Now I have read through the posts here that some people de-seed then let the berries sit in the sugar overnight, is that something I should do?

There's actually THREE different recipes floating around for Chocolate-Raspberry Jam/Spread:

Your recipe using Certo liquid pectin (which is above).

A recipe using a powdered pectin:
Chocolate Raspberry Jam
6 cups frozen raspberries, crushed or 7 pints fresh raspberries
3 (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate squares
4 cups sugar
1 box powdered pectin
½ tsp margarine or butter
Crush berries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time. If using frozen berries, use both liquids and solids; they were all part of the original fresh berry. (Sieve 1/2 of the pulp to remove some of the seeds if desired. You can sieve it all if preparing from those with dental problems. Removing seeds causes waste, so be sure you have enough berries.).
Measure 6 cups of crushed fruit into a 6-8 quart heavy non-reactive saucepan. Break the chocolate squares into smaller pieces and add them to saucepan.
Stir pectin into fruit and add butter. Bring to a full rolling boil. Boil for EXACTLY 1 MINUTE, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Skim off any foam and ladle the jam into hot sterilized pint or half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process for 10 minutes in a BWB. Makes 6-7 half pints.

And a third which uses no commercial pectin at all (and this is the one that "sits overnight"):

Raspberry with Chocolate
2 3/4 lbs (1.2 kg) raspberries, or 2 1/4 lbs (1 kg) net
3 1/2 cups (750g) sugar
Juice of one lemon
9 oz (250g) extra bittersweet chocolate (68% cocoa)

Pick over the raspberries. Omit rinsing them so as to keep their fragrance. Put the raspberries through a food mill (fine disk). In a preserving pan, mis the raspberry pulp with the sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes, stirring gently and skimming carefully. Add the chocolate, grated. Mix and then pour into a ceramic bowl. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and refrigerate overnight.
Next day return the mixture to a boil. Continue cooking on high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring and skimming if needed. Return to a boil. Check the set. Put the jam into jars immediately and seal.

I would follow the appropriate recipe that uses whatever type of pectin you have on hand - they are not interchangeable, and the quantities of ingredients are quite different.

Hope that helps :-)

I used the last of those three recipes, and while it is really good, I think I let it get too firm. I underestimated the impact of chocolate solidifying in the finished product once it was refrigerated. I don't use pectin, but maybe the pectin recipes are a better way to control the set??

I also think I would try using less chocolate next time and let the raspberries shine a bit more. Good luck! You're going to make a bunch of people awfully happy this winter! :-)

I would avoid using any bar chocolate as it does contain quite a lot of fat (cocoa butter). Instead, dutch process cocoa would be a better choice, as it has very little fat, ad is also unsweetened. Hersey or even a pricy higher ended cocoa powder will work well.

amysrq,
I like the last recipe with 150 grams of chocolate just for the reason you stated - to let the raspberries shine.
Melly

Chocolate goes very well with apricot too.

I have made chocolate black raspberry jam. It was fabulous. I also found that a little chocolate goes a long way, and you don't want to override the raspberry-ness of the jam. I used no sugar needed pectin and very little sugar, came out GREAT! I didn't take out any seeds, I left the berries just squished a bit. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Marcia

Ken-
Tell me about the apricot with chocolate...it does sound yummy. Can I use dried apricots after I have soaked them in???
I also am making holiday presents.
Thanks in advance
Teri

Most dried apricots sold are Turkish ones and are overly sweet and a bit bland. I like using the California type instead and even like the ones I grow on a grafted tree out back. They are the first to ripen and then peaches and then the plums, all on the same tree. When I was in Vienna Austria many years ago, there was a hotel there that specialized in a very rich chocolate cake with a fudge icing. It used apricot preserves in between the layers of rich chocolate cake. It was called a Sacre Torte. The flavor combination made the chocolate jump out at you. Because it was mostly chocolate cake and only a small amount of apricot, it didn't overtake the choc taste, but gave it a very nice tartness. This cake is still sold today and sells for over $50 for a tiny little one. I made similar, and never told anyone what the secret ingredient was, and no one could figure it out, but it was all gone is seconds. You can use dried fruits to make jams, but yes, they do need to be well rehydrated, before making into a jam.

