These sweet chocolate covered cherries are pitted, piped with sweetened mascarpone cheese, and dipped into melted chocolate. They are little morsels of sweet delight.
Easy Chocolate Covered Cherries
You know what is better than plain old chocolate covered cherries? Homemade chocolate covered cherries with delicious sweetened mascarpone cheese in the middle.
These little chocolate delights will make you smile. We love keeping a batch of them in the oven for those sweet tooth moments.
Why you’ll love it!
- These chocolate covered cherries are as delicious as a cheesecake but only 1/4 of the work.
- Chocolate covered cherries make a great party dessert with no fuss over serving.
- You can change up what cheese you use in the center and what type of chocolate you melt.
Featured Ingredients
Cherries: you can use any cherry that you find at the grocery store. Generally, we use a red bing cherry, but any fresh cherry will do.
Mascarpone: full fat mascarpone cherry is a must. Mascarpone is creamy and so delicious whipped with a bit of heavy cream and sugar.
Chocolate chips: we use a mixture of bittersweet chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips. No need to use a special melting chocolate.
How to Make Chocolate Covered Cherries
Pit the cherries
Use a pitter or try your best to pit the cherries with a knife. The key is to keep the cherry intact.
Pipe filling into the cherries
Add the mascarpone, powdered sugar, and heavy cream into a medium sized bowl. Use a hand mixer to cream all of the ingredients together. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag.
Pipe the mascarpone mixture into the holes in the cherries and then place them on a plate. When all of the cherries are filled, transfer them into the freezer for 30 minutes.
Melt chocolate and dip
While the cherries are in the freezer, melt the chocolate in the microwave on high in 30 second increments. Stir the chocolate until smooth.
After the cherries have set in the freezer, cover them in chocolate. Hold the stem of the cherry and dip the filled cherries into the melted chocolate. If the stem has broken off the cherry, use a toothpick. Roll the cherry around in the chocolate until completely coated in chocolate. Place the cherries on the lined cookie sheet or plate.
Refrigerate and enjoy
Place the chocolate covered cherries in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and then enjoy.
The Best
Cherry Pitter
Make pitting cherries easy with this simple cherry pitter. You can use it to pit cherries for this recipe, to pit cherries for your little ones, or for canning!
Top Tips for Delicious Chocolate Covered Cherries
Cherry piters are a blessing, but if you don’t have one pit the cherries as best you can and use a toothpick to hold together.
Play with the chocolate mixtures! You can use bittersweet chocolate chips, but white, dark, or milk chocolate can be used, too.
If you make these a head of time store them in a container where they can lay flat. A little bit of liquid will leak, but it won’t ruin the dessert.
FAQ
How long do chocolate covered cherries last?
If you keep chocolate covered cherries in the freezer, they can last up to 3 months.
Are chocolate covered cherries healthy?
Everything in moderation, but they are a dessert where you get a bit of fruit with your sweet!
What can I do with leftover chocolate covered cherries?
You can roughly chop up chocolate covered cherries and serve them over ice cream or a parfait.
Storage
Let the chocolate covered cherries set and harden and then store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator or freezer.
Chocolate Covered Cherries with Mascarpone Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh cherries
- 4 oz. mascarpone cheese
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
Instructions
- While trying to keep the stem intact, pit the cherries. Set aside. A cherry pitter makes this job effortless.
- Add the mascarpone, powdered sugar, and heavy cream into a medium sized bowl. Use a hand mixer to cream all of the ingredients together. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag.
- Pipe the mascarpone mixture into the holes in the cherries and then place them on a plate. When all of the cherries are filled, transfer them into the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Line a plate or small cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a microwaveable bowl, add the chocolate chips and butter. Melt the chocolate using 30 second intervals until completely melted.
- After the cherries have set in the freezer, cover them in chocolate. Hold the stem of the cherry and dip the filled cherries into the melted chocolate. If the stem has broken off the cherry, use a toothpick. Roll the cherry around in the chocolate until completely coated in chocolate. Place the cherries on the lined cookie sheet or plate.
- Refrigerate the cherries for at least 20 minutes before serving to allow the chocolate to set.
Tips & Notes
- Cream cheese could be substituted for the mascarpone. The heavy cream should be increased by 1 or 2 tablespoons in step 2 if you are using cream cheese.
- To pit the cherry without a pitter, cut the cherries in half and remove the pits. In step 3 pipe the mascarpone mixture onto the bottom half of the cherry. Then use a toothpick to secure the top to the bottom.
