Chocolate Balls with Cherry Centers
Submitted by aer0818
Handmade chocolate truffles with brandy-soaked cherry centers, rolled in cocoa and powdered sugar. Dense, rich, and intensely chocolatey. Makes 50 pieces for gifting or holiday candy trays.
YIELD
50 ballsPREP
8 hrsCOOK
10 minREADY
9 hrsThese are the kind of homemade chocolates that make people’s eyes go wide. Each one hides a whole candied cherry that’s been soaking in kirsch (cherry brandy) overnight, wrapped in a dense, buttery chocolate shell and rolled in a cocoa-powdered sugar dust.
Milk chocolate and unsweetened baking chocolate melted together create a deep, bittersweet intensity that plays off the boozy sweetness of those brandy-soaked cherries. The result is dense, heavy, and unapologetically rich.
Makes about 50 balls. Box them up with tissue paper and you’ve got a gift that puts store-bought chocolates to shame.
Chef Tips
- Soak the cherries overnight (or longer!) so they absorb maximum brandy flavor
- Chill the chocolate mixture thoroughly before shaping; if it softens as you work, pop it back in the freezer
- Dust your fingers with the cocoa-sugar mix to keep the chocolate from sticking while you roll
- For a lighter, sweeter version, skip the unsweetened chocolate and use more milk chocolate instead
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the cherries in the brandy overnight or longer.
Drain the cherries, reserve the brandy.
Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer.
In a double boiler, melt the chocolates.
Spoon the melted chocolate, spoon by spoon, into the butter and sugar mixture and mix thoroughly by hand.
Add reserved brandy to sugar and chocolate mixture and stir by hand until all is absorbed.
Add 3 tablespoons cocoa and mix by hand.
Put mixture in the freezer and thoroughly chill.
Prepare a surface to assemble the balls.
Mix equal amounts of cocoa and powdered sugar, about ⅓ cup each.
On a piece of waxed paper, heavily dust with the cocoa powdered sugar mixture.
Remove the chocolate from the freezer when it is chilled and stiff.
For each cherry, spoon out a heaping teaspoon of the chocolate and drop on dusted paper.
Dip your fingers into the cocoa/sugar mixture and flatten chocolate to a small pancake.
Place a cherry in the center and fold chocolate around it.
Gently roll the ball between your palms to form and finish by rolling the ball in the cocoa/sugar mixture.
Repeat for each cherry.
If the chocolate mixture softens, return to the freezer to firm up.
Place the completed balls in a container with a lid and store in the frig.
These balls are dense and heavy with a rich chocolate flavor.
For a lighter flavor, I suggest you omit the unsweetened baking chocolate and add ¼ pound more milk chocolate.
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