Chocolate Covered Cherries

I bookmarked this recipe from Le Petit Pierogi way back in December, knowing that it was on my must-do list.  I have always been such a huge fan of chocolate covered cherries, and I thought that attempting them could be a good challenge.  Plus, I could adapt them to my own liking….i.e vanilla coating, dark chocolate, etc.

My friend Kelli and I were already planning on throwing a fun little get-together, so this was the perfect excuse to try my hand at them.  I actually made them one and a half weeks prior to the party-the extra time allows for the sugar paste to break down a little and create the sugary syrup.

These little delights were a favorite among the party guests.  Honestly, although they were a little messy to work with when making them, they were actually quite simple.  I will definitely be making these again sometime soon.

Chocolate Covered Cherries

Makes approximately 60 cherries

Ingredients

60 maraschino cherries with stems (I used two jars)

3 tablespoons butter, softened

3-4 tablespoons corn syrup

2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1 lb. chocolate candy coating (I also used vanilla-flavored candy coating.  I found these in my grocery store’s baking aisle.)

Instructions

1. Drain cherries and set on paper towels to dry.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine butter and corn syrup until smooth.

3.  Add confectioner’s sugar gradually and mix until a dough forms (I used the paddle attachment for the mixer-this helped a lot.)

4. At this point, you may have to refrigerate the dough until it stiffens a little (about 10 minutes).  Wrap each cherry in about 1 teaspoon of dough.  (I actually ended up doing this in batches because the Indiana humidity was making the dough extremely sticky, and I had to chill the dough several times during this process.)

5. Chill the dough-covered cherries until ready to dip.

6. Melt the chocolate candy coating in a saucepan over low heat.

7. Dip each cherry in by its stem, rolling to completely cover.

8. Place cherries on waxed paper until hardened. (The bottoms will end up being a little flat…if anyone has any good suggestions on how to avoid this, let me know.)

9.  Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

Adapted from Le Petit Pierogi.