Chocolate-Covered Cherries

Montmorency sour cherries from Michigan are tart and bold — their tangy-sweet character assertive enough to meet single-origin chocolate as an equal. Dehydrating without sulfites deepens the cherry's flavor further, giving a richer, sweeter taste and denser chew. Head Chocolatier Nicholas pairs them with 70% Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador chocolate, chosen for its dark berry notes that mellow the fruit's acidity. The result is a confection where bold fruit and deeply flavored chocolate bring out the best in one another. To craft these chocolate-covered treats, our Confections team pours the tempered chocolate over dried cherries as they tumble in a rotating drum, a technique called panning. They repeat this about 160 times — building to a 1 to 1.5 center-to-chocolate ratio by weight — until it's just right.