I couldn’t tell you why, but I have been in a serious chocolate-cherry mood lately, and this chocolate cherry fudge recipe is the delicious result. Which may not seem all that weird to you. But as someone who knows me pretty well, I can say with the utmost assurance that I am not a cherry person. Not even when it’s covered in chocolate. This is basically a dark chocolate cherry fudge situation that even a cherry skeptic like me can’t stop eating, and I promise it belongs right up there with my other favorite fudge recipes.
But I’ve had a jar of maraschino cherries sitting in my office since I made this Shirley Temple Punch. Passing by them day after day must have flipped a switch, because I have been dreaming of chocolate cherry desserts for weeks now. I’ve even taken to making Sally’s cherry smoothies with a huge scoopful of cocoa powder! It takes care of my chocolate cherry craving in a healthy way 🙂 If you’re into healthy recipes or even keto recipes, swap in fresh cherries instead of the jarred kind — it’s one of my favorite things to do when I’m trying to be a little more virtuous.
Why This Chocolate Cherry Fudge Recipe Is One Of The Most Amazing Things I’ve Made
Up until recently, the only cherry flavored dessert I liked was spumoni. In fact, I almost made this into Spumoni Fudge! But with pistachios being fairly pricey and me not wanting to keep them around the house (I’ll gobble the whole bag in a day), I decided to leave them out and use almonds instead. If you’re the type who likes to plan meals around what’s on sale, almonds are just the more budget-friendly move here anyway.
But if you keep pistachios on hand, you should toss some into this fudge! I imagine it would be pretty fab. Although this fudge is pretty spectacular already, even without pistachios. You know how chocolate covered cherries are best about a week or two after you make them? You have to wait so the centers can get all gooey and delicious. This easy fudge recipe has that gooey deliciousness in every bite without waiting for two weeks, which honestly might be one of the most amazing things about it.
It’s seriously divine. Each cherry is surrounded by this little pocket of ooey gooey chocolate cherry sauce that forms while the fudge is chilling in a quart saucepan combine sugar, butter, and sour cream before it ever hits the pan. It’s completely incredible and addicting. (And reminder: I’m not even a cherry person!!) If you love a good cherry-and-chocolate pairing as much as I apparently do, you’ll also want to check out these Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint Cookies — total second fudge-adjacent obsession of mine.
Tips For Making This Easy Fudge Recipe Fool Proof
The almonds give it a great crunch to balance out all the chocolate gooey-ness, and I think it’s absolutely perfect. And stunning too, don’t you think? I’m in love with the bright red in every piece. A few practical notes: line your square baking pan with parchment paper (or a light coat of cooking spray) so the fudge lifts out clean, and use unsalted butter and pure vanilla extract or almond extract for the best flavor. If you want a silky-smooth base, a food processor can help break down any stubborn almond pieces before folding them in. Work over medium heat, stay patient, and you’ll avoid grainy fudge every single time.
Seriously. Heaven, I tell you! This one lives right alongside toll house® classics and old fashioned chocolate fudge butter pecan in my permanent collection, and honestly it might edge out even jelly bean fudge fannie mae fudge territory. If you’re building out your own cookbook collection, this dark chocolate cherry fudge deserves a top spot next to your cherry vanilla fudge recipe and homemade vanilla fudge vanilla fudge favorites.
More Fudge Recipes And Tasty Treats To Try
Fudge is one of those things I just can’t quit, and I’ve got a whole shelf of fudge recipes to prove it. If you’re into Reese’s Fudge with Peanut Butter Cups, that one’s a second helping kind of dessert for sure. I’m also a huge fan of Peanut Butter Butterscotch Fudge when I want something a little more caramel-y, and the Super Fudge Brownies when I want fudge and brownies in the same bite (no judgment, please). For anyone building out their own curated recipe collections, these are the ones I’d bookmark first — way better than scrolling through random Mexican recipes, Italian recipes, Indian recipes, easy dinner ideas, Thai recipes, Korean recipes, Chinese recipes, Japanese recipes, or Spanish recipes hoping to stumble onto something sweet.
A Little Behind-The-Scenes On Recipe Photos And Sharing
Funny enough, I still think back to the early days of food blogging when photo sharing meant uploading everything to Photobucket – Video and image hosting sites just to get a recipe photo to load properly. I definitely had my share of http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/pacbanner.jpg border mishaps and had to go digging for replacement bowls full of old recipe cards just to remember what I’d made, including a stray http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/untitled.jpg border file and even a http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/duchess13/world%20tour/zwt2.gif alt graphic from some long-forgotten recipe swap. These days it’s all so much easier, with a proper rating system, download, print, share buttons, and categories site map to keep everything organized.
I’m not affiliated with Rachael Ray, Warner Bros. Discovery, Discovery Family, or Punchfork LLC, and I don’t share any personal information or pull in third party content here — just my own improvements on recipes breakfast, pot recipes, and fudge nonfat creamy vanilla fudge experiments I’ve tinkered with over the years in my own Christmas kitchen. All trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners, per the terms of use you’d expect on any food blog, and I’m not asking for your credit bureaus information just to see a recipe! If you want more of my stuff, feel free to create a free account today, grab the top icons for your favorite posts, and come back for seconds. Whether you’re into backpacking cookbook meals for hiking buddies, something inspired by Horn of the Moon, or just a nostalgic Patti Cake bake, there’s always room for one single improvement — and in this case, that improvement is definitely more fudge.
One Last Gooey, Chocolatey Thought
Stars, omg — I really can’t get over how good this chocolate cherry fudge recipe turned out. It’s the kind of dessert that gives me a full-on food coma after just two little squares, and I’m already planning my second fudge batch for this week. If you’re craving something equally dreamy, go check out the Black Forest Ice Cream Cake Roll or the Nutella Mousse Cake — both feel like close chocolate-cherry cousins to this fudge. But for now? I’m sticking with this pan, a fork, and zero regrets. Make it, share it, and let me know what you think — you’ll be as obsessed as I am in no time!
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Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cups melting chocolate
- 14.5 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 10 ounces maraschino cherries
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment or foil. Set aside.
- Drain the cherries and towel pat them dry (try to get them as dry as possible). Set aside.
- Over low heat, stir together the melting chocolate and sweetened condensed milk until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
- Stir in the cherries and almonds. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Chill, uncovered to avoid condensation forming, in the refrigerator for 3 hours or until set. Cut into 2 inch squares to serve.
- Store, covered, in the refrigerator and serve cold.