Makes 50 pieces
There is something special about cherry cordials: all of that delicious syrup waiting to be released when you bite through the chocolate. The most difficult part of making cordials is the patience required to allow the fondant time to liquefy before you eat them all.
Ingredients
- 50 Maraschino cherries, stems on, drained
- 24 oz (2 cups) prepared poured fondant (not rolled)
- 1/4 teaspoon Invertase (see note)
- Water or brandy, for thinning fondant, as needed
- 1 lb dark chocolate, melted, tempered, or dark compound coating, melted
Directions
- Dry the cherries thoroughly on a towel. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and sprinkle it lightly with confectioners’ sugar.
- Heat the fondant over a water bath to 160°F.
- Remove the fondant from the heat and add the invertase. Stir in well.
- Holding them by the stems, dip the cherries one at a time in the fondant nearly to the top of the cherry. If the fondant becomes too thick to dip the cherries, thin it using the water or brandy. If the fondant will not stick to the cherries, dry them more thoroughly.
- Place each cherry on the prepared sheet pan. Make sure the cherries are upright when you put them down. Allow the cherries to cool until the fondant hardens, about 10 minutes. (Be certain to dip the cherries in chocolate the same day they are coated with the fondant.)
- Holding the cooled, fondant-coated cherries by the stem, dip them one at a time in the tempered chocolate all the way up to the stem to completely enrobe them in chocolate.
- Place the chocolate-dipped cherries on clean parchment.
- When the chocolate has set, transfer the cherries to a sealed container.
- Leave the cherries at room temperature in the sealed container for 10 days to allow the fondant time to dissolve from the action of the enzyme.
Note: Invertase is available at candy making supply stores and Web sites.
