Chocolate Wineberry Preserves

While I was researching wineberry preserves I knew I should test them with something basic, but then I came across a recipe for chocolate wineberry preserves. I thought that this might be a gimicky thing, but as I worked with my plain test batch I could imagine how good chocolate would be if that were included in the mix. I kept coming back to that idea all day, imagining how well the fruit and chocolate might taste together. I measured out how many berries I still had and was relieved to find out that there was more than enough left to make this recipe.

Chocolate wineberry preserves

I followed the directions as outlined by GrammaGreenjeans on her blog Better Gardens than Home. Gramma's post is laid out well, with simple photos and I didn't have any trouble. In "If you can't beat 'em, eat em" she details how she adapted her recipe from Christine Ferber’s raspberries with chocolate recipe, included in the book Mes Confitures.  I didn't have a fresh lemon so I used the equivalent of bottled lemon juice, which was about 3 tablespoons. I didn't see why the mixture needed to be refrigerated overnight, but I did it anyway.

The next morning I was already canning another small batch of plain wineberry from the remains of the big
picking, so  my boiling water ect. was ready to go when I pulled the chocolate wineberry mixture out of the fridge. I began heating it and it came to a boil, but it seemed to take awhile to jell. In fact, I was worried for a bit but then it all came together.

Later, when I tasted the cooled chocolate wineberry preserves they were so good I wanted to take them into the basement and eat the entire batch all by myself right then and there. It tastes like berry/chocolate fudge in a jar. I can only think of a few uses for a spread containing chocolate, but this would be great as an emergency chocolate stash. I might experiment with the same recipe, only using strawberries and chocolate. I think it would make an impressive gift.