Roselle Hibiscus Jam

A roselle variety planted in Malaysia. Roselle fruits are harvested fresh, and their calyces are made into a pro-health drink rich in vitamin C and anthocyanins. (Author: Dr. Mohamad bin Osman, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), mbopar@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Roselle can be easily grown in Southwest Florida including Cape Coral, FL.  Plant the seeds in March and April and harvest in Oct and November.  Roselle blooms appear starting in early October. The blossom lasts only one day but leave behind a burgundy colored calyx or sepal that when cooked up makes into great jellies, jam, syrup, a rum drink or a cranberry-like sauce.  Here is my recipe for Roselle Hibiscus Jam. 

You will need about 50 picked roselles or about 1 gallon.  Remove the calyx from the seed pod.  Wash and drain.  Place them in a large deep pan.  Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water,  one box of pectin and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes.  Add 4 cups of sugar, or more to taste. Stir and bring to full boil for one minute.  Remove from heat and put in hot sterilized jars to seal.

Recipe provided by Helen Gearing, of Cape Coral, FL

Roselle Cranberry Sauce

English: Fruits of the Oval Kumquat, Fortunella japonica, syn: Citrus japonica. Heidi Vega Aimonetti (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Roselle, sorrell, Florida cranberry (pictured below) can be cooked up into jellies, jams, fruit topping and also served in place of Cranberrys at the Thanksgiving dinner table.  For the carnberry sauce you will need to pick about 50 roselles.   Wash lightly, then peel back the cayleps from the seed pod.  Place cayleps in a sauce pan add about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of water.  Add sugar to taste.  I use about 1 cup of sugar.  One can add orange peel or kumquat for a more citrus taste. 

Another helpful hint is to add 5 seed pods to the sauce pan.  The seed pods have a lot of natural pectin to help thicken the sauce.  Simmer for about 3 minutes. Then refrigerate and serve. 

Roselle Hibiscus made into a Cranberry Sauce