Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Chocolate Covered Cherries


Have I ever mentioned that The Husband is a candy fiend.  He loves his candy and one of his favorites is chocolate covered cherries.  This is a treat that he usually only gets once a year at Christmas.  I noted after we got home from our holiday travels and all of the unpacking of Christmas presents had taken place that there were no cherries amongst his loot.

Now I could have run down to the nearest Walgreens (there's one on practically every block in my town) and picked up a box for him.  Instead, I decided to try my hand at making them.  It turned out to be a fun cooking experiment though I will admit that I cheated and used chocolate confectioners coating.  This can be found at any cooking/candy making store and it is so much easier to deal with than tempering real chocolate.  Of course, the taste is not a pure chocolate flavor, but it's not too bad. 

From start to finish this project took me about an hour and made two dozens cordials.  The trickiest part of this whole business was to find a good hiding place in a cool location where The Husband wouldn't find them as they have to sit for 1-2 weeks to cure.  This time is needed so the fondant breaks down and turns into that delicious liquid that bursts out all over your face when you bite into one.  What a gloriously fun candy!  (P.S. After trying them, The Husband stated they were "the best thing I ever ate!"  I'm tickled pink.)



Chocolate Covered Cherries

24 marachino cherries with stems
1 1/2 Tbsp softened butter
1 1/2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1/2 to 3/4 lb. chocolate confectioners coating

Drain cherries and set on a paper towel to dry.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter, corn syrup and confectioners sugar and knead to form a dough.  Chill to stiffen if necessary.

Wrap each cherry in about 1 tsp. of dough.  Chill until firm.

In a deep medium size microwavable bowl, slowly melt the chocolate, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.  Dip each cherry in by its stem and place on waxed paper.  Chill until completely set. 

Store in airtight container for 1-2 weeks in a cool place.

8 comments:

Big sis said...

I can't believe you did this one! I had no idea that the inside was a fondant. I don't like them but your pictures make me want to try them again.

Amber said...

Oh yum. Those look amazing. One of my favorite things!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Why can't ya just dip the stinkin' cherry right into the chocolate and call it good?

Foodiewife said...

You have SO got to submit this photo to Photograzing! These are amazing! I have never made a candy before, and I adore cherry cordials. This was easy to make? Really? LOVE the last shot with that cherry ozzing out. I'm so jealous! OK, I'm bookmarking this, with every hope and intention that I really will make these. Bravo!

The Mulligan Family said...

Wow. That really SOUNDS easy... and it only took you an hour? I would have thought they would be so difficult to make. I'm definitely going to have to try this. But, I may need to wait until closer to next Christmas. Still working on losing weight from the last one!! Cheers, Cindy

Anonymous said...

How easy was that!!!! I always assumed chocolate covered cherries like that would be impossibly complicated. I must try this immediately. Thank you!!!

Memória said...

Cool!!! These look great. I've always wondered how to get that filling like that.