Reviewed: Dec. 22, 2004

Living in Saudi Arabia you can’t find chocolate covered cherries so when my father was visiting – I tried making these. They are time consuming and you need to allow at least a week to allow them to age but so worth the effort! Here are my best pointers: 1) drain and blot dry the cherries, then freeze them on cookie sheets. 2) Divide the fondant into four equal pieces and then after lightly dusting it, roll it onto an arm’s length piece of wax paper that you will fold in half. Then turn the fondant over and dust it on the other side so that it won’t stick and place between the two sheets of waxed paper. Stack the layers in the fridge. 3) Take out 10 – 20 cherries from the freezer and use a 2” biscuit cutter to get the right amount of fondant. MAKE SURE THE CHERRY IS SEALED WELL and then freeze the fondant rolled cherries overnight. 4) When you are ready to dip them, take them out 10 – 20 at a time use a good quality semi sweet chocolate. (Candy dipping tools makes it easier although I've used chopsticks before I had those...) Place in the freezer for 15 minutes and then paint the bottom with chocolate again to seal in the fondant. You might need to “repair” other places that were not covered by the chocolate to keep the cherries from oozing. I then allow them to freeze overnight and then place them on the counter under saran for 1 week after giving my family the “don’t you dare touch them” look. I will redip them after the week to make them look fresh.

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PREGOCOOK

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Denver, Colorado, USA

Living In: Dhahran, Ash Sharqiyah, Saudi Arabia

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Reviewed: Aug. 25, 2004

Time consuming work, but you won't be disappointed. They look like what you buy in the store, but more yummy!

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Laura

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Reviewed: Feb. 22, 2004

Very good and easy to do!

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STARLT12

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

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Reviewed: Jan. 9, 2004

INCREDIBLE! I followed the instructions exactly (although I needed extra chocolate for dipping) and then froze the leftover fondant for the next time I crave this treat. My brother-in-law is a trained chef and he was even impressed!

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Chocolate Moose

Cooking Level: Intermediate

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Reviewed: Dec. 22, 2003

This is the best! I have made about 8 dozen cherries this year off one recipe of this fondant! I agree with the other reviewers that spraying your hands with cooking spray helps tremendously! I use the butter flavor...it adds more to the recipe I think! Also it's easy to make a jar and freeze them until your ready to dip. I hope you and your family enjoys this recipe as much as my family does! Merry Christmas!

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BOBBIEMT

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Reviewed: Dec. 20, 2003

I really really really wanted to love these. I was excited about making my Mother chocolate covered cherries for part of her Christmas present, they are her favorite. Perhaps I can try these again and tweak them a bit, I think perhaps if I got less fondant on the cherries they would turn out better. I have had mine sitting for two weeks and they are nice and gooey in the very center only, it was just hard to get less fondant on the cherries. And it took a LOT more chocolate to coat than the recipe calls for, I might try again. They turned out very pretty.

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RACHAEL

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Living In: Palm Springs, California, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2003

Absolutely amazing. I halved the recipe for the dough and had just enough to cover all of the cherries! DEFINITELY keep spraying your hands with Pam or something while you're wrapping the cherries. After about seven cherries, I had to stop, run warm water over my hands and spray them before doing more. That may seem time consuming, but in the long run, it's quicker, because the dough goes on with very little trouble. I put the wrapped cherries in the freezer for two days. I used a ton of chocolate to coat them. I mixed chocolates, too. I started with chocolate bark, eventually combined it with semi-sweet choco chips, and ended with semi-sweet and milk choco mixed together--turned out wonderfully! My brother was rendered speechless for about thirty seconds after eating the first one. And if you know my brother, you know that's a miracle;)

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LED

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Reviewed: Dec. 13, 2003

I am giving this recipe 3 stars because if the time it takes. It is a rather involved candy. I don't know if I did something wrong but it took me 3 bags of chocolate to coat the cherries. Now for the good part, they taste great, look like a million and I will make again. My Husband thinks they taste wonderful. Give yourself enough time and work in a cool enviroment and enjoy.

