Chocolate Cherry Candies Recipes

Steps:

• Beat peanut butter, butter and confectioners' sugar until crumbly. Stir in walnuts, coconut, cherries and cherry juice. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour. Shape rounded teaspoonfuls of filling into balls. Freeze 10 minutes. , In a microwave or heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip balls in chocolate, allowing excess to drip off; place on waxed paper. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm. Freeze option: Freeze candy in freezer containers, separating layers with waxed paper. To use, serve frozen or thaw in refrigerator before serving.

Steps:

• Drain cherries and set on paper towels to dry.
• In a medium bowl, combine butter and corn syrup until smooth. Stir in confectioners' sugar and knead to form a dough. Chill to stiffen if necessary. Wrap each cherry in about 1 teaspoon of dough. Chill until firm.
• Melt confectioners' coating in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Dip each cherry in by its stem, and place on waxed paper lined sheets. Chill until completely set. Store in an airtight container in a cool place. Best after 1 or 2 weeks.

Steps:

• Place the dried cherries in a coating pan attached to a stand mixer. Spin at low speed. Using a ladle, add the chocolate to the spinning cherries. Add one ladleful at a time until the cherries are coated to the desired thickness. (Use a 50/50 ratio (50 percent chocolate, 50 percent weight of the cherries.) If a thicker coat is desired, use more chocolate and vice versa.
• How to Temper Chocolate(From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make At Home by Jacques Torres):
• Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.
• One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.
• Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.
• The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.
• A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mix together confectioner's sugar, margarine, milk and almond extract.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead the mixture into a large ball. Roll into 1 inch balls. Flatten the balls into 2 inch circles. Leaving the stems sticking out, wrap the cherries in the circles by lightly rolling in hands. Place the wrapped cherries on wax paper and chill in the refrigerator at least 4 hours.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt chocolate chips and shortening. Holding by the stem, dip the chilled cherries into the chocolate chip mixture. Chill until serving.

Steps:

• LINE baking sheets with wax paper.
• MICROWAVE chocolate in large, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 45 seconds; STIR. If pieces retain some of their original shape, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until melted. Stir in pretzels, cherries and almonds until well coated. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared trays. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Store in airtight container at room temperature.
• NOTE: Coarsely chopped dried apricots or sweetened dry cranberries can be substituted for the dried cherries.

Steps:

• Melt chocolate and milk over low heat.
• Remove from heat.
• Stir in powdered sugar, nuts and cherries, mix well.
• Chill until cool enough to handle.
• Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in nuts or coconut.
• Chill at least 4 hours.
• Keep chilled.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine butter, powdered sugar, maraschino cherries, peanut butter, walnuts, coconut, and salt; shape into 1-inch balls.
• In the top of a double boiler over hot water, melt chocolate chips and paraffin wax.
• Insert a toothpick into each ball; dip into chocolate mixture to coat exterior.
• Place onto wax paper to set. Use another toothpick to push ball from inserted toothpick.
• If a hole remains where toothpick was inserted, add a small amount of chocolate coating to cover.