Rose Petal Truffles: A Gift of Love

How’s your heart these days? Is there a place for rose “medicine” in your life?

Nothing says love like a rose. The delicacy, the fragrance, the beauty… And like so many traditions, from the sacred to the secular, there is an Ayurvedic intelligence behind roses as a symbol for love.

Rose is the perfect invitation to love, the perfect antidote to love lost. It calms our inner winds, cools our wilder fires, and encourages our nurturing waters to flow.

Rose soothes, heals and uplifts. As an anti-depressant, rose can soften the hardest of hearts, and when love makes us weak in the knees, rose is the perfect pick-me-up.

Attendant to the heat of romance, the fire of passion, the flames of sensual attraction, rose comforts, strengthens, steadies and seduces all at the same time.

“According to the Ayurvedic encyclopedia, Rose oil is such a unique essential oil that is good for all the three doshas and benefits the blood, nerve, plasma, liver, heart, stomach, reproductive system, marrow, skin and gastro-intestinal system,” writes Derek Hodges, of Ayurvedic Oils.

As a rejuvenating tonic, Ayurveda places rose is the perfect antidote to February’s fade, and a delicious way to romance your heart right now. I invite you to add roses to your breakfast porridge in the morning or your warm almond milk before bed. Or, try this recipe for an afternoon boost of energy or a gift for one you love.

ROSE PETAL TRUFFLES

This recipe uses roses in two ways—it is stained a rosy color by hibiscus, also known as rosa de jamaica or the chinese rose. Hibiscus gives the astringent taste that delightfully balances the sweet of the coconut manna. Astringent is purifying, cooling and anti-inflammatory. If you can’t find hibiscus flowers, you could use a very strong hibiscus tea, or soak some of your rose petals in very warm (not hot) water and use that instead.

Even though they are sugar and dairy-free, these are the most exquisitely delicious truffles. When packed for gifts, immersed in a bed of rose petals, it looks like a confetti of love.

Makes 8-10 Truffles

Ingredients

1 handful handful hibiscus flowers (dried or fresh)
3 T coconut manna 1 T almond butter
1 T coconut or almond milk
1 handful dried cherries
1/2 t ground psyllium, or 1 t ground flaxseed
1 capful vanilla extract
1 t raw honey
1 hearty dash cinnamon
1 pinch pink or sea salt
dried rose petals

Instructions
Soak the hibiscus flowers in 4 cups boiling water. Add manna to a processor with all of the ingredients except the hibiscus and the rose petals. Blend.

Strain the hibiscus, save the juice. Add 2 tablespoons of the hibiscus juice to your processor and blend again. If the mixture is very thick, add another tablespoon hibiscus juice until it is a rich consistency, like cookie dough.

Put the mixture in the freezer for ten minutes or in your refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to roll, take it out, oil your hands with coconut oil, scoop a teaspoon of batter into your hands, roll into a ball, and then roll in rose petals to cover. Once complete, place the truffles back in the fridge and keep cool until serving.

These are best after a few hours when the rose petals soften and diffuse their fragrance throughout the truffle. Serve with love.