This Rose Syrup is one of my favorite edible flower recipes to make. It’s so lovely and romantic, with a sweet-and-spicy flavor that’s similar to rosewater. It smells (and tastes!) just like fresh roses, because that’s exactly what we’re infusing into the syrup.
This recipe will show you how to make homemade rose syrup from fresh petals using just three ingredients. It’s a super easy way to preserve the flavor of roses in bloom, and the syrup can be used in everything from cocktails and lattes to cakes, lemonades, and desserts.
Keep reading for my top tips on choosing roses, extracting the best flavor, and using this versatile rose syrup in all kinds of drinks and desserts.
Recipe highlights
- Real rose flavor from fresh rose petals
- Easy recipe with just 3 ingredients: sugar, water, & flowers
- A versatile way to use edible roses, perfect for drinks & desserts
- Preserves flowers for extended shelf life: keeps in the fridge for weeks!
Recipe overview
⏱️ Prep: 10 mins • Cook: ~5 mins • Infuse: 15 mins • Total: ~30 mins
🍴 Yield: ~1 ½ cups
💪 Skill level: Beginner
😋 Flavor profile: Sweet and floral, just like rosewater. Pairs well with: Cocktails, mocktails, lattes, and desserts with vanilla, chocolate, citrus, or berries.
Harvesting & preparing roses
To harvest fresh roses, use garden pruners (and gloves!) to snip flowers from their stems. If you’d like them to stay fresh for a few days, cut several inches below the blossoms and place the stems immediately in water.
Here’s a few things to keep in mind:
- Pick flowers that are young and freshly opened
- Avoid flowers that are wilty, brown, or showing signs of pests or disease
- For the most flavor, harvest early in the morning when essential oils are at their peak
- Only use roses that you know haven’t been sprayed or treated with harmful chemicals!
- Remove petals from the flowers and rinse gently before using
🌿 Note: Avoid roses from commercial flower shops and stores. These are typically sprayed with a litany of pesticides and fungicides. The best roses for culinary use are from your own garden, or a neighbor’s garden as long as they don’t use any nasty sprays. You can also use wild roses found in untreated areas, like forests and protected parks.
How to make rose syrup
One thing I’ve learned from years of working with edible flowers is that every flower behaves differently in infusions. Some turn bitter quickly, while others need a little extra help to fully release their flavor. This recipe is designed specifically to bring out the best qualities of fresh roses, creating a syrup that’s flavored perfectly.
For full recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s a quick step-by-step breakdown to make this DIY rose syrup:
- Gather + prepare roses: Harvest fresh roses, pluck the petals from the flowers, and give them a gentle rinse.
- Make a simple syrup: Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat over medium until the sugar fully dissolves.
- Cool slightly: Let the syrup cool for about 5 minutes.
- Add flowers: Stir in the rose petals until fully submerged. Add a raspberry or two for optional color.
- Infuse: Cover the pan with a lid and let steep for 15 minutes.
- Strain: Strain out the rose petals using a cheesecloth or coffee filter, squeezing to extract as much syrup as possible.
And just like that, your rose syrup is ready! You can use it immediately in your favorite edible flower recipes or store it in the refrigerator for later use.
Tips for capturing the best rose flavor
Roses have a strong aroma and give up their flavor pretty quickly, but there are a few things to keep in mind to get the best flavor possible for your syrup.
Harvest early in the morning. The heat of the day can evaporate some of the aromatic compounds and volatile oils.
Use freshly opened flowers. Look for flowers that are young, fresh, and free of damage. The petals should cling tightly to the base. If the petals fall off as soon as you touch the flowers, they’re over-mature and won’t have as great of a flavor.
Smell and taste your flowers first. There are endless varieties of roses, and they all taste a little different. It’s said that the flowers with the best aroma also have the best flavor!
Use untreated roses. It’s worth repeating, because roses in particular are typically doused in chemicals. DO NOT use commercial roses for edible projects.
