What's better than drinking alcohol? Eating it. These boozy cherries are the perfect treat to bring to your next cookout or BBQ whether it be for the 4th of July, or to celebrate the holidays. It's safe to say maraschino cherries don't just belong on ice cream, they belong in a jar of vodka.
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Thankfully you don't have to wait until peak cherry season to make this easy recipe by the Tipsy Bartender. This drunken cherries recipe is perfect for the holiday party, whether it is Christmas or Labor Day. Plus, cherries are full of vitamins and nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C and potassium, so this recipe isn't just for a good time.
How To Make Vodka Infused Cherries
First, begin with your favorite liquor or liqueur. While in the video they used cherry vodka, you could always change it up a bit with vanilla vodka, fireball, or even amaretto if you are feeling daring. The easiest way to infuse them is to drain the cherry juice out of the jar of cherries and replace with the vodka.
The Tipsy Bartender recommends you soak them for an hour, however food bloggers across the internet swear on giving these cherry bombs a nice soaking of 24 hours in the fridge. Once the soaking is finished, remove the sweet cherries from the jar and pat them with a paper towel. This will remove some of the excess liquid, making it easy to dip the treats in white chocolate. We won't judge if you eat these straight up, however.
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In a microwave-safe bowl melt the white chocolate chips and dip the bottom of the cherries. If you're more of a dark chocolate fan, you can use that rather than the classic white chocolate, although this will take away the potential for red white and blue cherries. Similar to chocolate truffles or chocolate-dipped strawberries, the hardest part of this recipe is dipping all the cherries before your chocolate hardens.
Immediately sprinkle with a garnish of colored sugar. If you are planning on bringing these to a patriotic party, use blue sprinkles for an American flair. Set the vodka-infused cherries on wax paper and place in the fridge. Serve when the chocolate has hardened.
Not a fan of maraschino cherries? Use fresh cherries instead, but expect to wait a few months to enjoy them. According to blogger Lisa of Garlic and Zest, preserving cherries in vodka could take up to six months. Now that's a long time to wait for your liquor.
This post was originally published on December 1, 2020.
