Hi Damask Rose,
Here is a link to an earlier discussion about rose jam and jelly. Since this discussion I have changed my technique a bit -- I start the way the Venetian recipe describes, by working the rose petals and the sugar together (this smells amazing). But I have decided that I prefer to strain it to make jelly so that there aren't petals in it. This is what I did last time I made rose jelly (it changes just about every time I try it). I used my Gertrude Jekyll, but I think it would be amazing with a really perfumed damask. The only draw back is that it takes a lot of roses, and roses that have just opened are better than ones that have been on the bush for a long time (because the fragrant oils are still fresh). Oh, also I trim the white bases off the petals because they are supposed to be bitter.
Gertrude Jekyll Jelly 2019
200 grams of rose petals (one big mixing bowl full of roses)
600 grams sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp of pectin
2.5 cups boiling water
Put petals, sugar, lemon in a bowl and massage until paste-like. Refrigerate for several hours. After letting this mixture sit for a while, add 2.5 cups of boiling water to the mix. Let it steep for one hour. Boil jars too sterilize. Strain the juice from the jelly mix through a metal sieve (there were some little insects in here, so maybe next time I will use a finer strainer as a secondary straining). Take the little bit of pectin and mix it with a small amount of sugar (to keep it from clumping), and add it to the mix. Bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes. Jar it. Process for 10 minutes (I could have processed it for more like 5).
Q