Don’t boil the petals in your syrup. They can stand a little heat, unlike delicate lilac flowers, but I find that simmering the petals in the syrup can cause some of their aromatic oils to evaporate. It’s best to cook the syrup first, then let it cool for just a few minutes before adding the roses.
Keep a lid on while infusing. After you add the rose petals to the syrup, cover it with a tight-fitting lid. This way, all those essential oils in the steam stay trapped in, rather than escaping.
Uses for rose simple syrup
Now you’re ready for the really fun part – putting that syrup to use! You can use your rose syrup for coffee, cocktails, mocktails, and all kinds of desserts. I always have flower syrups in my fridge, and I find them handy for all kinds of fun recipes.
Here are just a few ideas for rose syrup:
- Use for coffee, lattes, or matcha: Flavor your favorite morning beverage!
- Soak cake layers: Brush onto cake layers to add moisture and floral flavor (this syrup would work especially well for Chocolate Rose Cake or Raspberry Shortcake).
- Make rose buttercream: Follow my method for making floral buttercream, using this rose syrup recipe as the flavor base.
- Use in mocktails: For the simplest mocktail, simply combine your rose syrup with a little fresh lemon juice, a few raspberries, and some sparkling water.
- Add to cocktails: Perfect for a Rosalia Margarita or Rose Martini.
- Macerate berries: Toss berries with a splash of syrup for shortcakes, pavlovas, or strawberry rhubarb galettes.
- Make strawberry rose sauce: Swap the sugar for rose syrup in this recipe for strawberry sauce that I served with sourdough bread pudding.
- Drizzle: Add a little sweetness to yogurt, berries, or pancakes.
- Make rose lemonade: Use in place of the fig leaf syrup in this super special lemonade recipe. Delicious!
- Sweetener substitute: Use in place of honey, maple syrup, or agave in recipes.
Rose flavor pairings
Rose pairs well with many flavors, bringing a soft floral depth and a romantic vibe to anything it touches. If you need more ideas for using your rose syrup, consider these flavor combos:
- Vanilla
- Chocolate (dark, milk, white, all!)
- Citrus (lemon, lime, grapefruit)
- Honey
- Berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries)
- Classic mediterranean pairings (cardamom, pistachio)
- Other edible flowers (chamomile, lavender, lilac)
- Espresso & matcha
- Tequila, gin, vodka
FAQs
Please don’t! Commercial roses are typically treated with a cocktail of nasty substances, including pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and preservatives.
It tastes just like the smell of fresh roses, which I would describe as sweet, floral, a wee bit spicy, and a little bit peachy. If you’ve ever tried rosewater in a recipe, you’ll be familiar with this flavor.
Roses come in a wide range of colors, but they won’t necessarily leave behind their lovely hues when you cook them. I added 2 raspberries to my syrup to give it the lovely light pink color that you see here. You could also use a dried hibiscus flower.
Storage
Store your homemade rose syrup in a sealed jar in the refrigerator. A rich syrup (2:1 sugar to water ratio) will last about 6-8 weeks, while a classic 1:1 syrup will last about 4 weeks.
More flower syrups
Did you make this Rose Simple Syrup recipe? Please leave a star rating & comment below. It helps other readers and truly makes my day. Thank you!
Rose Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 cups fresh rose petals
- 1-2 raspberries (optional, for color), fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Prepare rose petals: Pluck the petals from fresh roses, removing and discarding the base. Place petals in a colander and give them a gentle rinse.
- Make syrup: Combine 1 ½ cups sugar and 1 ½ cups water in a small saucepan and heat over medium, simmering until the sugar fully dissolves, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the syrup to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Add rose petals & infuse: Stir in 2 cups of the prepared rose petals, mixing well until all petals are fully submerged in the syrup. Add a raspberry or two for optional color. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and steep for 15 minutes.
- Strain: Pour the infused syrup into a jar through several layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter, squeezing to extract as much syrup as possible. Use immediately in any recipe or store in the refrigerator for up to a month.
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