Chocolate-Covered Cherries

[landofoz]

60 maraschino cherries with stems
2 Cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons butter (NO substitutes), softened
3 Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup (from experience, no subs here either)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 Cups (12 oz) Semisweet Chocolate Chips
2 Tablespoons Shortening

Pat cherries dry with paper towels; set aside.  In a small mixing bowl, combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt; mix well.  Knead until smooth.  Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. 

Roll into 1/2-inch balls; flatten each into a 2 inch circle.  Wrap each circle around a cherry and lightly roll in hands.  Place cherries with stems up on waxed paper-lined baking sheets.  Cover loosely and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

In a microwave or heavy saucepan, melt chips and shortening; stir until smooth.  Holding onto the stem, dip each cherry into chocolate, set on waxed paper.  Refrigerated until hardened.  Store in a covered container.  Refrigerate for 1-2 weeks before serving.

My notes:
I count out my cherries into a colander and let them drain before I pat them down, but be careful there is still some moisture inside the cherries.  With the dough, after it has chilled, I roll it into a ball and divide into 4 equal pieces.  I wrap 3 in plastic wrap and work with 1 quarter at a time.  The dough gets very sticky as it warms.  Also, I like to keep a wet, warm washrag handy to wipe my hands on regularly.  Because I like things perfect or pretty darn near, it takes me 1-2 hours to wrap the cherries.

I get rave reviews on these from everyone who tries them.  Although, once I quickly explain the process, the request for the recipe are generally dropped and the person says, "Oh, well, you'll make these for us again, won't you?"  They aren't that difficult!!

I just made a batch of these and feel the need to add on more thing.  The dough will seem way too dry when you make it.  I use a fork to smash it all together and then when it is well mixed and still extremely dry and crumbly, I flip the bowl over onto the countertop and just start smushing (aka kneading) it together.  It takes a couple minutes but eventually it does start to get cohesive. 

[Dianna]

Thank you for posting this, Sarah! They do sound really good. I don't know if mine would be able to set for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator, though. I love CCCs...

[landofoz]

I don't like cherries, so I could stay out of them forever.  Unfortunately my hubby and kids love them.  There is usually around 4 dozen left by the time 2 weeks is up.

[Penny]

  Ok....all i can say is.....yumm yumm yummm yumm yummm yummmy yummy 

[Triss]

Ok I copied it this time... DO they sell the cherries in the can with the stems?  Gotta look for that one.

[Tina]

Usually, you can find the marachino cherries with stems in jars, Triss. Look on the shelves above the other canned fruits. I don't know if Smart & Final is a national chain or just a Cal thing. But they sell supplies for mom and pop stores , fast food restaurants, and bar supplies. I used to get my cherries there for bartending. I also have a recipe for CCC somewhere that doesn't take two weeks for the centers to liquify.  It is similar but you dip the covered cherries in beaten egg white before the chocolate coating, That starts the sugar dough to dissolving I think. I'll have to look it up.

[patches]

Hey, thanks, Sarah/LOZ!    I love the dark chocolate cherries and these sound pretty easy to make.  Yes, Tina, I've only seen the marachino cherries with stems in jars too!  I sometimes buy them at a restaurant suppply place we have here in town, and I think it's a gallon jar that I get, but it's still a much better buy than getting the little jars in the store.     

[Triss]

Ok restaurant supply store goes on my list too.  Way better to get a full gallon jar if I am gonna make a large batch of these.

[Tina]

A gallon jar will last forever in your fridge too. Several months if you don't get them all done at once.

[Triss]

That is good to know as well but I doubt they would last that long here even if I do not get them all done at once.  Those things are yummy!

[patches]

A gallon jar will last forever in your fridge too. Several months if you don't get them all done at once. 

Tina, they will last even longer than that.  At least, six months or more, but I've never even come close to the six months without them disappearing.    They are soooo good. 

[landofoz]

I buy my cherries from Sam's for something like $8..  I think it's a half gallon glass jar with approx. 170 cherries.  I usually go through 2 or 3 jars of cherries from Nov thru Feb.  And I just now used to the last of a jar I opened in Feb.  The jars at the store are something like $4 for 40 cherries.

And cherries come in different sizes.  THe jars they sell at the grocery store, are usually very small cherries, which makes covering them in the dough much easier, but who wants a small CCC?  The ones I get from Sams are "Queen Ann Sized" or something like that.  They are enormous and  pain in the butt to wrap in the dough.  But those are everyone's favorite. 

[patches]

Well, Sarah/loz, I don't have a Sam's card, but a friend of mine has an account at the restaurant supply place, so I go with her and get mine at wholesale prices.  I agree, the cherries in the stores are much smaller than the ones which come in larger jars, and I like the bigger ones much better.   

[patches]

Well, all this talk about maraschino cherries had my mouth watering, so I dug out my recipe for Buried Cherry Cookies and made a batch tonight.    Geesh, isn't it amazing how many cookies you can eat when they are still warm and you wash them down with a big glass of cold milk. I posted the recipe for anyone who wants to try them.  They are always a big hit at Christmas!   

[landofoz]

I was checking out your recipe, patches, and it reminded me:  If I'm feeling particularly detailed, I'll melt down some dark chocolate chips (or if I'm not considering flavor white chocolate) with a little shortening and drizzle it over the top of the cherries, once I've finished dipping all of them.  It adds a pretty look and gives a little extra flavor.  If you drizzle after they've set in the fridge, sometimes it will run off or will break off as soon as they are moved. 

[patches]

If I'm feeling particularly detailed, I'll melt down some dark chocolate chips (or if I'm not considering flavor white chocolate) with a little shortening and drizzle it over the top of the cherries, once I've finished dipping all of them. 

Hmmm, guess I'm not understanding exactly what you're talking about here!  Do you mean just for extra decoration? 

[landofoz]

Yeah, Patches, just to make it extra pretty.  They look very nice by themselves but the drizzle of chocolate gives them a more professional look.

[patches]

Okay, Sarah/loz, I wasn't sure!    Well, unless I have extra time to kill, I think I'll forget about making them pretty, because the people I know who love Chocolate Covered Cherries never spend enough time looking at them before they pop them in their mouth!!!