Name: Choc coconut cherry liqueur bites
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 30
Ingredients: 30 fresh cherries, stems attached; 3 1/2 - 4 cups desiccated coconut; 150g glacé cherries, finely chopped; 395g can sweetened condensed milk; 1 Tbsp kirsch or cherry liqueur (optional); 250g dark chocolate; 1 Tbsp coconut oil; Gold leaf, to decorate

Transform in-season cherries and liqueur into a grown-up take on Cherry Ripe. Ditch the liqueur to make it kid-friendly.

After more cherry recipes?

Note: in addition to the 30mins preparation time above, you will also need 1 hour and 20mins chilling time for this recipe.

Ingredients

30 fresh cherries, stems attached

3 1/2 – 4 cups desiccated coconut

150g glacé cherries, finely chopped

395g can sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp kirsch or cherry liqueur (optional)

250g dark chocolate

1 Tbsp coconut oil

Gold leaf, to decorate

Method

Carefully pit cherries, keeping stems attached (see Cook’s tip).

Put coconut, glacé cherries, condensed milk and liqueur (if using) into a large bowl and stir to combine.

With clean hands, take a heaped tablespoon of coconut mixture and flatten. Carefully wrap coconut mixture around cherry and gently press into a ball shape. Put coconut cherries on a baking paper- lined tray and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Melt chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until mixture is smooth and combined.

Coat refrigerated cherries in chocolate by holding stems and dipping in chocolate mixture. Allow excess to drip back into bowl and put coated cherries back on lined tray. Repeat until all cherries are coated. Refrigerate for 20 minutes until set.

Decorate chocolate-covered cherries with gold leaf.