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.

The Versatile Puff Pastry

A recent discovery of mine has been working with puff pastry. Such a variety of recipes can be prepared in a flash if you keep a box of puff pastry in your freezer. It can be used for both savory or sweet dishes. In the savory category, I have used puff pastry as a topping for chicken pot pies and also as a base to serve a creamed seafood medley. Granted, it's a fairly high caloric splurge, what with all the layers of flour and butter, but isn't it worth it to indulge once in awhile?

Included in this entry are two desserts I made over the past couple months. One is a simple turnover and the only trick to this is to make sure the pastry is cut in fairly exact squares, otherwise it is difficult to keep the filling encased. (I learned this the hard way). I filled mine with some wonderful prepared cherry filling. It is important to brush the edges of the turnover with egg wash and press them closed with a fork. Bake 20 minutes or so at 350Degrees or until they are golden and puffed.
The other dessert is an apple tart. This was even easier than the turnover. All that is needed are some nice, tart cooking applies (I used Romes and Granny Smiths) cut into eights. These were placed on top of the squares of puff pastry, sprinkled with a bit of cinnamon, brown sugar and a dollop of butter (because there just isn't enough butter in the pastry!) and baked until the pastry was golden and the apples were soft. So French and so delicious.

Cheery Cherry Cheese Pie

My all time very favorite pie is the following cherry cream cheese pie. It was only eaten on Thanksgiving and I was the lucky one who made it each year growing up. I was not a fan whatsoever of pumpkin pie (how unAmerican of me), nor the other annual pie, mincemeat (who even liked that I wonder now?) But the Cheery Cherry Cheese Pie fit the bill for the perfect pie. It is perfect in that no baked crust is necessary. As a matter of fact, no baking is necessary at all for all you pie baking novices out there. And it is very attractive once plated!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheery Cherry Cheese Pie

1 premade graham cracker crust

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 14 oz. can condensed milk

1/3 cup bottled lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 can of cherry pie filling

Whip cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the milk, lemon juice and vanilla and beat until well combined. Pour filling into graham cracker crust and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Top the pie with cherry filling and add a dollop of whipped cream if you're feeling very indulgent.

Dried Cherry Biscotti

It's been a baking kind of weekend. Cookies and cake. Cookies for The Husband and cake for a last of the summer Bar-B-Que at the Mother-in-Law's. I'll start with the cookie recipe and talk about the cake in another entry. A favorite in our house is cherries. Cherry jam, cherry pie, cherry turnovers, plain cherries and dried cherry biscotti (I sound like Forrest Gump - fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, etc.....).

This recipe makes very good biscotti and they are fairly easy to make but are messy as I have found that when mixing the ingredients together it is far more effective to use one's hands then a spoon. They also take some tending to when baking them as they are twice baked and have to be cooled a bit after the initial baking and then cut, and then baked again in two 5 minute sessions. The end result is worth it though. They turn out crunchy, not too sweet and with nice sour bites with the dried cherries.

Dried Cherry Biscotti

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup chopped dried cherries (dried cranberries also work)

1 cup ground almonds

Sugar for the top (optional)

Lightly grease one cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 35o degrees.

Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until dough is formed. Stir in almonds and cherries.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and kneed several times. Using the greased cookie sheet as a surface, divide the dough in half and form into two flat logs about 9 inches long by 3 inches wide. I like to press some sugar onto the tops for an added sweet crunch.Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Let cool directly on baking sheet resting on a rack for 10 minutes.

Lower heat to 325 degrees. On a cutting board, cut the logs on the diagonal into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Put back in oven for 5 minutes. Turn over and bake 5 more minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a baking rack. Store in an airtight container.

Life Is A Bowl of Cherries

YEAH! The local cherries have arrived.