If you’ve enjoyed prepackaged store-bought cherry cordials, you’ll understand their wild appeal: Sweet, syrupy maraschino cherries are covered in an amaretto-spiked fondant and then covered in rich dark chocolate. They explode in your mouth when you eat them, in the absolute best way! This recipe for homemade cherry cordials is miles above anything you can buy in a box. These can be made with or without amaretto liquor, and they will be a huge hit with the whole family. If you love cherries, you might want to take a look at my classic cherry pie recipe, and my easy recipe for cherry vanilla ice cream next!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The holidays are all about spending time with our family and friends, but they’re also all about enjoying amazing food. It doesn’t matter if you’re baking Christmas cookies, cooking breakfast for your family to enjoy after the morning festivities are through, or hosting New Year’s Eve dinner for a crowd. We all know that holiday foods are just more special than everyday foods, and these Cherry Cordials are one of my favorite special holiday treats! Making chocolates might seem intimidating, but I promise that this recipe is easy! If you can melt chocolate, you can make homemade cherry cordials, and everyone will be so impressed with you this year! The best part? This recipe makes 75 cherries! That’s more than enough to share with everyone you love this holiday. While you’re making this easy holiday candy recipe, check out my recipes for Divinity Candy, Cream Cheese Mints, and Peppermint Hot Chocolate Fudge.
Key Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make these decadent cherry candies:
Cherries: Maraschino cherries are the star of this show. You can buy the cherries without the stems, or remove them yourself – we won’t need them here. Drain away the liquid from the cherries, and let them dry on a paper towel while you prepare the rest of the recipe. Chocolate: To get the best snappy chocolate coating, I’m using a combination of semi-sweet (or dark chocolate) chips and almond bark. The almond bark keeps the chocolate slightly softer so that it’s easy to bite into. Instead of almond bark, you can also use chocolate candy wafers, aka candy melts. For the Fondant: The thick creamy filling is made from powdered sugar, corn syrup, softened butter, and a bit of amaretto liqueur. If you’d rather not add alcohol to your cherries, flavor the fondant with about ¼ teaspoon of almond extract instead. Sprinkles: Your cherry cordials will be delicious without any embellishments, but for NYE, I like to make things sparkle! Here I’m decorating with coarse gold sugar sprinkles as well as some pearls and stars.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make Homemade Cherry Cordials
Recipe Tips
Save the liquid from the cherries: It can be added to cocktails or mocktails! Make your cherry cordials extra fun: Soak the maraschino cherries in amaretto or flavored vodka for a couple of hours. Dry them well before following the rest of the recipe. If the fondant seems sticky: Add a bit more powdered sugar to the dough. You can also coat your hands in sugar to make things easier. Be precise: You can weigh out the fondant dough and then divide it evenly based on the number of cherries you have. This way, each candy will be exactly the same size! If you’d rather not, that’s ok too. Keep things neat: Your hands will leave prints on the chocolate. If you want to avoid this, wear gloves while you dip and decorate the cherry cordials.
Storing Tips
Cherry cordials can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or more! If you’ve decorated them, it’s best to keep them in a single layer to avoid messing up the details.
What alcohol is in cherry cordials?
This recipe is made with a small amount of amaretto liqueur, used mostly for flavor. To make your cherries more alcoholic, you can soak them in brandy or vodka before coating them in fondant and chocolate.
Can I make cherry cordials without any alcohol?
Of course! Simply leave out the amaretto in this recipe. If you like, add a small amount of almond extract instead.
Should I serve these chilled?
