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Last Updated on March 1, 2025 by becky
A chocolate covered cherries recipe featuring bright red maraschino cherries wrapped in sweet fondant and enrobed in milk or chocolate. These homemade cherry cordials look and taste just like the store-bought kind sold in drugstores for Valentine’s Day!
Why Make This Chocolate Covered Cherries Recipe?
Valentine’s Day boasts some of the absolute best seasonal candy, perhaps second only to Easter. (Cadbury mini eggs are really hard to beat!) Between conversation hearts, chocolate truffles, and foil-wrapped chocolate roses, Valentine’s Day candy offers something for every sweet tooth. It’s also one of my favorite holidays for developing themed recipes: white chocolate Valentine’s Day bark, heart-shaped marshmallows, pink rose truffles…I love it all.
Wrapped in sweet fondant and enrobed in a layer of chocolate, chocolate covered cherries (a.k.a. cherry cordials) are the quintessential Valentine’s Day treat. With a bright, tart cherry surrounded by gooey, liquid-y fondant and a crisp chocolate shell, I always look forward to seeing boxes of cherry cordials appear on the shelves at drugstores and supermarkets a few weeks before Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate covered cherries look deceptively complicated, but they’re actually quite simple to make at home. To make homemade chocolate covered cherries, just create a fondant dough by kneading together a few basic ingredients. Wrap the fondant around store-bought maraschino cherries, then dip in melted chocolate. The hardest part? Waiting for the cherry centers to mature for at least one week before taking a bite!
Ingredients for Making Chocolate Covered Cherries
To make homemade chocolate cherries, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Maraschino Cherries – This recipe makes approximately 25-30 chocolate covered cherries, and you’ll need 1 cherry for each. Make sure you’re choosing maraschino cherries (usually sold in a glass jar, in liquid) not sticky glacé cherries. Fresh cherries will not work for this recipe.
- Confectioner’s Sugar – Confectioner’s sugar (also called icing sugar or powdered sugar) makes the fondant base.
- Light Corn Syrup – You’ll need light corn syrup (I prefer the Golden Barrel brand), light Karo syrup, or liquid glucose to make the sticky fondant.
- Unsalted Butter – Softening the butter makes it easier to work it into the fondant dough.
- Vanilla Extract – Vanilla extract flavors the homemade fondant. You can use more vanilla extract, substitute vanilla bean paste, or add a small amount of the maraschino cherry liquid for a more pronounced cherry flavor.
- Chocolate – Choose a good-quality milk or dark chocolate couverture, for enrobing the fondant centers. You can also use coating wafers or candy melts. See my notes on chocolate below.
Notes on Tempered Chocolate
In simplified terms, tempering describes the process of heating and cooling chocolate couverture to specific temperatures, producing chocolate with a signature shine and snap. There are numerous methods for tempering chocolate, including seeding, tabling, and direct tempering. Tempering requires time and patience; it can be complex and difficult to master.
You can find tempering tutorials online, such as this one by Callebaut, and this one by Valhrona. It’s also worth checking to see if your chocolate manufacturer or supplier offers a temperature guide for their particular product.
(If you really want to hone your tempering skills, I’d highly suggest enrolling in a course with Ecole Chocolat. Their Professional Chocolatier Program definitely provided me with a solid foundation for chocolatework. I wrote a detailed post about my experience studying with Ecole Chocolat, which you can find here.)
What is the Best Chocolate for this Chocolate Covered Cherry Recipe?
I enrobed my cocolate covered cherries in Callebaut 33.6% Belgian milk chocolate. Valrhona Jivara 40% is another favorite. Dark chocolate (such as Callebaut 54.5% dark, or Valrhona Manjari 64%) will also work. I don’t recommend white chocolate, which is naturally quite sweet—white chocolate plus sugary fondant will produce a cloyingly sweet candy.
Whichever chocolate you choose, it’s worth splurging on a good-quality chocolate couverture. This recipe does not work well with chocolate chips, which are not suitable for tempering.
Alternatives for Coating Chocolate Covered Cherries
If you aren’t familiar with tempering, you can by a range of other names such as melting chocolate, melting wafers, confectionery coating, candy wafers, or dipping chocolate) is pre-tempered and will allow you to enrobe your cherries without tempering.
