I have a Christmas Secret.  I’m revealing it to you, my followers since I know you won’t tell. I’m making a gift for my secret Santa this year. Let me show you how to make homemade chocolate covered cherries.

Why Chocolate Covered Cherries?

I have drawn my mother-in-laws name for our secret Santa Christmas.  Now this is indeed a big secret because my husband’s family takes figuring out who has whom as a challenge.  So, here is where I will find out if any of them have found my blog yet.

Why homemade chocolate covered cherries? From previous years experience, I know that my mother-in-law loves my homemade chocolate covered cherries. So naturally, a part of her gift will be two dozen of these time consuming treats.  Shh…she has no idea.

How to Make Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries

Here is how these tasty time consumers are made. 

Fondant

First mix your fondant. The fondant is this pasty/doughy white stuff that you will wrap around your cherries. It’s also the part that turns into a clear and liquid as your cherries sit.

My recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons of melted butter and corn syrup. Then I simply add two cups of powdered sugar.  It will form into a thick fondant.

This needs to be chilled for an hour in the refrigerator so it is easier to work with. Trust me, you do not want to skip this step!

Prepping Your Cherries

While your fondant is chilling open up your maraschino cherries and drain them. You want to drain them as much as possible. It is much easier to wrap fondant around a dry cherry.

Next lay them out on paper towel or I like to use reusable paper towels.  Try to get as much juice off of them as possible.

I often opt to switch them to a second paper towel after a bit just so I can get more of the juice off of them.

I had two jars of maraschino cherries. This will end up being about 60 chocolate covered cherries in the end.

Wrapping Your Cherries In Fondant

Once your fondant is more firm, grab your dried off cherries. 

Take about a teaspoon of fondant and smash it flat in the palm of your hand. Honestly, I love the fondant when it turns to liquid the best so I put more than most people around my cherries. Do what you crave the most when it comes to flavors.

Place the cherry in the center and wrap the fondant gently but securely around the cherry. Be sure to fully coat the cherry.

Lay them on a baking sheet and place them in the refrigerator to firm up again.

I like to leave mine in the fridge for at least an hour so I know they are firm again. You could leave them overnight even if you wanted to.

As a helpful note, if you do not wait long enough the fondant will turn mushy and start to melt and pull away from the cherry when you are dipping them in the chocolate. This is really hard to deal with. If you find this happening to you as you start dipping try to leave your fondant covered cherries in the fridge as long as possible until you are ready to dip them.

Dipping In Chocolate

Finally grab some coating chocolate. This is also called a dipping chocolate.  Melt a few squares and stir it well to ensure you have no chunks. 

With a fork, dip the fondant covered cherries into the chocolate and coat them well. I tend to roll mine a bit to make sure that all sides are covered.

Tap your fork on the bowl edge to help tap free any excess chocolate. Place coated cherries back on the baking sheet but be sure to lay down wax paper under them.  Put them in the refrigerator and let them sit over night or for a few hours until the chocolate has set.

Seal Any Holes

Finally go over each one and use a bit more chocolate to close any holes. I like to use a tooth pick for this so that I can dab just enough over the hole and not make a big blob of chocolate on the final product.  

Be sure to check the BOTTOMS of your cherries. 

Place them in a mid temperature place, ours is the top of our refrigerator, for the next two weeks. The fondant will turn liquid as it sits. 

Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a time consuming task to take on. The flavors of homemade chocolate covered cherries do not compare to the store bought ones though for sure.

I hope you are able to find some time to make a batch of these delicious goodies to add to your holiday platter this year.

Happy Homesteading!

What secret Christmas gift are you working on for others this year?

The Recipe:

• Maraschino cherries
• 3 Tablespoons of softened butter
• 3 Tablespoons of light corn syrup
• 2 cups of sifted Powdered Sugar
• 1 pound of dipping chocolate

To make these delicious treats pleas follow the guidelines above. Enjoy!