How to Make Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries

One of my most vivid childhood memories is the year my grandmother gave me my very own box of chocolate covered cherries. They were packaged with two trays of candy and each delectable morsel was precisely positioned in its very own hole. I was a mere eight years old and I'm pretty certain that was the day I officially became a chocoholic.

Up until I was in my mid-30s, I didn't even know more than one kind of chocolate covered cherry existed. Believe it or not, I was so naïve that I thought only one company manufactured them and that they only came with liquid centers. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that chocolate covered cherries came in a multitude of varieties and flavors.

It happened about 15 years ago, when I met a woman who made all kinds of homemade candy. Her house was always filled with the scent of chocolate and other candy flavorings. She was like a mad-scientist, trying to see how far she could go with her candy designs. If you've ever seen "Ace of Cakes" on the Food Network, you have an idea of the type of work she performed. Her creativity was amazing.

I was fortunate enough to learn some of her chocolate-making tricks, but the one I was most excited about was learning how to make chocolate covered cherries. Since that time, I have experimented with various types of chocolate covered cherries. I've made molded chocolate covered cherries, fondant wrapped cherries, cherries with liqueur centers, and dried cherries dipped in chocolate.

I've soaked cherries in bourbon, rum and whiskey. I've added red chili pepper seasoning to the fondant and the chocolate. I've rolled chocolate covered cherries in chocolate covered coffee beans. I even attempted to create the world's first margarita-flavored chocolate covered cherries, but so far that recipe hasn't worked out too well. There's nothing I won't try when it comes to chocolate covered cherries, but many things I wish I hadn't.