Hi guys! Happy Monday!! We had a pretty strong wind storm during the weekend. It’s sad because there have been several fires here in Northern California and there is specially one in Sonoma county that is big and it’s hard to get it under control. The wind storm has caused some damage and I think we are having another one tomorrow Tuesday. Where I live things are ok, the air quality is just bad. A part of my backyard fence fell but it is nothing compared to what other people are going trough.
Let’s talk about this recipe: I love the cherry chocolate combo but it is not cherry season anymore so I thought why not using maraschino cherries to create this delicious and easy treat that is perfect for the holidays. This recipe will remind you of cake pops but without the stick.
Let’s start with the recipe.
Ingredients
For the brownies
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoons Kirsch (optional)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2-2/3 cup chocolate frosting (I used store-bought), but you can make your own chocolate buttercream.
For the filling
1 jar of maraschino cherries
For the chocolate coating
1 bag light/dark chocolate candy melts
Directions
For the brownies
1.-Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour an 8-inch square pan.
2.- In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, add in sugar, eggs, vanilla and kirsch(if using). Mix in cocoa powder,flour, salt, and baking powder.
3.- Spread batter into prepared pan.
4.- Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not bake.
5.- Let brownie pan cool completely.
How to make the bombs:
1.- In a bowl, crumble the brownie and mix in about 2/3 cup of chocolate frosting. You need the similar consistency like when you make cake pops, if you need a little bit more, you can add more.
Trick here is to make the crumbs to stick easy but not too sticky that you can’t form balls with your hands.
2.- With your hands form a ball and then add the cherry in the middle. Cover the cherry with the brownie dough.
3.- Place all the balls on the top of a baking sheet (you can cover your baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper). Place the tray/baking sheet in the fridge for 30 minutes.
For the chocolate coating
1.- Put your candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 3 minutes at 50 percent power. Stir. Then, keep adding minutes and always check and stir. Do not let the candy melts to burn.
If after the chocolate is melted looks thick, you can add a tiny bit of oil to thin it out.
How to assemble
1.- Take out your the tray with the balls from the fridge and let it warm up a little bit, 5 minutes.
2.-Your chocolate has to be cooled down too. DO NOT DIP YOUR CHERRY BALLS INTO HOT CHOCOLATE AND DO NOT DIP SUPER COLD BALLS INTO HOT CHOCOLATE BECAUSE the chocolate will crack.
Optional: You can add some sprinkles after the chocolate bombs are coated but do it before the coating sets.
Enjoy!