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NICKI61

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Wolcott, New York, USA

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Reviewed: Dec. 11, 2003

I made these tonight and they are excellent. Only thing I should of done before is to read the reviews, because I should of halved the dough part of it. I have a lot of that left and no cherries and no chocolate. It does take time to wrap the cherries but it is worth it. My husband already hid them so no one else can find them. LOL

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DIANEMAUER

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Reviewed: Dec. 10, 2003

FIRST AND FOREMOST THESE ARE EXCELLENT!!!! BUT, I SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED ANOTHER REVIEWERS RECOMENDATION TO CUT THE RECIPE DOWN TO 1/4 OF WHAT IT IS WRITTEN. I HAVE ENOUGH FONDANT TO CIRCLE THE WORLD!!! I AM SICK OF WRAPPING THE CHERRIES BUT MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY WILL NOT LET ME STOP UNTIL I AM ALL DONE!!!! EXCELLENT CHRISTMAS GIFT!!!!!

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SUEMAMA

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Reviewed: Dec. 2, 2003

I didn't like the condensed milk taste with the cherries. When I make these now, I just use about 1/2 cup butter, melted, with about 1 - 2 teaspoons of almond extract (instead of vanilla) stirred into the butter, then and enough confectioner's sugar to make the 'dough' shapeable. I usually let them sit for three days for the inside to 'set'.

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Wilemon

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Afton, Virginia, USA

Living In: Larkspur, Colorado, USA

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Reviewed: Nov. 20, 2003

These are awesome little treats. Suggestions: cut the dough recipe into a fourth of what it is for the same amount of cherries. I had sooo much left over. Soak cherries in brandy overnight for a zing. Use dried cherries and fresh cherries for something different, they are all good! Use ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips for an expensive taste :)

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DEVINEJ

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Reviewed: Nov. 11, 2003

Fantastic recipe. Be sure to keep the dough thin around the cherries. Othewise you end up with very large, super-sweet cherry cordials. I also suggest chololate bark or candy melts in place of chocolate chips and shortening. Definately freeze the cherries prior to dipping. Everyone will love them.

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CAROLYNN SISNEROS

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

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Reviewed: May 7, 2003

It takes some time to make these, but is well worth the effort! I make them every year for Christmas!

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saraholiviajane

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Reviewed: May 2, 2003

These cherries are really good. I used the ones with stems as they were easier to dip. They do make huge candies, though, and I wound up with more fondant than cherries. Next time I will buy twice as many cherries & not put so much fondant around each cherry to make them smaller. My father's comment was, "I think I will try one of these chocolate covered pears!" I also used dark chocolate Wilton candy melts to dip the cherries in. There were definately a big hit.

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Jennifer

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Grand Junction, Colorado, USA

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Reviewed: Mar. 13, 2003

PROS: Tastes like store bought. Makes very large candies. Flavors meld nicely when stored for a week and the centers turn runny. Yum! CONS: Very time consuming...altho, I used chocolate flavored almond bark for the coating which saved some time.

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TRISH0

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Reviewed: Feb. 2, 2003

WOWOW! Awesome recipe! I drained my cherries and soaked them in brandy for 1 wk, drained them again and lay them on paper towels while I wrapped them in the dough. It is easier to dip them in the chocolate if you freeze them solid and just pick them up by poking them with a tooth pick, after the cherry is covered just use a spoon to pop it off and drizzle a little chocolate on top to cover the hole. Letting them sit will liquify the dough...YUMMY!! ;-)

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VONNA ANN

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Reviewed: Jan. 2, 2003

This is a great recipe, but I combined it with another one that I found so I'll let you know my helpful tips. I used the maraschino cherries that have the stems still on them, it made it so easy to dip them in chocolate. Plus people will know that they are homemade. You use less chocolate this way as well. I still used slightly more chocolate than the recipe called for, but not much more as you can shake them off a little bit by holding onto the stem and spinning them. I also soaked my cherries in Taylor's Port for a couple of days before hand. This makes them a delicacy. The alchohol combines with the fondant that you wrap around the cherries and makes a great cordial. It also cuts down on the extreme sweetness of the fondant. This recipe would not have been as good without it. I wrapped my cherries in the fondant and then froze them on a cookie sheet for a couple of days before dipping them, that way they were good and hard. I had no trouble with them melting. To wrap the fondant around the cherries with out it sticking to your fingers, it is best to spray your hands with nonstick spray several times throughout the process. It is also good to blot the excess moisture off the cherries with a paper towel after draining them from the Port. I tried dusting my hands with powdered sugar too, and that didn't work as well as the spray. After these were cooled, I arranged them in little foil cups like miniature cupcake cups and placed them in Candy boxes that you can

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SMCATEE

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Reviewed: Dec. 30, 2002

These are time consuming, but AWESOME! My husband has always liked chocolate covered cherries so I decided to try these, YUM! I may not be a skilled dipper, but I used twice as much of the chocolate sauce for dipping.

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