Better than Store Bought Chocolate Covered Cherries
By
Jennifer McConnell
@Shutterbug81
2
Blue Ribbon Recipe
These are really wonderful! I bought another large jar of cherries today so that I can make them again soon. I doubt there will still be any left 3-6 days from now to see them form more liquid in the center, but even with the smooth cream (which has a wonderful flavor) they are still very juicy and rich.
These are very hard to stay out of, so I am going to share them with my in-laws tonight and take them some. They get 6 and the rest are mine :-)
The next time I make these, however, I will try removing the stems. They tend to fall off after freezing, and I think I could get a smoother look. Also, the fondant does melt quickly, so I will try freezing the cherries then twirling them in room temp fondant and freezing again.
★★★★★ 20 votes5
Ingredients
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3 cpowdered sugar
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1/4 cmargarine or butter
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1/4 ccondensed sweetened milk (not evaporated)
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4 tspvanilla extract
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pinchsalt
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1 pkghigh end chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark)
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1 jar(s)maraschino cherries, drained and dried, reserve the juice.
How to Make Better than Store Bought Chocolate Covered Cherries
- Start by making a fondant - simply combine the first five ingredients until smooth and not sticky. Chill in fridge for an hour.
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper and spread cherries out in a single layer - stems on, if possible. Freeze for an hour.
- When ready to make your chocolate covered cherries, remove fondant and cherries from the fridge/freezer. Since it takes a bit of time to make these, I remove only a few cherries and a bit of fondant at a time so that they don't get too warm and sticky.
- Wrap each cherry in 1-2 teaspoons of the fondant, forming a tight ball. Return cherries to tray and freeze again for an hour.
- Use either the microwave or a double-boiler to melt your chocolate. Thin it down with enough reserved cherry juice to get the proper consistency for dipping.
- Removing a few fondant-wrapped cherries from the freezer at a time, dip them in the chocolate and coat completely. Since my cherries didn't have stems, I did follow the tip of using a toothpick to aid in the dipping process. Let the excess chocolate drip off, then put the cherry on wax paper to rest. Dab a bit of extra chocolate on top to cover any hole left from the toothpick.
- When done, place dipped cherries in the fridge to set. Store in an airtight container in the fridge as well. If you let them be for a few days, the center with be nice and liquidy... but they're good right away too!
