Osmanthus Jam 桂花酱
Happy Chinese New Year!
A perfect time to make this delicious sweet sauce using Osmanthus flowers, symbolizing love, prosperity, and good fortune.
Osmanthus (Gui Hua) has a lush, fruity floral scent with hints of ripe peach, plum, and apricot nuances. Fresh, and sophisticated too. The flower is widely used in Chinese cuisine, especially in desserts.
I love using this jam to make osmanthus latte, osmanthus toast, osmanthus rice cake, whipped cream cake, sweet soup with fermented rice and sicky rice balls, osmanthus pork ribs and so much more!
Trust me, homemade osmanthus jam is 1000% better than any store-bought version. Fresh with enchanting fragrance and delectable taste, this jam will surely become an essential condiment in your kitchen too!
新年快乐，恭喜发财，兔步青云， 大展鸿兔！
Ingredients:
400g Yellow rock (crystal) sugar
200g water
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp lemon juice, optional
20-25g fresh or dried Osmanthus flowers
(If using fresh flowers, rinse the flower several times first, then drain prior to cooking)
*My favorite brands selling dried Osmanthus flowers in North America are 家乡味(Big Green Food) and NestLady. Their products has more flowers and less stems, which make better jam with stronger osmanthus scent.
Instructions:
1. Put the yellow rock sugar in a sauce pot, pour in water. (sugar : water = 2 : 1).
2. Bring water to boil over medium high heat, then turn to low heat to slowly melt the sugar and prevent water from evaporating too fast. Avoid stirring until over 80% of sugar has dissolved. (Stirring too much will cause sugar to crystalize and harden after cooling.)
3. Once the sugar dissolves, and the syrup starts to thicken a little, add lemon juice(optional), and followed by osmanthus flowers. Stir to mix well. Cook over low heat for 15 seconds then turn the heat off.
At this point, the syrup should still be runny, almost like a soup, but just a bit thicker. To test the consistency, insert a spoon/ or chopstick in the syrup, it should come out with some flowers clinging to it.
4. Remove the pot from heat and let cool to room temperature. The sauce should gradually become thicker when cooled.
5. Stir in honey.
6. Transfer the sauce into sterilized jars/ glass containers). Store in refrigerator for up to a few months.
A few notes to keep in mind:
*Keep sugar : water ratio as 2:1 and adjust the rest amount of ingredients accordingly。
*Break the large rock sugar into small pieces to prevent cooking for too long and that sugar will crystalize.
* The jam will thicken over time in refrigerator.
*If the sugar syrup crystalizes during cooking process, add some water to cover the sugar; reheat again to turn it into liquid state, then cook over low heat to repeat the caramelizing process again. Remember not to over stir.
桂花酱
简易做法和注意事项：
1. 黄冰糖和水以 2:1 煮开转微火慢煮至冰糖融化。一开始不要搅拌，可转锅。糖融化80% 以上可稍微搅拌看糖水粘稠度。
2. 当糖差不多融化，水冒着泡有点微稠度时，加入一点点柠檬汁(不一定要加) 和干桂花。搅拌，小火煮15秒熄火。（新鲜的桂花可煮久一点大概 40秒）。这时糖浆感觉还是比较稀的，微稠。（如果太稠了那可能煮过了，放凉会太硬。可以再加点水稀释再煮）
3. 离火放凉后拌入蜂蜜。倒入热水消毒过的干净玻璃瓶。冷藏于冰箱可存半年。