Tips and Tricks for Making Homemade Chocolate Covered Cherries
Dry the cherries. Drain the maraschino cherries by passing through a fine mesh strainer, then arrange on a paper towel (sheet of kitchen roll) to dry. It will prove difficult to wrap the fondant around the cherries if the fruit is too wet.
Check for breaks. After enrobing the fondant centers, take a moment to scan for breaks or holes in the chocolate. The fondant centers must be completely coated, or the cherries will leak as the centers mature and liquefy.
Flavor the fondant. Use more vanilla extract, use vanilla bean paste, or a touch of cherry extract. Or, for a stronger cherry taste, mix in 1/4 – 1 teaspoon of the maraschino cherry juice.
Start early. It’s important to plan ahead if making these chocolate covered cherries for Valentine’s Day. The coated cherries must rest for 1-2 weeks before serving, allowing the fondant around the cherry to liquefy and creating the signature texture of a chocolate covered cherry.
Use an enrobing fork. While an enrobing fork isn’t an absolute requirement for this recipe, it will make dipping the centers easier and will also allow you to create fun decorations in your chocolates. If you don’t have an enrobing fork, you can use a regular fork to dip the centers instead.
Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions
It’s important to start ASAP if planning to gift these for Valentine’s Day. Chocolate covered cherries taste best if allowed to rest at room temperature for a minimum of one week (and ideally longer!) prior to serving. This resting time allows the fondant around the cherry to liquefy, creating the cherry cordial’s gooey signature center.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
Other Valentine’s Day candy recipes you might enjoy:
Heart-Shaped Strawberry Marshmallows
Raspberry and Rose Hot Chocolate
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles
Rose Truffles
Sparkling Rosé Truffles
Rosewater Marshmallows
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, be sure to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
PrintChocolate Covered Cherries
A chocolate covered cherries recipe featuring maraschino cherries wrapped in fondant and enrobed in chocolate. The best homemade cherry cordials!
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Resting Time: 1-2 weeks
- Total Time: 1 hour (+ resting time)
- Yield: 25-30 cherry cordials
- Category: Chocolate
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Sweets
Ingredients
25-30 maraschino cherries, pitted and with stems removed
135 grams confectioner’s sugar (1 cup)
35 grams light corn syrup or liquid glucose (about 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)
20 grams unsalted butter, softened (about 3/4 ounce, or 4 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, or to taste
Good-quality milk or dark chocolate couverture, for enrobing
Instructions
Line a large baking tray with parchment, wax paper, or a silicone mat. Set aside.
Drain the cherries and remove the stems. Arrange on a paper towel and set aside to try while you prepare the filling.
In a small bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla extract. With gloved hands, knead until a soft dough forms.
With a melon baller or small cookie scoop, portion the fondant dough into small mounds. You should have 1 mound for each cherry.
Wrap 1 fondant mound around each of the drained cherries. Arrange on prepared tray.
Freeze 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt or temper the chocolate coating. (See notes on tempering in the post above).
With an enrobing fork or kitchen fork, dip fondant-wrapped cherries in melted chocolate, completely covering the fondant. (Make sure there are no breaks or holes in the chocolate, or the fondant will leak as it liquefies.)
Return to prepared tray. Decorate with an enrobing fork, drizzle with additional melted chocolate, or scatter with Valentine’s Day sprinkles.
Arrange chocolate covered cherries in a single layer in an airtight container, or place on a tray and cover tightly with clingfilm/plastic wrap. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 1 week to allow the fondant centers to liquefy.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
Notes
For a stronger cherry taste, substitute 1/4 – 1 teaspoon of the maraschino cherry juice instead.
It’s important to start early if making these for Valentine’s Day; the candies need to rest for 1-2 weeks to allow the fondant around the cherry to liquefy, creating the signature texture of a chocolate covered cherry.
An enrobing fork isn’t an absolute requirement for this recipe, but it will make dipping easier and allow you to create fun decorations in your chocolates. If you don’t have one, you can use a regular fork to dip your chocolates instead.
These turned out perfect! Great recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. It’s one of my personal favorites!