Holiday Traditions

No post last Sunday for the Holidays -sorry about that!  The flu hit my school & I came down with something :(  But with an extra hour of sleep under my belt, I'm ready to tackle more Holiday writing.

My younger sister loves chocolate covered cherries, and it was her tradition to get a box to herself each Christmas (I get Holiday Cap'n Crunch).  One glorious year I realized that I had a recipe for chocolate covered cherries in my trusty Better Homes & Garden red & white book.  My older sister & I adventurously decided to give it a whirl.  We've made them every year since then & they are our most requested item on our Holiday goody trays.  The recipe is simple, but they are a bit fiddly and time consuming to make.  We usually make a triple batch the weekend after Thanksgiving because they need 2 weeks to mature before eating.

Chocolate Covered Cherries

Ingredients:

• 30 oz maraschino cherries with stems
• 3 Tbsp butter, softened
• 3 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 lb Ghiradelli Candy Making & Dipping Bar (or regular confectioners coating if you can't find Ghiradelli)

Method:

1. Drain cherries on layers of paper towels for several hours.
2. Mix together butter & corn syrup.
3. Stir in powdered sugar, then knead mixture until it is smooth.  (Chill 15 mins in fridge if too soft to handle).
4. Shape approximately 1/2 teaspoon powdered sugar mixture around each cherry.  
5. Place coated cherries (stem up) on lined baking sheet.
6. Chill 1 hour (no longer or they will start to dissolve!)
7. Melt chocolate coating while cherries are chilling in fridge (we use a mini-crockpot so chocolate stays melted)
8. Hold cherry by the stem, dip into melted chocolate.  Once powdered sugar mixture is completely covered with chocolate, place on lined cookie sheet.
9. Chill cherries until firm, then store in fridge in a tightly covered container for 1 to 2 weeks before serving.

Makes approximately 60 cherries.