Raspberry Recipe

Most of my home canning recipes come from this cookbook. I'd like to give my sister Angela credit for getting me the book, but she never reads this blog, so forget it.

I know how to do basic, regular canning. but when I've got, for example, 30 jars of canned tomatoes on the shelf, what do I do with the next 100 pounds of tomatoes that get harvested? This book has recipes for tomato and apple chutney, sun-dried tomato jelly, pizza sauce, ketchup, vegetable stock, red hot sauce, several salsas, barbeque sauce and more.

If you have an abundance of watermelon rinds, you can even make watermelon rind pickles. (Go ahead, I dare you.)

Last week I picked raspberries, but didn't want to make jam. I checked my trusty Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and found Chocolate Raspberry Sundae Topper. Perfect!

Here's the recipe from the book, but if you enjoy home canning, I highly recommend adding this book to your cookbook library.

Chocolate Raspberry Sundae Topper
1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
1 package regular powdered fruit pectin
4 1/2 cups crushed red raspberries
4 TB lemon juice
6 3/4 cups granulated sugar

Prepare canner jars and lids.

In a medium glass bowl, combine cocoa powder and pectin stirring until evenly blended. Set aside.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, place crushed raspberries and lemon juice. Whisk in pectin mixture until dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

Ladle hot sundae topper in to hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot sundae topper. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.