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Glyko Anthos (Greek Citrus Blossom Preserve)

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Anthos (ανθός) pr. An-THOS, in Greek are the blossoms of trees, whereas Anthos (άνθος) pr. AN-thos is a flower.

That said, my Glyko Anthos is a Greek citrus flower preserve made with the petals of  sevillle orange flowers, after boiling and adding sugar, water and lemon juice.

It goes without saying that you can make the same preserve from the petals of other citrus trees as well.

glyko anthos image

The procedure to make glyko (fruit preserves) depends on the type of fruit you are going to use.

If the fruiit is bitter, the bitterness has to be removed by boiling it several times, pouring the water and adding fresh water each time.  If the fruit is not bitter you boil it together with sugar, water and some fragrance.  If the fruit is very delicate you make the syrup first and then add the fruit.

Citrus Blossoms petals image

Lemon juice is added at the end of the procedure, in all cases, so that the sugar will not crystalize again.

That is a general idea how the preserves are made.

A few years ago I attempted to make this “glyko”again but as I had no idea what the outcome would be, I googled some Greek recipes to see the time required for cooking.

When I need guidance to make something new, I usually read a lot of recipes and decide which one to follow.

Some of the recipes I read, said to quickly blanche the petals for 3 – 4 minutes and then put them in cold water (dah, were they cooking broccoli?), make the syrup and put the petals in and cook until the syrup is done*.

In other recipes, I read that you should have three bowls with cold water in which you add lemon juice.  You boil the petals for 1 minute, you drain them and put them in the first bowl.  You repeat this procedure three times.  After the third time you drain them and put them in the sun for an hour.   You have the syrup ready and put them in the syrup and cook until the syrup is ready*.

Another method said to boil the petals for 5 – 7 minutes, drain them and reserve the water. Put the petals in a tray and let them stay in the sun for 3 hours.  Then prepare the syrup and cook the petals until the syrup is ready*.

Other recipes say to blanche the petals, drain and leave them in the sun for a whole day (they will surely get a nice tan 🙂 ) .  Make the syrup bla, bla and the preserve is ready.

From the recipes I read, I chose one of a famous Greek chef.  The result was disappointing.  The petals were chewy and very hard.

*Note:    I’ve covered this topic in one of my very old posts about making fruit preserves.

If you don’t have a thermometre, my suggestion is to boil it for half an hour and wait for it to cool.  Check and see if it is sweet enough for your taste.  If it is not, add more sugar (you can add upto 1 more cup), mix and boil again for ten minutes.  Check the density using one  of the methods mentioned in my post and finally add then add the lemon juice.

anthos kitromilias image

When I read the above recipes, I believed that the petals would be so fragile that they would break if boiled too long.

When I finished making the Citrus Blossom Water, after boiling the petals for two hours,  I saw that the petals were intact.  Wouldn’t it just be a waste to throw them in the bin?

The amount of leftover water was enough, so all I did was to add some sugar.  The amount of sugar was added by experience.  I mixed it to dissolve the sugar and put it on the heat.  Since I now have a candy thermometre, all I did was to check to see if the temperature reached 105 degreesCentigrade.

At the end I added the lemon juice and when it cooled I stored it in the jars.

The result was a delicious and aromatic floral preserve.  The petals are still not soft and have a squeaky effect when biting them but they are so good!

One teaspoon is usually enough to satisfy your cravings for something sweet but believe me it’s so delicious and addictive that you will be wanting to come back and eat some more!  At least I do 🙂

citrus blossom spoon preserve

Glyko Anthos (Greek Citrus Blossom Preserve)

You will need:

  • The leftover Citrus Blossom Petals
  • The leftover water
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 4 tbsp lemon Juice

Directions:

  1. Add the sugar to the leftover boiled petals and mix to dissolve the sugar.
  2. Put it on the heat and bring to a boil.
  3. Lower heat and cook until the temperature reaches 105 degrees Centigrade.
  4. Add the lemon juice, mix and remove from the heat.
  5. Set aside to cool and store in sterilized jars.
  6. No refrigeration is needed.

Recently my Blog was listed among the 40 best Greek Food Blogs.   It’s an honour to be included among so many talented food bloggers and chefs.

40 best Greek Food blogs award image

Thank you all for making this possible!

 

ctrus blossom preserve image

Glyko Anthos (Greek Citrus Blossom Preserve)

Yield: 2 jars 450 grams each

Glyko Anthos is a Greek citrus floral preserve made with the petals of sevillle orange flowers, after boiling and adding sugar, water and lemon juice.

Ingredients

  • The leftover citrus blossom petals
  • The leftover water
  • 3 cups sugar
  • Leftover water
  • 4 tbsp lemon Juice

Instructions

  1. Add the sugar to the leftover boiled petals and mix to dissolve the sugar.
  2. Put it on the heat and bring to a boil.
  3. Lower heat and cook until the temperature reaches 105 degrees Centigrade.
  4. Add the lemon juice, mix and remove from the heat.
  5. Set aside to cool and store in sterilized jars.
  6. No refrigeration is needed.

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

glyko anthos image

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!

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Usha

Wednesday 10th of May 2017

Hi, Really great effort. Everyone must read this article. Thanks for sharing.

Nadine

Saturday 6th of May 2017

The post is really informative. Thanks for sharing.

Angie

Saturday 6th of May 2017

Congratulations, Ivy! The homemade citrus blossom preserve is priceless! Have a lovely weekend! Angie

Ivy

Saturday 6th of May 2017

Thank you Angie. Same to you.

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