My Famous Chocolate Covered Cherries

From: Chef #1307997

On Jun 27, 2009

I have made these the last few years at Christmas and they are a big hit. I do have a problem with the filling. I cant ever seem to get it just right. Its either to runny or I use to much powdered sugar. Either way they are all gone when I put them out for everyone. My kids get so excited when they hear mom is making her cherries since I have had to make them a couple of other times besides Christmas cuz the hubby loves them more than the kids do. My brother I swear stood at the buffet table at my house on Christmas Eve and ate 1 after another for what seemed like forever-lol.Then I had to send him home with some. I will do milk and white chocolate. I just use Hershey chocolate chips melted. I will also dip one in milk chocolate let it set then dip the bottom in white chocolate or visa versa and those are awesome. I also use the marchiano cherries with the stem. It makes it easier for dipping. Also I read another review that said to keep at least half of what your working with in the fridge/freezer till you are ready to use it because the more the filling gets to room temp the harder it is to work with. That's is very true... I also freeze the cherries for an hour before I put the filling on them and that seems to make it a little easier to put the filling on the cherries. That's the hardest part of the recipe. Mine may not always look so pretty but everyone loves them. I found this recipe when I was looking for a homemade chocolate covered cherry recipe. A lot of them are complicated and require boiling sugar and water and other stuff and using and candy thermometer and that's just not me. I can cook but I'm not the best when it comes to baking and making stuff like that. Then I found this simple recipe and I tried it out before our big Christmas Eve family get together and I was so impressed with this recipe. Oh I also found that even if you don't form a perfect ball of filling around the cherries freeze them then once they are frozen you can form it better to make it more of a perfect ball. Now I am still trying to perfect the dipping and making the cherries look really nice like the pictures on the web site. They come out pretty good since I started using cherries with stems. I tried just using my finger and it didn't come out so good and it was messy. Maybe I'm doing wrong. Either way this is a great recipe. I highly recommend it

From: will_cook_4_friends

On Feb 16, 2009

These were the first chocolate covered cherries I ever tried making and the recipe turnned out wonderfully! They're good once they set, but get even better the longer they have to sit! However these don't have a long shelf life...once people find out about these they are as good as gone, so hide some for yourself!!! I didn't use dipping chocolate, just melted down some semi-sweet chocolate chips and those worked fine. Insted of using my fingers, I dropped the balls in the chocolate one at a time, rolled them around with a fork, scooped them up, shook out the excess chocolate, then dropped them on to the wax papper (you can make fancy looking candy swirls this way). I recomend keping half or more of anything your working with (the dough, the frozen cherries, or the wrapped cherries) in the fridge/frezzer untill your ready to use it, as the warmmer things get the more difficult it gets to work with. Also when wrapping the cherries, I first tried just molding the filling around the cherry, but I found it easier to do this: pinch off what I needed, flatten it into a disk in my hand, then make a small depression in the middle. Put the cherry in the depression, then wrap the edges over the cherry, then roll it around in my hands to get a smooth, round shape. Thanks for the wonderful recipe, definataly a keeper!

From: Nana Lee

On Nov 18, 2005

I make these alto. I use the maraschino cherries with stems to do mine. It makes it easier for dipping. I also use dark choc, it's not as sweet and is actually better for you, healthwise. Which reminds me of the Christmas Eve we went out and my chocolates were coolling on the kitchen counter. When we returned home there was not one in sight. It seems our dog, Satan, ate them all!!! These are so good, aren't they. Lee

From: october sky

On Oct 4, 2006

I have made these several times and everyone just loves them. Putting them in the freezer really helps when it comes to dipping them. I don't use my fingers to dip, but use a meat fork with great success. Thanks for such a delicious candy recipe.