How do you make chocolate covered cherries? Learn how with this professional chocolate dipped cherry recipe. Master dipping techniques and create elegant treats!
A chocolate dipped cherry recipe has long been a tradition among confectioners. Although initially sold as an aphrodisiac, today, you’ll more likely see them as an upmarket Christmas and Valentine’s Day gift.
Traditional recipes use French Griotte cherries, a variation of the Morello cherry. Griottes are ideal with their intense cherry flavour and a good balance between sourness and sweetness. Chocolate cherries’ appeal lies in the ingredients’ contrasting textures and tastes. The crisp chocolate shell contrasts with the soft fruit, and the sweet syrup complements the bitter chocolate.
Biting through the shell of a delight made using a good chocolate dipped cherry recipe, and you will discover the delicious, alcoholic syrup inside. So, how do you make chocolate covered cherries? How could the liquid surrounding the cherry have been encased in a chocolate shell? It seems impossible. The answer is simple but clever.
Making Chocolate Cherries
Ingredients:
The availability of Griottine cherries varies from country to country, and harvests are small nowadays. This makes them a specialty product with a specialty price! Searches on Amazon and eBay may lead to a source; otherwise, try chocolate suppliers. Ideally, the cherries should come soaked in Kirsch (a German cherry liqueur), with the stalk attached but the stone removed.
Alternatively, you can soak cherries yourself. It takes longer, but it is much cheaper. Buy ripe Morello cherries with the stalks, remove the stones and follow the recipe below. Avoid Maraschino cherries, as they have an inferior flavour and texture.
Essential Supplies for Chocolate Covered Cherries
Before you begin, gather these key ingredients and tools for the best results:
Premium Ingredients:
- Morello Cherries in Kirsch Brandy (37 oz) – Authentic pre-soaked cherries save weeks of preparation time
- Dried Morello Cherries (2 lb bag) – For those who prefer to soak their own cherries
- Amoretti Kirsch Syrup (25.4 oz) – Non-alcoholic alternative with authentic cherry brandy flavor
- Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers (10 oz) – Premium chocolate for a professional finish
- Satin Ice White Fondant (2 lb) – Ready-to-use fondant provides consistent results
- Domino Confectioner’s Sugar (2 lb) – Essential for dusting and rolling fondant
Essential Tools:
- ThermoPro Digital Instant Read Thermometer – Critical for properly tempering chocolate
- Chocolate Dipping Tool Set – Makes the dipping process easier and cleaner
- Pre-Cut Parchment Paper Sheets (200 count) – Perfect for setting your finished cherries
For Storage & Gifting:
- Clear Candy Boxes with Dividers (12 pack) – Elegant presentation for gifting or storing your finished cherries
Soaking Cherries:
- 1 kg (2.2 lbs) Morello cherries with stalks
- 250 ml (1 cup) Kirsch – cherry liqueur
- 350 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
For variation, the soaking liquor can be infused with hints of spices, such as cinnamon, cardamom, or star anise etc.
Method:
- Wash and pit the cherries carefully, retaining the stalk.
- Add the cherries to a jar large enough for all the ingredients.
- Add the sugar, Kirsch and lemon juice.
- Seal the jar and allow to macerate for 1 month, turning occasionally.
Preparing Fondant
Prior to dipping in chocolate, each cherry is given a thin coat of fondant. Over several days the fondant dissolves in the cherry juice to form a syrup. Bought patisserie fondant is good quality and inexpensive, so only make your own if you want to experience how it is made.
Chocolate Dipped Cherry Recipe
Ingredients:
- Soaked cherries
- Icing or powdered sugar
- Fondant
- Couverture chocolate
- Chocolate hundreds and thousands or sprinkles
Method
- Drain the cherries well on absorbent cloth or paper and pat them dry. (The leftover juice can be used for drinks or reused to soak more cherries.)
- Roll out the fondant to 5 mm thick using powdered sugar to prevent it from sticking. Using a small cutter, make enough fondant discs big enough to cover the cherries.
- Dust your hands with icing sugar and place a cherry in the centre of a disc. Fold the fondant edges up and around the cherry until it is neatly covered.
- Cover the cherries with clingfilm and place in the fridge for an hour to firm.
- Temper your chocolate ready for dipping.
- Prepare a tray with baking parchment.
- Pour a thick layer of chocolate sprinkles onto a saucer.
- Allow the cherries to come up to room temperature.
- Holding each cherry by the stalk, dip it in the chocolate.
- Drain and place each cherry in the sprinkles to cover the base.
- Transfer the cherries to the parchment paper and allow them to harden overnight.
- Cherries are best stored in plastic boxes with a layer of parchment paper in between.
Customization Ideas:
Dark chocolate is the traditional choice for a chocolate dipped cherry recipe. With less sugar, the bitterness contrasts well with the syrup. However, some enjoy the sweetness of milk or white chocolate as a variation.
Customise the chocolate sprinkles for contrast. Use white sprinkles on the base of dark chocolate cherries and vice versa.
Double-dip each cherry for extra bite. Use dark chocolate first and then finish with milk chocolate.
Final Tips for Success:
- Keep the fondant-coated cherries covered with cling film and dip them as soon as possible. The fondant attracts moisture from the air and soon liquifies.
- The cherries must come up to room temperature before dipping. If they are too cold, the temper of the chocolate will be affected.
- As each cherry chocolate sets the base of the chocolate may become too thin, causing the syrup to leak. Strengthen the base using chocolate hundreds and thousands or sprinkles, which also improves the presentation.
- After about a week of storage, the remaining syrup and alcohol from the soaked cherry leaches out and dissolves the fondant to create a delicious, Kirsch-flavoured syrup.
