Raspberry Chocolate Almond Spread
- 3 pints ripe raspberries, picked over but not rinsed
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 8 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 18 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup toasted slivered almonds, finely chopped
- Fit a large pot with a rack, or line with a folded kitchen towel.
- Fill with water and bring to a boil.
- Add 4 half-pint canning jars and boil for 10 minutes.
- Jars may be left in the warm water in the pot until ready to be filled.
- (Alternatively, sterilize jars by running them through a dishwasher cycle, leaving them there until ready to fill.)
- Place canning rings in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil.
- Turn off heat and add lids to soften their rubber gaskets.
- Rings and lids may be left in the water until jars are filled.
- In a large, heavy pan, combine raspberries and sugar.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring, until sugar has dissolved.
- Put raspberry-sugar mixture through the fine disk of a food mill or press through a fine sieve to remove seeds.
- Some seeds may remain; don't worry.
- Return mixture to pan, add lemon juice, and bring back to a boil.
- Boil, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.
- Add chocolate and stir well until completely melted.
- Boil hard for five minutes, stirring all the while.
- Turn off the heat, wait a minute or two, then push against the mixture.
- If the surface of the jam wrinkles a bit, it is the correct consistency.
- If not, return to the heat for another minute or two and try the wrinkle test again.
- Add almond extract and almonds and stir to combine.
- Ladle hot preserves into the warm jars, leaving 1/4 inch at the top, just below the first ring on the jars neck.
- Wipe jar rims clean with a damp towel.
- Place lids on jars, screw on rings and lower jars back into the pot of boiling water.
- Return to a full boil and boil the jars for 10 minutes.
- Transfer jars to a folded towel and allow to cool for 12 hours; you should hear them making a pinging sound as they seal.
- Test the seals by removing rings and lifting jars by the flat lid.
- If the lid releases, the seal has not formed.
- Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within a month, or reprocessed.
- (Rings and jars may be reused, but a new flat lid must be used each time jars are processed.)
- To reprocess, reheat filling to boiling point (as in Step 4), then continue as before.
pints, sugar, lemon juice, bittersweet chocolate, almond, almonds
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12689 (may not work)