For those of you who wanted to know how to make cherry cordials, but were afraid to ask, here's my technique. The bourbon can be very easily omitted altogether for a cordial with much less of a punch! And it looks a lot more complicated than it is.
I'll warn you, though: If you do ever make these and hand them out as gifts or serve at parties, you'll be constantly begged to bring them over and over again... And, yes, these will get your attention.
Bourbon-Soaked Chocolate-Covered Cherries
About 100-125 medium long-stemmed cherries
About a cup of really good bourbon
Fondant (recipe below)
1 pound of tempered dark chocolate
Drain long-stemmed pitted cherries and dry them well on paper towels. Then place them stem-side up in a Tupperware container and cover the cherries with bourbon. Allow them to soak at least 24 hours, but the more you soak, the “merrier”…
Remove the cherries and set aside to drain well on paper towels and reserve the bourbon (it is cherry-flavored, though).
Fondant
1 ½ cups water
1/3 cup light corn syrup
4 cups granulated sugar
pinch of salt
Set aside a 9”x13” glass baking pan.
In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup sugar and salt. Place over high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes to a full boil. Clip on your calibrated candy thermometer and cook, without stirring, until the mix reaches 240 degrees F. (soft-ball stage).
Remove from heat and, without stirring or scraping the pan, pour the fondant into the baking pan. Leave it alone to cool to room temperature (about 6 hours).
When the bottom of the pan is no longer warm, begin stirring the fondant with a wooden spoon. This will be a slight workout, as the mixture eventually (after about 10 minutes) begins to turn white and thicken. Continue until the fondant becomes creamy white and firm, usually about 15-20 minutes.
Gather the fondant up into a ball and wrap in several layers of plastic wrap and allow it to rest 45 minutes or so to soften, or place into a heavy-duty Ziploc and allow to rest on the counter at room temperature overnight. (It will also store for weeks in the fridge, and practically until the end of time in the freezer...)
This makes enough centers for about 125 chocolates.
To make the cherries…
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. (This will hold the dipped chocolates.)
Divide the fondant in half and place half in the top of a double boiler. Over medium heat, melt the fondant, stirring gently with a wooden spoon. Add about ¼ cup of your reserved bourbon and stir gently to incorporate. Clip on your candy thermometer and bring the fondant up to 150 degrees F. (It will be necessary to repeat this stage with the remaining fondant to complete the rest of the cherries.)
Using one cherry at a time, dip the cherry into the fondant, allowing the fondant to come almost to the top of the cherry, but not all the way to the stem. Set aside on waxed paper to harden.
While those are drying, it’s time to temper the chocolate…
Chop chocolate blocks into small pieces or use chocolate wafers.
Fill bottom of double boiler so the hot water does not touch the bottom of the upper pan. Do not let the water boil. Stir the chocolate while melting to ensure even heating. Try to avoid creating air bubbles. Heat chocolate to 120 F. to 122 F.
Replace the hot water with 70 F. water, no cooler. Stir until the chocolate cools to between 79 F. and 80 F. It may occasionally be necessary to add additional cool water to the bottom of the double boiler.
Now replace the 70 F. water with warm water (about 92 F. to 93 F.) and raise the temperature of the chocolate to between 88 F. and 89 F. for dark chocolate or 84 F. to 86 F. for milk chocolate or white cocoa butter coating (white chocolate). Maintain the appropriate temperature while dipping. If the chocolate exceeds 90 F., it will be necessary to repeat the tempering process.
Once all the cherries have been dipped and the fondant is hardened around them, using one cherry at a time, dip each cherry into the melted chocolate and be sure to completely cover the cherry – all the way to the stem – to completely encase the fondant. Set aside on waxed paper to harden.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature. The cherries will need to “cure” for about two weeks for the centers to completely liquefy. Of course, test-tasting along the way…just to be sure…is always recommended.
I'll warn you, though: If you do ever make these and hand them out as gifts or serve at parties, you'll be constantly begged to bring them over and over again... And, yes, these will get your attention.
Bourbon-Soaked Chocolate-Covered Cherries
About 100-125 medium long-stemmed cherries
About a cup of really good bourbon
Fondant (recipe below)
1 pound of tempered dark chocolate
Drain long-stemmed pitted cherries and dry them well on paper towels. Then place them stem-side up in a Tupperware container and cover the cherries with bourbon. Allow them to soak at least 24 hours, but the more you soak, the “merrier”…
Remove the cherries and set aside to drain well on paper towels and reserve the bourbon (it is cherry-flavored, though).
Fondant
1 ½ cups water
1/3 cup light corn syrup
4 cups granulated sugar
pinch of salt
Set aside a 9”x13” glass baking pan.
In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup sugar and salt. Place over high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes to a full boil. Clip on your calibrated candy thermometer and cook, without stirring, until the mix reaches 240 degrees F. (soft-ball stage).
Remove from heat and, without stirring or scraping the pan, pour the fondant into the baking pan. Leave it alone to cool to room temperature (about 6 hours).
When the bottom of the pan is no longer warm, begin stirring the fondant with a wooden spoon. This will be a slight workout, as the mixture eventually (after about 10 minutes) begins to turn white and thicken. Continue until the fondant becomes creamy white and firm, usually about 15-20 minutes.
Gather the fondant up into a ball and wrap in several layers of plastic wrap and allow it to rest 45 minutes or so to soften, or place into a heavy-duty Ziploc and allow to rest on the counter at room temperature overnight. (It will also store for weeks in the fridge, and practically until the end of time in the freezer...)
This makes enough centers for about 125 chocolates.
To make the cherries…
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. (This will hold the dipped chocolates.)
Divide the fondant in half and place half in the top of a double boiler. Over medium heat, melt the fondant, stirring gently with a wooden spoon. Add about ¼ cup of your reserved bourbon and stir gently to incorporate. Clip on your candy thermometer and bring the fondant up to 150 degrees F. (It will be necessary to repeat this stage with the remaining fondant to complete the rest of the cherries.)
Using one cherry at a time, dip the cherry into the fondant, allowing the fondant to come almost to the top of the cherry, but not all the way to the stem. Set aside on waxed paper to harden.
While those are drying, it’s time to temper the chocolate…
Chop chocolate blocks into small pieces or use chocolate wafers.
Fill bottom of double boiler so the hot water does not touch the bottom of the upper pan. Do not let the water boil. Stir the chocolate while melting to ensure even heating. Try to avoid creating air bubbles. Heat chocolate to 120 F. to 122 F.
Replace the hot water with 70 F. water, no cooler. Stir until the chocolate cools to between 79 F. and 80 F. It may occasionally be necessary to add additional cool water to the bottom of the double boiler.
Now replace the 70 F. water with warm water (about 92 F. to 93 F.) and raise the temperature of the chocolate to between 88 F. and 89 F. for dark chocolate or 84 F. to 86 F. for milk chocolate or white cocoa butter coating (white chocolate). Maintain the appropriate temperature while dipping. If the chocolate exceeds 90 F., it will be necessary to repeat the tempering process.
Once all the cherries have been dipped and the fondant is hardened around them, using one cherry at a time, dip each cherry into the melted chocolate and be sure to completely cover the cherry – all the way to the stem – to completely encase the fondant. Set aside on waxed paper to harden.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature. The cherries will need to “cure” for about two weeks for the centers to completely liquefy. Of course, test-tasting along the way…just to be sure…is always recommended.
