Strain. Use a cheesecloth or fine mesh to strain the blossoms out of the water. Store in a sealed jar or use immediately. Beautiful Skin Face Cream: Add ¼ cup shea butter, 2 tsp orange blossom water, ½ tsp raw honey, 5 drops lavender essential oil and 5 drops geranium essential oil to a medium sized mixing bowl. Whisk everything up with a hand-held whisk or hand mixer until your form a well combined white cream. Store in an amber glass jar and use a pea-sized amount to moisturize. If you are not a fan of orange at all but you are using a recipe that requires it, there are some other flavoured extracts you can use instead:

Lemon Extract– Lemon extract is a sharper tasting alternative, so you will only need a little to maintain the flavour balance of your dish. Orange blossom water not only has an incredibly wonderful scent, but it has tons of practical uses as well! There's a reason it is such a hot product in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions; it is so versatile! Fancy taking a luxurious bath at home? How does an orange blossom bath sound?! Try it out this weekend: Choose the adequate floral water for your skin type. Here are some examples of the most adapted hydrolats according to your skin type:

To keep your dish from being overly floral and cloying, use a small amount of orange blossom water and taste as you add it to make sure it’s not overpowering the dish. Recipes Using Orange Blossom Water It is important, though, to keep your floral waters refrigerated and discard if their aroma changes or the water gets cloudy. True hydrolats have a short shelf life ranging from 6-18 months, even when refrigerated. Using Floral Waters Steenbergs Organic Orange Flower Water - or Organic Orange Blossom Water - is a deliciously floral orange blossom water that has that summery feel that I love in Lebanese cookery, or just use it in baking or sprinkled onto fruit salads. Orange flower water should be a storecupboard item in every kitchen and used to lift pastries and puddings from mediocrity into a blissful and sensual foodie heaven. Steenbergs Organic Orange Flower Water is a wonderful floral ingredient often used in Middle Eastern cooking in both savoury and sweet foods (such as baklava), but sadly has fallen from use in British cuisine except in the making of marzipan. In Mexico, orange flower wateris used for the creation of little wedding cakes. In western cooking, orange flower wateris probably best knownfor flavouring madeleines and I often use it for flavouring marzipan at Christmas. Try usingSteenbergs Organic Orange Blossom Waterin home made ice-creams, adding it to custards, cream and yoghurt or over fruit. Add. Add 2 cups of orange blossoms to the pot, around the outside of the bowl, and pour in 5 cups of distilled water. *The bowl in the center should remain empty. Finally, filter out the zest with a sieve or strainer. Place a handkerchief, filter paper, or tissue over the jar to allow the alcohol to evaporate. Once done, you will have orange oil.

Now, I don’t recommend using store-bought roses for your experiment! If you are growing roses in your garden, then yes, that would be the best, especially if they are Rosa Damascena. Here’s another idea I love: take store-bought vanilla ice cream, let it soften slightly and add a few drops of orange blossom water (4 teaspoons per pint, or to taste). Mix well, chill and serve. Or if you make your own ice cream, add orange blossom water to the custard before freezing it. They have therapeutic properties with a broad range of applications. They are safer than essential oils and can be used with populations where essential oils might be too strong, such as young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and many of our pets. Care of Floral Waters and Hydrolats Any citrus will love a hint of orange blossom, but lemons and oranges even more so. You can try mixing in a 1/4 teaspoon of orange blossom water into a glass of orange juice for a refreshing drink. Add it into orange marmalade, store bought or homemade. Or try the Moroccan style orange salad I shared in my Two Orange Salads Against Winter Blues article. 7. Vegetable SaladsThe Best Orange Blossom Water for Baking - Neilsen-Massey's Orange Blossom Water (winner). We thought the NM blossom water offered just the right amount of flavor without overpowering baked goods.