Hmmn. I'm actually more comfortable not rinsing for a preserve because of the high-temp cooking and the heat processing. Just my take on it.

Raspberries are so delicate and susceptible to mold, even under refrigeration, that my inclination would be to freeze loose, weighing and tabulating, until I reached the total needed.

Ferber uses the raspberry pulp because she wants to reduce the % of seeds. It's possible the raspberries she has available are not only more flavorful but also more seedy or maybe she just feels this is a more "elegant" product and should be seedless.

You could certainly just use the pulp mashed up, but the recipe is calibrated for an essentially seedless pulp, so the ratio of fruit to sugar is predicated on that.

I haven't made this particular recipe but I have made a seedless raspberry preserve a la Ferber. I have an old KitchenAid (Hobart) with the colander attachment, so my experience isn't reproducible for some. It doesn't get every seed out and I doubt anything you used would either, but it does get out most of them.

Use however much chocolate you prefer. I can't speak to the unsweetened, but some admixture of unsweetened would increase the chocolate "hit" with a lesser amount. For myself, I no longer use unsweetened in any baking/cooking. I use bittersweet because it's also intensely chocolate but smoother, not gritty. However, Melly was in Europe at the time of post and might have been able to obtain an unsweetened chocolate better than what I've been able to find. (Just avoid Bakers.)

Carol

Good point about the high heat - I won't worry about not rinsing then.

I think I'll have enough tonight, so I will sort carefully through what's in the frig, and after that I will freeze first, as you suggest.

Ferber uses the raspberry pulp because she wants to reduce the % of seeds. It's possible the raspberries she has available are not only more flavorful but also more seedy or maybe she just feels this is a more "elegant" product and should be seedless.
You could certainly just use the pulp mashed up, but the recipe is calibrated for an essentially seedless pulp, so the ratio of fruit to sugar is predicated on that.

Duh. I feel really silly now, I think I had it all wrong. I was thinking that if I put the raspberries through my Foley mill, the "pulp" would be what is left on top. But when I read what you wrote, I realize that the pulp is probably what goes through the disk, right? So I was envisioning being left with sort of dry stuff and not much of it, but now I see that probably most will go through and just become more homogeneous. Sheesh. Can you tell I've never put raspberries through a mill?

I'll experiment with the chocolate.

Thanks Carol, I need you to just come visit and hold my hand through one season then I'll be okay :)

Thanks again,
Ann

Hey, I'm glad to help. What you said about "pulp" from a different perspective makes perfect sense. I hadn't considered that interpretation, but now that you mention it I can fully understand your concern.

Carol

P.S. For a nice gift item and to minimize waste, why not use the seedy residue to make raspberry vinegar for yourself or for gifting (think Christmas)? The flavor is excellent and it's perfect for those who can't/don't want sweet things.

Carol

Ann,
I've made this recipe---it's DIVINE, btw, not too sweet and not overwhelmingly chocolatey, just a hint of chocolate goodness amid intense raspberriness---and found, as Carol says, that my smallest disk on the Foley mill got out most of the seeds though not every last one. I was glad, too--it is such an elegant jam, it really needs to be not very seedy.

If you've never put berries through a mill before, be warned that you'll be horrified at how much stays behind (especially when you've picked the berries yourself, it seems criminal to lose any!). Turn the Foley crank as much as you can, smush it all down as much as possible, and reember to *scrape the unerside* regularly capture whatever is hanging down there to minimize the loss.

Good luck!
Zabby

Any reason I couldn't use White chocolate? I don't often make jams and never jellies, but this is tempting. Be nice if it tasted like the Godiva White Chocolate with Raspberry Swirl ice cream that sadly is no longer available.

Oh my. Zabby, I think on the previous thread you said this might not make it into jars - I agree. I could not stop "tasting" it last night, this is really scrumptious.

I am SO glad you warned me about the stuff left behind in the mill, otherwise I would have worried that I was doing something wrong. It seemed to work out just fine though.

Carol, good idea on the raspberry vinegar. I just refrigerated the left-over stuff last night, I'll try doing vinegar when I get home today.

