Chocolate Covered Cherries

 //Recipe Featured In CupcakeMAG’s Holiday Gift Guide

The more and more I bake, create, and learn in the kitchen, the more I’m discovering that food isn’t so much about taste as it is about community. Over time we eventually come to associate certain scents, dishes, and meals with a particular face, a cherished memory, or a missed loved one. Food is a powerful tool to bring people together, welcoming diversity to the common place of the table. Tables are where relationships are begun, stories are told, lessons are taught, and people are welcomed.

And when I pull out this printed recipe, marked with sticky finger prints and crumpled from use, I smile. Because this dessert is more than a treat to me, more than a sweet bite of gourmet, it’s a connection, a connection to the women who taught me their craft and the girls who learned alongside me. Each time I create these little chocolate treats, I’m re-creating that night. I remember that apart from people investing in me and caring enough to teach me new things, I wouldn’t be the person I am. Ever since then I’ve been making chocolate covered cherries every holiday season. They’ve become a tradition of both taste and togetherness. I genuinely hope you get the gift of being able to craft these cherries with a friend this season.

Chocolate Covered Cherries 

Source: adapted from Southern Living, 1997

{makes ~48 cherries}

[ingredients] 

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2 – 10 oz jars maraschino cherries, with stems 

3 Tbsp butter, softened 

3 Tbsp light corn syrup

1/4 tsp salt, not coarse

2 cups powdered sugar, 10x 

12 oz bag chocolate morsels, semi-sweet or dark 

1 Tbsp shortening

[directions]

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Dough. Blend softened butter and corn syrup, adding salt. Slowly stir in sugar, then knead to fully incorporate sugar. Chill at least 2 hours.

Form. Drain cherries and pat dry, pressing lightly with paper towels. Do not rinse. Pinch off 1 tsp of dough and roll around each cherry {similar to a “bird’s nest” with play-doh}. Dough must be cold, and cherries fairly dry, or this will be very sticky. Place “rolled” cherries on a wax paper lined tray. Chill for 2 hours to overnight.

Dip. Fill a small saucepan with a shallow layer of water. Place chocolate chips and shortening in a double boiler {or heat proof bowl set atop the small saucepan}. Bring water slowly to a boil, then reducing to a simmer. Check every few minutes, stirring until chocolate and shortening are melted and well blended. Do not overheat as chocolate will separate. Take each chilled {dough covered} cherry by the stem and gently swirl into the chocolate, moving quickly to dip and replace onto wax paper. Continue until all chocolate is used or all cherries are dipped. Refrigerate immediately. Chill again for 2 hours. Keep finished cherries refrigerated until ready to serve.

//All Photography Via Susanna | {Re}visionary Life\\