Author Notes
Christmas week was always at Gran and Pa's house. We would all be there, with my uncles and cousins, playing cards and games, and oh yeah, eating. Mom and I would spend several days cooking candies and cookies to take with us. Everyone had their favorite. We would go through pounds and pounds of chocolate and temper it with wax.
Nowadays, there are great quality chocolate candy making supplies, so you don't need the wax, but I do recommend a "double boiler"...even if it is a pyrex measuring bowl over a small saucepan (which is my favorite!)
This recipe is nothing like those gooey, slimy cherries that come in the boxes at the Holidays. If you can't get really ripe cherries, then feel free to use the jarred marchino kind, they are a pretty red. —lorigoldsby
Ingredients
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1 pound
confectioner's sugar
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8 tablespoons
butter
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1-2 tablespoons
whole milk or half n half or cream
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2
jars of marschino cherries or 36 ripe cherries, pitted
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8 ounces
chocolate candy dipping bar
Directions
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Drain cherries on paper toweling for 1-2 hours or overnight. It is important that they are dry so the filling will adhere. LEAVE STEMS INTACT!
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Cream together the butter and sugar, adding milk as necessary.
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roll into small balls, then flatten and shape around the cherries, LEAVING THE STEM EXPOSED.
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Dip into the melted chocolate. If your cherry does not have a stem, you can insert a bamboo skewer through the pitted hole. Place on wax paper to set. Store in an airtight container or tin.
I learned to cook with my Gran. I can still see her reading a recipe and figuring out how she would make it better. She was fearless about substituting ingredients--but also knowledgeable. She approached food in the same way she built her antique business--appreciate quality ingredients and workmanship, but don't be a snob. I think I carry those same beliefs in my approach to cooking. I love family style dinners, I love a fancy ladies' luncheon with my wedding china, or a backyard seafood boil to celebrate my husband's birthday...I love to share food with others.
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