Ok, I confess, it took a few batches to get this recipe “just right,” which for me means a couple of things.
First, I had to get these babies to to look decent, edible, desirable even. Let’s just say my first attempts were rather inept. I tried to make a rich and gooey sauce with cherries and then dip this cherry goo into melted chocolate. So Mensa of me –as you can imagine, the result did not look entirely appetizing. And I think candy should look appetizing. Very appetizing.
For my second attempt, I dropped globs of cherries and their sauce onto a parchment lined baking dish and then dripped chocolate over them. I did not exactly achieve a professional outcome utilizing this method.
My later attempts unfolded this afternoon, as my younger son and I had a pre-Valentine’s day candy making extravaganza. While my older son lay on the couch reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid
, my little guy and I melted chocolate and put it on everything we could think of. Lots of fun.
In search of perfection, I made another batch of candied cherries and during the process, recalled that I actually own candy making molds. Happily, I took them down from the far corner cabinet of the kitchen and found the appropriate mold for making chocolate covered cherries. It looks like this.
When I finished up my fourth batch of cherries and gave my son a taste, he said, “Mom, these taste just like the ones from the store.” I was happy, though slightly surprised that he had eaten those disgustingly sweet super duper artificial sugar infused chocolate covered store bought cherries. Oh well, what can you do? At least (according to him) I had achieved parity with “store bought,” which to me means success.
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So, on to the recipe. Beware, these are pretty darn sweet. If you want to experiment with something more adult-like and less cloying in nature, you could try cutting back on the agave, adding some stevia and maybe some liqueur, or orange (or lemon) zest for extra flavor.
I haven’t tried this myself (as you can see, I was quite busy just figuring out this recipe), so feel free to carry out your own trial and error process. Just be sure to leave a comment and let us know the results!
Chocolate Covered Cherries
Ingredients
- 1 10 ounce package frozen cherries
- ½ cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat cherries, agave, vanilla and almond extract to a simmer
- Combine arrowroot and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl to form a paste
- Raise heat a bit and stir the arrowroot paste into the cherry mixture
- Stir for about 1 minute until mixture thickens, scraping bottom of the pan with spoon, to evenly distribute the arrowroot, which can tend to settle on the bottom of the pan
- Remove cherry mixture from heat and set aside
- Melt chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat
- Spoon scant 1 teaspoon of the melted chocolate into each of the candy molds
- Spoon one cherry (with some of the sauce) on top of the chocolate
- Cover with another scant teaspoon of chocolate
- Place in refrigerator to set, about 20-30 minutes
- Remove from refrigerator, pop candy out of molds
- Serve
Equipment
This is a photo of the first scant teaspoon of melted chocolate in the candy mold.
The cherries and their sauce have been spooned into the mold and here I am spooning the second scant teaspoon of melted chocolate over the cherry mixture (while snapping a photo) pretty pro, eh?
I cleaned the kitchen (there was chocolate everywhere) while I waited for the chocolates to set in the refrigerator. This is how it looked straight out of the fridge. It was kinda challenging to get the chocolate out of the molds. I had to really bend and work the mold to force the chocolate out.
It was well worth the work. These chocolate covered cherries are delicious. I plan on making them with milk chocolate or white chocolate for my boys on Valentine’s Day.
Enjoy!
Shari from NC says
Elena,
Do you have a Hanukah gelt recipe, using dark chocolate (and/or flavorings), you could share? Where we pour some kind of chocolate mixture into a candy mold? I would love to make our own gelt this year.
Thanks,
Shari
Elana says
Shari, that’s a great idea! I will add it to my list of recipe requests :-)
Joy Acaso says
Hi. What kind of candy mold did you use? And where did you get them? Thank you. Your site is a lifesaver ;)
Elana Amsterdam says
Joy,
You can purchase the candy mold over at amazon.com.
Thanks :-)
Elana
Sarah says
I just made these and, while they taste fine, I won’t be using this recipe again as is. The filling to chocolate ratio is way off. My mold holds 12 chocolates, so I made those and have a very small amount of chocolate left over (maybe enough for 6 more). However, I have easily 2/3 of the filling left. I know that I made the correct amount of filling and my mold was the same size too. If I were ever to make these again I would at least cut the filling recipe in half. I also think the vanilla extract was overpowering so would cut that amount down. Thanks for the recipe – it was fun to try!
Brandon May says
This recipe is just in time! I plan on using the idea for the filling, except I’ll probably be using honey instead of agave (I’m a bit OVER the fence when it comes to this sweetener now days), and halving the amount of honey and other ingredients. I’ll probably try to make it RAW, as I’m finding a lot of enjoyment in those types of recipes.
Elena, do you know how we could make the filling have a white, creamy center? I dream of those days when I had the store bought chocolate covered cherries, with their ooey, gooey, high fructose corn syrup filling, and I know that we can make an alternative that will be so much better that doesn’t cause a surge in our blood sugars!
Thank you again Elena for the recipe! I will be a hunting for candy molds this weekend.
Judianne Silrus says
I make chocolate covered cherries using syrup from the cherries and organic powdered sugar. Not as healthy as the honey, but you can create the creamy white center. You simply pour off the juice from the cherries. I used home canned. BUt you could use marshinio from the store, or some other canned cherry. You just need to make sure it has liquid with the cherries. Pie filling will not work. Once you have some of the liquid from the cherries in a bowl or small cup you slowly add small amounts of powdered sugar. Mixing well between each addition. When it is the consistency you like it is done. After you coat your molds with the melted chocolate you add a chunk of cherry and some of the cream. Top the mold off with chocolate and let them harden. There you have it. Creamy, healthier chocolate covered cherries with out corn syrup.
elana says
Kelly -Ahhhhh. I know exactly which one you are talking about.
Kelly says
It’s a chocolate shop right off of Pearl, east end. Whenever we’re nearby we take a detour for some of their chocolate, minus the moo! XOXO
elana says
Kay -Thanks. I wish I did!
Katchmo -That book sounds great. Have fun with the molds.
Lauren -I hope you did too :-)
Lauren B says
Those look wonderful, Elana! I was thinking about making a sf version of chocolate covered cherries at some point as well. No preservatives or corn syrup in homemade candy is a big plus! You are so creative. Those candy molds are a great idea. Hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day!
Katchmo says
I have a recipe book called Sweet Truth that tells how to make chocolates out of unsweetened chocolate and honey or agave. My daughter also cannot have cane sugar so today I am going to try to make chocolate covered cherries with that. I picked up a silicone type heart shaped ice cube tray at the dollar store today and am going to try using that!