't folded sitting in the basket. So you start folding them and by the time the clean laundry is folded, you've forgotten all about the keys. You know what I'm talking about!

Anyways, before I forget again, let's get to this hibiscus syrup. It's not like other syrups I've made. This syrup is sweet, thick and with a beautiful red coloring.

You can use it for anything you like too. Pancakes, waffles, ice cream, drinks, anything you want. Even right out of the jar on a spoon.

Yes it's just that good!

Just like with my other hibiscus recipes, use only organic hibiscus. As with any food, herb, or plant, please use hibiscus with caution. Or if you are nursing or pregnant, then this recipe is not intended for you, as it is not recommended due to adverse effects.

Hibiscus Syrup

Recipe by Julie Murphy

A delicious simple syrup flavored with hibiscus flowers.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: approximately 1 hour
Yield: 1 and 1/2 cups
Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons organic dried Hibiscus flowers
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 lime wedge, juice of

Cooking Directions

1. Add dried hibiscus flowers and water to a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Turn off heat and let sit for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
3. After hibiscus water has been allowed to sit and deepen in color, pour hibiscus water through fine mesh strainer seated over a large pan. Press hibiscus flowers down with a wooden spoon to extract most of the water.
4. Place pan containing strained hibiscus water on stove top.
5. Add in sugar and juice of 1 lime wedge.
6. Cook over medium to low heat until mixture starts to thicken, stirring constantly so sugar doesn't burn. This should take about 20 to 30 minutes.
7. If it starts to boil vigorously, turn heat down to low. You want to maintain a mild boil while stirring constantly.
8. After mixture starts to thicken, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
9. Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate.
10. Can be stored up to 4 weeks in the refrigerator.
11. You can use hibiscus syrup as a topping to ice creams or cakes, to flavor drinks, or over pancakes and waffles.

All content and images are property of Sweet and Spicy Monkey. Please do not reprint this content without my permission. If you wish to include this recipe on your site, please re-write in your own words and use your own photographs and link back to this post for original recipe.

Follow Julie's board Sweet and Spicy Monkey on Pinterest.

Shared with: Savoring Saturdays

Hibiscus Lemon Tea

This has got to be the best drink recipe I've shared!

I came about this recipe when I was attempting to make hibiscus lemonade. In case you don't know, hibiscus is tart, not sweet and not sour, just tart. Add lemon and hibiscus together and we're talking major sour face. I couldn't find a sweet combination of the two by themselves without adding in a whole bag of Stevia in the raw, so I decided to add in tea to help mellow out the tart flavoring.

I'm not much of a tea drinker except when I get sick. But when I do drink tea, I love chai tea. I love the mixture of cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black peppercorn. So when I opened up my cupboard to see what kind of tea I had, I was pleasantly surprised to find some chai tea still in there. Let's say I was rather lucky because otherwise this would be hibiscus lemon gingerbread tea!

The chai tea was the perfect complement to the hibiscus and lemon with its warming spices. And with the colder months coming up, this tea can also be served hot, so you can enjoy it all year long! That's what I call a win-win!

With the remaining hibiscus flowers, I made hibiscus ice cubes to serve in this Hibiscus Lemon Tea. I think they make it pretty, don't you? Directions how to make these decorative ice cubes is down below under Helpful Hints.

Just like with my No-Churn Peach Hibiscus ice cream, use only organic hibiscus. As with any food, herb, or plant, please use hibiscus with caution. Or if you are nursing or pregnant, then this recipe is not intended for you, as it is not recommended due to adverse effects.

Hibiscus Lemon Tea

Recipe by Julie @ Sweet and Spicy Monkey

A refreshing blend of hibiscus, lemon, and chai tea.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 70 minutes
Yield: 3 and 1/2 quarts
Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons organic hibiscus flowers, dried
• 8 cups water
• 5 cups chai tea
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 and 1/2 cups Stevia in the raw

Directions

1. Add 1 and 1/2 cups of water and hibiscus flowers into a small sauce pan. Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Once water starts boiling, remove from heat and let sit for 45 minutes.
2. In a separate saucepan, add 5 and 1/2 cups (a little more than 5 cups to allow for evaporation) of water into a medium to large saucepan. Place 2 to 3 chai tea bags in water and bring to a boil. Once water starts to boil, turn off heat and let sit until room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, add lemon juice, remaining 6 and 1/2 cups of water, and Stevia in the raw into a large pitcher. Place in refrigerator until hibiscus and tea are ready.
4. After hibiscus sits for 45 minutes, using a fine mesh strainer placed over pitcher or a separate large bowl, pour hibiscus water through strainer. Use a wooden spoon to mash excess water out of remaining hibiscus flowers.
5. If using a separate bowl for straining hibiscus, pour strained hibiscus water into pitcher with other ingredients.
6. Remove tea bags from tea and pour into pitcher.
7. Place pitcher into the refrigerator and let cool.
8. Best served chilled over ice.

*Helpful Hints*

 

- Save the hibiscus flowers to decorate your ice cubes for this drink. In small bowl add remaining hibiscus flowers and about 1 cup of water, stir together. Pour into ice cube molds, sprinkling hibiscus flowers into each cube mold and place in freezer. Serve these ice cubes in your Hibiscus Lemon Tea for a decorative look.
 

All content and images are property of Sweet and Spicy Monkey. Please do not reprint this content without my permission. If you wish to include this recipe on your site, please re-write in your own words and use your own photographs and link back to this post for original recipe.

Follow Julie's board Sweet and Spicy Monkey on Pinterest.

Shared with: Savoring Saturdays