Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries

It was Valentine's Day yesterday - a day which we largely ignored around our house - and I had chocolate covered strawberries on the brain.  There was some discussion about sending Preston to the store to buy some strawberries so I could make a treat for us, but the berries in the supermarket this time of year are relatively tasteless, and I ended up working much of the day anyway.

We picked up some Chinese take-out for dinner and called it a day. Forced romantic gestures are not our forte, and we're cool with that.

But then I woke up this morning thinking about the bag of frozen pitted cherries I had picked up earlier this week, and I began to entertain the idea of chocolate covered cherries.  I love them, you see, but the boxed version from the candy aisle are such a hodgepodge of artificial flavors, using sweetened maraschino cherries and that inexplicable sweet and gooey white filling that seems apropos of absolutely nothing either cherry or chocolate related, so a makeover seemed in order.

It turned out to be easier and quicker than I could have dreamed.  I melted a little dark chocolate, grabbed a few pitted frozen cherries, gave the cherries a quick roll in the melted chocolate, and then popped them onto some parchment paper to harden.  It took minutes.  Literally, just minutes. 

Juicy, naturally sweet cherries enrobed in a slightly bitter thin shell of hardened dark chocolate.  Two ingredients.  Simple, exquisite flavors.  I'm in love.

Best Day-After-Valentine's-Day ever.

*****

DARK CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES (makes 15)

• 5 oz of your favorite dark chocolate
• 15 pitted frozen cherries, unsweetened (available at Trader Joe's)

1. In a double-boiler (or in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water), melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally.
2. One at a time, drop the frozen cherries into the chocolate, using a plastic spatula to roll them around until they are coated.  Use two forks to lift each cherry out of the chocolate, and place them on a parchment paper covered plate or cookie sheet.
3. Refrigerate the chocolate covered cherries for 5 or 10 minutes until firm.