Recipe

Chocolate cherry cordials

Photo by Kayb

This recipe was entered in the contest for The Best Recipe or Technique Your Mother Taught You
Chef
Kayb's Notes: I wasn't going to enter another one, but I got to thinking about these chocolate cherry cordials, and, well, I couldn't resist. The sugar coating around the cherries liquefies somewhat, but...
I wasn't going to enter another one, but I got to thinking about these chocolate cherry cordials, and, well, I couldn't resist. The sugar coating around the cherries liquefies somewhat, but is contained by the hard chocolate shell, if you can stand to wait 24 to 48 hours before eating these. They were a standard in the Christmas goodie baskets Mama always made for all the elderly folk at church.

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1 large jar maraschino cherries, drained, juice reserved Ask a question about this ingredient

Use enough reserved cherry juice to make a thick paste with the confectioner's sugar. Paste should be thick enough to form a soft ball when rolled in your hands, but will flatten slightly when the ball is put down.
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Chop or grate chocolate and melt in double boiler. When melted, remove from heat and stir in paraffin. When paraffin melts, return to heat and turn heat low enough to just keep chocolate liquid.
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Take about a tablespoon of sugar paste and form into a ball; make a hole in it with your thumb and insert a cherry. Roll between your palms so sugar covers cherry.
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Spear sugar-covered cherry with a toothpick, dip in chocolate, and set on waxed paper. Remove toothpicks when chocolate hardens a bit, and use one to dab a little chocolate over each toothpick hole to seal it.
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Residual liquid in the cherries will cause the sugar coating to liquefy inside the chocolate in about 12 to 24 hours.
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