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!
chris block says
Please help…..I tried making the double chocolate espresso cookies but they didn’t turn out well at all. They were flatter than pancakes and kind of greasy. I followed the recipe to a “T” Can anyone tell me what went wrong?
Dani says
Yum! these look so good, and I love that you made them with frozen cherries. I would have never thought to try that but now I definitely will!!
Brenda says
These look wonderful and not to difficult to
try. Thank you.
Hayley says
These cherries look amazing, and perfect for Valentine’s Day!
VeggieGirl says
They look like perfection to me!! A true delight.
gfe--gluten free easily says
You’ve made a lot of sweethearts happy by sharing this recipe. My hubby is a big chocolate-covered cherry fan. :-) Thanks!
Shirley
Emily says
Gorgeous dessert Elana! These look so pretty, I commend your hard work to get them just right! It’s always so gratifying when a kitchen creation turns out right and is approved by others!!
If only Dagoba made their chocolate chips with agave rather than cane sugar, then I could try these and all your other amazing chocolate containing recipes (your Double Chocolate Mocha Cookies… drool!). Anyone else allergic to cane sugar want email Dagoba along with me asking for them to consider making a baking chip with agave?!
Happy Valentines Day! Do you and your hubby have plans?
Sophie says
Oh how gorgeous these are! I was just trying to make some chocolatey caramels and found it so challenging without those molds. Yours came out flawless, I am a big fan of chocolate covered cherries :).
mutritious nuffins says
Wow, these look wonderful! I have seen a similar recipe before for homemade Reeses cups, except using a mini muffin tin! (And of course peanut butter, etc.) My dad and brother would LOVE these. My brother has always loved the gross fake maraschino cherries that come from the store. But these are healthy as well as delicious, and easy! That’s why I love your recipes. I will definitely be trying this. Maybe I will do it in July for his birthday? I also love to see how you let your boys help you. I can see you working in the kitchen together and having a blast. I want this with my kids some day :)
Tracey C. (Sugarpunk) says
Lovely! A future note for working with candy molds – the chocolate didn’t want to come out because it wasn’t tempered – which is a big pain in the ass, honestly, but it really does make a difference. The other thing you can try is using candy melts, which are designed to melt nicely, go into molds, and unmold nicely, but I have no idea what sort of things might be in them (so that may be right out).
Depending on your willingness-to-fuss level (mine is pretty high), you might also have better luck if you paint the chocolate up the sides of the molds before adding the cherry mixture – Basically put your chocolate in, use a paintbrush to smooth it up the sides so you get a nice coat, let dry (or pop in the fridge for 10), then add cherries and top coat.
Anyhow, sounds like these were a hit!