Chocolate Covered Cherry Day

What the day is

Chocolate Covered Cherry Day is observed on January 3, in the week when the last box of holiday chocolates is being finished off.

Origin and background

The origin of the observance is not documented. The candy involves a genuinely clever piece of food chemistry.

A cordial cherry has a liquid center, and the obvious assumption is that the liquid is added during manufacture. It is not, because a syrup-filled shell is very difficult to coat without leaks. What the cherry is actually wrapped in is a firm fondant containing invertase, an enzyme that splits table sugar into its two simpler sugars. Those sugars are far more soluble, so over the week or two after the chocolate shell goes on, the solid fondant gradually turns to syrup inside a sealed coating.

A freshly made cordial cherry is therefore disappointing, and has to be left alone to finish itself. The confectioner builds a solid sweet and lets it liquefy in the box.

The cherry inside is usually a maraschino, and that word has drifted a long way. Maraschino was originally a liqueur made from marasca cherries on the Dalmatian coast, and the cherries were preserved in it. The modern American product is a different thing: cherries brined in a solution that bleaches them almost white, then sweetened, dyed and flavored. The change came about largely because Prohibition removed the alcoholic version from the American market, and food scientists developed the non-alcoholic replacement that became standard.

How to take part

• Buy good ones. The difference between a cheap cordial cherry and a well-made one is substantial.
• If you make them, budget two weeks before serving so the centers can liquefy.
• Try a cherry preserved in actual liqueur alongside a standard maraschino.
• Eat them in one bite, which is what the thin shell is designed for.
• Keep them cool and dry, since warmth softens the shell and lets the center leak.