Ken - that is Sachertorte - a small rich chocolate sponge cake split into two layers with a thin smear of apricot jam between,and iced with a thick velvety chocolate glaze. The recipe and name are copyrighted and originated at the Hotel Sacher, Vienna, in 1832 by a 16-year old pastry chef for an Austrian Prince. There are many variations of the recipe but the most fun was watching it being made on YouTube without subtitles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doVJyAPn47Q

I have tried to make an apricot jam with chocolate and so far have not been able to get the proportions correct - too sweet, too chocolaty, too little chocolate, too lumpy. I also use the dried California apricots, or, if lucky enough, get fresh ones from Washington State and dry them myself. The Turkish ones are more readily available and less expensive but the flavor has no comparison to the American apricots.

I've made lots of Raspberry Chocolate (the one without pectin but using only half the bittersweet) but the chocolate jam I like the best is Dark Cherry Vanilla with cocoa. I had a non-set of the original jam and when remaking it decided to add some cocoa. I didn't measure, just put in "to taste". Yum.

Nancy

I am well aware of the history behind the torte, and even shipped one back here when I visited there back in the early 1970's. I didn't find the cake to be spongy, but quite dense, with little crumb. The cost for shipping was almost double the cost of the cake! I cant use sugar in my jams, so I use Splenda and if they are too sweet even for that, I add acid blend. My last batch of apricot preserves was made last summer and was really good. I used my apricots and a flat of huge California ones from Costco. Never tasted anything like it. I was a bit heavy on the acid blend, so the spread is quite tart! If I were to make a jam with chocolate added, it would use cocoa and not hard chocolate as that can give it lumps and grainy-ness. I just can't bring myself to eat chocolate for breakfast unless its baked into a croussant.

I really feel dumb for asking this but here goes...

I wants to make the choco rasp jam with the powdered pectin which calls for 6 cups of frozen or 7 pints of fresh rasp.

There are 8 ounces in a cup and 16 ounces in a pint. If I were to use frozen, I would need 48 ounces of rasp. If I were to use fresh, I would need 112 ounces of rasp. Is that correct???

It is a typo. 6 cups frozen or 7 CUPS fresh.

Dave

Dave rescues me again!!!! I've been dying to try this but have been putting it off because raspberries are so expensive. They are finally on sale for $1.67 for 6 oz (they are normally $3.99.) I was so excited until I did the calculations and thought I would have to spend $35 for them. With that minor correction, it will only cost me $12.00

No, Dave - it's NOT a typo.

The recipe calls for 6 cups raspberries, "crushed" or 7 pints fresh raspberries (2 pints of fresh raspberries yield approximately 1-3/4 to 2 cups when crushed according to the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving).

So if my math is correct, 7 pints of fresh raspberries would yield (in a perfect world) somewhere between 6.125 - 7 cups of crushed raspberries - but I always take out the seeds so the yield would probably be closer to 6 cups of crushed raspberries which is what the recipe calls for.

CC, hope that explains it more clearly.

Equivalents
1/2 pint Raspberries = 1/2 punnet = 1 cup (2 1/2 oz in weight / 75g) of berries = 1/2 cup mashed
3 oz raspberries = 85g = 1/2 cup
1/2 cup frozen Raspberries = 4 oz = 115g

Sorry, then it is a poorly written recipe. It should read "prepared fruit". Wife noticed the confusion when we first made it but by just comparing it to many other berry recipes we thought it obviously was a typo. 4-6 cups of prepared fruit is fairly standard in jam recipes.

But it works just great using either 6 cups of crushed frozen berries or 7 cups of crushed fresh berries. The frozen is more juicy but we have done it both ways with great results.

Dave

Here is LindaLou's post to Recipezaar from 2004...

This recipe adapted from Kraft Foods' recipes promoting their pectin products. For best texture use the pectin this recipe was developed for. However, any "low-sugar type" pectin will result in a jam that sets up.

Raspberry Chocolate Jam

6 cups prepared fruit (about 7 pints fresh raspberries)
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
4 cups sugar
1 box Sure Jel for Lower Sugar Recipes pectin
1/2 teaspoon margarine or butter

Crush berries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time. If using frozen berries, use both liquid and solids; they all were part of the original fresh berry. (Sieve 1/2 of the pulp to remove some seeds if desired. You can sieve it all if preparing for those with dental problems. Removing seeds causes waste, so be sure you have enough berries.) Measure 6 c of crushed fruit into 6 or 8 quart heavy saucepan. Break the chololate squares into smaller pieces and add them to saucepan.

Measure sugar into separate bowl. Mix 1/4 cup sugar from measured amount with pectin in small bowl. Stir pectin-sugar mixture into fruit in saucepan. Add butter. Bring quickly to full rolling boil, add remaining sugar, and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam and ladle into pint or half-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace and process 10 minutes in boiling water canner.