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)
- In a double-boiler (or in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water), melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally.
- 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.
- Refrigerate the chocolate covered cherries for 5 or 10 minutes until firm.