As for chocolate, I had less at home than I thought. I had four ounces of G. bittersweet, but nothing else except Baker's. So I decided to use the 4 oz, and then if I thought it needed more I'd pick some up on the way home from work today and stir it in when I reheat tonight. I'm not sure if that would have been a bad idea, but it doesn't matter - the 4 oz really was quite enough. The chocolate taste is quite "there" and I think if I add more it will be overpowering. So, 4 oz is it for me.

Wonderful recipe! Thanks for walking me through it.

kayskats, I hope someone else answers your question because I don't know about white chocolate but it sounds good.

Ann

I just want to verify something ... in the thread that Zabby started some time ago, there was a bit of discussion about whether this jam needed to be stored in the frig because of the chocolate. I think the final consensus was that it is safe at room temp (or wherever you store your goods), is that correct? Also, she was using a different recipe I believe. I am assuming the Mes Confiture recipe is safe under normal storage conditions, do you all agree?

Finally, mine did set up and I have to confess that I'm a little disappointed, LOL. It works very nicely on ice cream as a sauce. In the future, if I want it to be a sauce, I assume I just don't heat it as long or to as high a temp? (it never did get to 121). But there would be no safety issues with doing that, right?

Thanks,
Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Zabby's Chocolate Raspberry thread

The issue is that chocolate in jam(as opposed to cocoa) doesn't follow U.S. canning standards. It's the fat and the dairy that're the issue.

White chocolate would be even less acceptable than dark. I'd be concerned that white chocolate might turn out oily integrated into a preserve. I'm not sure how you'd retain the delicate character.

That being said, the raspberries are high-acid and there's plenty of sugar, so if I chose to BWB and shelve, I wouldn't agonize about it.

I'm wasn't sure about the source of your disappointment. Are you disappointed with the flavor once cooled or the set?

What can happen with preserves is they end up being cooked over a long period and they thicken but they don't really "set"; as a result of the slower process the flavor is less fresh. This can be a real problem with some stoves and pans. Just less-than-ideal conditions. Because of the chocolate and the de-seeded puree the set in this preserve is a bit more problematic anyway.

Generally you can cook to about 218-219 for a sauce.

One benefit of refrigeration is you can achieve things not possible with canning. So I'm imagining this raspberry preserve soft-set, cooled and thick but still pourable (think curds) and layered in a slender jar. Raspberry preserve, chocolate ganache, raspberry preserve, chocolate ganache, etc. White chocolate would be especially pretty.

It would make a lovely gift great for poundcake, ice cream, whatever. Or just sneaking out spoon-by-spoon a bit at a time.

Carol

OK, well, I think I will store on the shelf then, my frig tends to run pretty full.

The disappointment - sorry, that was meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek. Usually we are concerned that our preserved did NOT set, so this time I think it's a bit ironic that I decided it would be quite nice UNset, and of course it set up just fine :)

You're correct that the cooking did diminish the raspberry flavor a bit. So I'm thinking next time I might just cook the raspberry pulp, sugar, lemon, add the chocolate, and can right away. She lets it sit overnight to meld the flavors, I sort of like the slight bits of chocolate. If I did this it would be less total cooking. I assume there is no safety issue with this approach.

Oh, I do like your layering idea but when in the world would I find time to do that???? You are so creative with the foods, it's fun to hear your ideas.

Ann

Oh, hey, ideas are easy. It's the doing where things get difficult, LOL.

Ironically this is not much of a canning year for me. I think a lot of the garden is going to be "gifted" to other canning aficionados. DH has had jaw surgery and bone grafts the last two years (twice) and lots of what's already canned and frozen needs to be used up. I would be foolhardy to add to what I already have stacked on the shelves and in the freezer. I'll sneak in some pickled beets, some salsa and some frozen corn, but otherwise we're good.

(Though I'm continually tempted to try new recipes.)

On the raspberry preserve issue I don't see any problem with processing immediately rather than waiting overnight. As I said, this preserve doesn't follow the rules, but I just can't honestly say I see it as a risk, especially since you've reduced the amount of chocolate.

Carol