Now that our cordials have been soaked in Kirsch: How to Make Spiked Cherry Cordials – Soak in Kirsch
and coated with fondant: How to Make Spiked Cherry Cordials – Make the Fondant,
we arrive at the final step: dipping them in chocolate.
For the best results choose a high-quality dark chocolate with a good cocoa butter content—aim for chocolate that contains at least 30% cocoa butter. Avoid standard grocery-store morsels, which often lack the right texture and sheen. Good couverture or baking chocolate will give your cordials a smooth, glossy finish and a clean snap when set.
Temper the Chocolate
- Start with roughly 2 pounds of chocolate; you can scale this up or down as needed. Any extra tempered chocolate can be saved and remelted later.
- Grate or finely chop the chocolate so it melts evenly.
- Place about two-thirds of the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler. Warm over simmering water until the chocolate reaches 110–115°F (43–46°C).
- Remove the pan from the heat and set it on a towel or cork trivet to cool to about 95°F (35°C). Add the remaining one-third of the chopped chocolate and stir until it’s fully melted and the mixture cools to working temperature—this helps seed the chocolate and create stable temper.
- Hold each cherry by the stem, dip it into the tempered chocolate, allow excess to drip off, then place the dipped cordial on a parchment-lined sheet to set.
You can enjoy the cordials immediately, but their flavor improves with time. Let them rest for one to two weeks: the fondant softens inside the shell, the alcohol mellows, and the cherry and chocolate flavors meld. Store the finished cordials in a cool place; I packed mine in a box and kept them refrigerated to maintain freshness and prevent sweating.
This project was one of my favorite Canbassador experiments, though it required patience to complete. A strong reminder: these cordials ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN—they contain alcohol. They do, however, make a thoughtful and elegant hostess gift.
Full disclosure: This recipe was prepared using cherries provided by Northwest Cherry Growers.