Beginner Chocolate Candy Maker

 

Beginner Chocolate Candy Maker

Let me preface by saying I watched a ton of videos on making chocolate covered cherries. Rather than starting with chocolate truffles I decided to start with chocolate covered cherries. Last night I opened a jar of tart cherries without stems. The cherries were not very firm and some were broken up. I didn't want to waste any cherries so I decided to proceed. I drained the cherries. Next I dredged the cherries in powdered sugar but they didn't get coated very well. I continued none the less. I decided to refrigerate the cherries to get them to firm up a bit. For these cherries I am using a method by Hercules Candies which I found on youtube. Mind you they have been making gourmet candies for decades.

Meanwhile I went on to melt some dark chocolate for dipping. It melted just fine but was a little thick, so I got out some butter and put a tablespoon in. I wasn't thinking and of course the cold butter made the perfectly melted chocolate seize up. I tried adding a bit more melted butter but it was still too thick. Finally I resorted to adding two tablespoons of hot water and that did the trick.

Next I dipped the sugar coated cherries into the melted chocolate. The chocolate didn't stick to the cherries very well. So I decided to put the thinly chocolate-coated cherries in the refrigerator to hopefully harden the chocolate. I planned to add another layer of chocolate or two if needed once the first layer hardened up. I took a peek, the chocolate covered cherries are hardening up. Things may be looking up.

I'm up to my second coating of chocolate and the cherries are looking better, but it's late and I'll have to add another coat in the morning. Oh, I did taste a squirrely-looking chocolate covered cherry and it was so delicious. Notice in the photo there still isn't enough chocolate covering the cherries so the juice is still leaking out. I probably made the chocolate too thin adding the water; better next time. Gary had several chocolate covered cherries today and he liked them too. I can see why chocolate covered cherries are so popular. I'm definitely a beginner, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I found another video by Brittnee Kay and she is a wizard with chocolates. Hopefully I can perfect making chocolate covered cherries one of these days. Stay tuned.