Rosewater Love Hearts

Delicate and delicious twist on a classic peppermint cream. Perfect for Valentines day, these chocolate dipped rosewater love hearts sweets are simple and quick to make.

Life is just a little mental at the moment; at some point I'll explain, I promise. It's mental for really good reasons, and it makes me smile. But somewhere amongst all the craziness of the last month, there's always time for the simpler things in life.

Namely a Sunday morning pancake session with my nephew, but with one little difference... FaceTime. Seriously, how much has technology changed our everyday lives, to the point I can have a full-on cooking session over the telephone?!

About 8 years ago, I remember answering a questionnaire about mobile phones and whether I'd want to watch TV or movies on one, and would I be interested in video calling. Crikey, no; I remember replying. I suppose then a phone was still a phone and the most advanced thing my trusty old Nokia did was let me play 'Snake' to kill the time on my train commute to work. But now it's all different... my trusty iPhone is loaded up with apps, films, music and things to keep my life in check. My iPhone is pretty much my life all in one handy little place.

And that video calling that I so readily dismissed... I can't live without it. It's really something I never thought I'd appreciate, even when FaceTime was first introduced I wasn't sure.

But now my nephew is here, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Birthdays, Christmas and Sunday mornings mean we can almost be there and join in the fun.

Anyway, the Sunday morning pancake session was well-timed. The night before Ian and I had opted for a simple dessert to finish off Saturday night... oh yes, pancakes! I know it's a little early for Shrove Tuesday but there's something comforting and simple about a neat stack of fluffy pancakes, with rapidly melting ice cream and fresh fruit... Mmmm.

So a simple dessert and a morning cooking session with a 3-year-old, put me in mind of things that I loved making with my Mum or Gran when I was Louis' age.

Thinking back both Ian and I remembered peppermint creams; the minty sugar mess, green food colouring stained hands but so simple. I had to make them.

Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page

It's probably 30 years since I last made peppermint creams, cutting them out with an egg cup and eating them straight away, then possibly feeling a little queasy.

I thought it was probably time to spruce them up a little, and with Valentine's day coming up; hearts were the only way to go! I had some rosewater extract milling about in the back of the cupboard, that I swapped the peppermint extract for. It just had to be done... hearts and roses, Valentines in Rosewater Love Hearts candy form!

Now I made these with Rosewater Love Hearts egg whites like I used to with my Granny. But I know that some of you, would rather not use egg; and they can be made with cold water instead. I've also seen on my travels through the internet, using condensed milk; maybe next time I'll give it a go.

I can't wait to make a mess and some retro green, egg cup cut out, peppermint creams with Louis; just maybe not by FaceTime!

How to adapt Rosewater Love Hearts recipe

Now I know that rosewater is everyone's favourite flavour, and for me, it is really an acquired taste; I'd much rather go with a peppermint cream instead.

But did you know that you can get lots of different extracts now that would really jazz up your Love Hearts? What do you think of...

• Classic good old peppermint - this is great all year round but imagine cutting little Christmas Tree shaped candies for Holiday Gifting
• If you're into the rosewater flavour, you might want to give orange blossom a try as well
• Or how about something a bit wackier, and give those retro candies, a retro taste as well with candy floss or lemon sherbert
• And don't forget, you don't have to cut out love hearts, you could do anything... even a giraffe!

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