I enjoy the texture of homemade cherry cordials when they are cold. But you might prefer them at room temperature, as the filling will be a bit softer. Try it both ways and decide for yourself! These homemade chocolate cherry cordials are fun to make and so impressive! Add them to your Christmas cookie platters this year, or serve them for New Year’s Eve and get ready for the compliments. © Little Sunny Kitchen
title: “Homemade Cherry Cordials” ShowToc: true date: “2024-09-17” author: “Joseph Dixon”
If you’ve enjoyed prepackaged store-bought cherry cordials, you’ll understand their wild appeal: Sweet, syrupy maraschino cherries are covered in an amaretto-spiked fondant and then covered in rich dark chocolate. They explode in your mouth when you eat them, in the absolute best way! This recipe for homemade cherry cordials is miles above anything you can buy in a box. These can be made with or without amaretto liquor, and they will be a huge hit with the whole family. If you love cherries, you might want to take a look at my classic cherry pie recipe, and my easy recipe for cherry vanilla ice cream next!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The holidays are all about spending time with our family and friends, but they’re also all about enjoying amazing food. It doesn’t matter if you’re baking Christmas cookies, cooking breakfast for your family to enjoy after the morning festivities are through, or hosting New Year’s Eve dinner for a crowd. We all know that holiday foods are just more special than everyday foods, and these Cherry Cordials are one of my favorite special holiday treats! Making chocolates might seem intimidating, but I promise that this recipe is easy! If you can melt chocolate, you can make homemade cherry cordials, and everyone will be so impressed with you this year! The best part? This recipe makes 75 cherries! That’s more than enough to share with everyone you love this holiday. While you’re making this easy holiday candy recipe, check out my recipes for Divinity Candy, Cream Cheese Mints, and Peppermint Hot Chocolate Fudge.
Key Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make these decadent cherry candies:
Cherries: Maraschino cherries are the star of this show. You can buy the cherries without the stems, or remove them yourself – we won’t need them here. Drain away the liquid from the cherries, and let them dry on a paper towel while you prepare the rest of the recipe. Chocolate: To get the best snappy chocolate coating, I’m using a combination of semi-sweet (or dark chocolate) chips and almond bark. The almond bark keeps the chocolate slightly softer so that it’s easy to bite into. Instead of almond bark, you can also use chocolate candy wafers, aka candy melts. For the Fondant: The thick creamy filling is made from powdered sugar, corn syrup, softened butter, and a bit of amaretto liqueur. If you’d rather not add alcohol to your cherries, flavor the fondant with about ¼ teaspoon of almond extract instead. Sprinkles: Your cherry cordials will be delicious without any embellishments, but for NYE, I like to make things sparkle! Here I’m decorating with coarse gold sugar sprinkles as well as some pearls and stars.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make Homemade Cherry Cordials
Recipe Tips
Save the liquid from the cherries: It can be added to cocktails or mocktails! Make your cherry cordials extra fun: Soak the maraschino cherries in amaretto or flavored vodka for a couple of hours. Dry them well before following the rest of the recipe. If the fondant seems sticky: Add a bit more powdered sugar to the dough. You can also coat your hands in sugar to make things easier. Be precise: You can weigh out the fondant dough and then divide it evenly based on the number of cherries you have. This way, each candy will be exactly the same size! If you’d rather not, that’s ok too. Keep things neat: Your hands will leave prints on the chocolate. If you want to avoid this, wear gloves while you dip and decorate the cherry cordials.
Storing Tips
Cherry cordials can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or more! If you’ve decorated them, it’s best to keep them in a single layer to avoid messing up the details.
What alcohol is in cherry cordials?
This recipe is made with a small amount of amaretto liqueur, used mostly for flavor. To make your cherries more alcoholic, you can soak them in brandy or vodka before coating them in fondant and chocolate.
Can I make cherry cordials without any alcohol?
Of course! Simply leave out the amaretto in this recipe. If you like, add a small amount of almond extract instead.
Should I serve these chilled?
I enjoy the texture of homemade cherry cordials when they are cold. But you might prefer them at room temperature, as the filling will be a bit softer. Try it both ways and decide for yourself! These homemade chocolate cherry cordials are fun to make and so impressive! Add them to your Christmas cookie platters this year, or serve them for New Year’s Eve and get ready for the compliments. © Little Sunny Kitchen
