I love cherries in their pure cherry form – fresh or dried, with no additives and no enhancements, just pure cherry flavor is what I favor. I’ve tried cherry pies, cherry ice cream, Black Forest Cake with Cherries, cherry flavored drinks, I’ve tried them all – though they all taste wonderful, I always come back to my favored way of eating cherries – pure unadulterated cherries – fresh or dried.

When I crave cherries and its not fresh cherry season I look for ways to eat dried cherries besides straight from the bag.  Sometimes I add them to cakes, and other times to vanilla ice cream and sometimes I add them to dark chocolate. In this recipe I used both sun-dried sweet and tart cherries for a sweet and tart dark chocolate bite.  And for some color wow factor I added edible fuchsia blossoms and rose petals as decoration.

I made two shapes of cherry chocolate bites.  One I made as chocolate disks with fuchsia blossoms, and the other I made as a cherry and chocolate bark with rose petals. I’ve included recipes for both below.

Sweet and Tart Sun-dried Cherries Dark Chocolate Bites with Fuchsia Blossoms 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dark chocolate – any variety
• 1/4 cup tart dried cherries
• 1/4 cup sweet dried cherries
• 1 tbsp Kirsch or any cherry flavored liqueur OR 1 tbsp cherry jam or any dark fruit jam
• Fresh Fuchsia blossoms

Directions:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Chop the dark chocolate into small chunks and place in a glass bowl over a water bath. Stir until completely melted and creamy. About 5-10 minutes.

• Remove from heat and add the liqueur and jam if using and mix in.
• Get ready to make the chocolate bites. Place spoonfuls of chocolate onto parchment paper into small disks.

• Next, evenly place dried cherries onto the disks and gently press down.  Add the fuchsia blossoms.

• Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes – 1 hour for the chocolate to harden.

• After 1 hour the chocolate disks are ready!  You can store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Rose Petal Sweet and Tart Cherry Chocolate Bark:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dark chocolate – any variety
• 1/4 cup tart dried cherries
• 1/4 cup sweet dried cherries
• 1 tbsp Kirsch or any cherry flavored liqueur OR 1 tbsp cherry jam or any dark fruit jam
• 1 fragrant rose flower

Directions:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Chop the dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a glass bowl over a water bath. Stir until completely melted and creamy. About 5-10 minutes.

• Remove from heat and add the liqueur or jam and stir in.
• Get ready to make the chocolate bark. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate onto the parchment paper. Evenly distribute the tart and sweet cherries over the chocolate. Next, finely cut one fragrant rose flower and sprinkle over the chocolate.

• Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes – 1 hour for the chocolate to harden.
• After 1 hour remove the chocolate from the refrigerator and gently break chocolate into smaller pieces with a serrated knife.

• Sweet and Tart Sun dried Cherry Dark Chocolate Bark is ready!  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

For a sophisticated ice cream and chocolate dessert, try serving these cherry chocolate bites with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of cherry liqueur.