How to Make Chocolate Covered Cherries in a Mold, with a Liquid Center

Short answer: to make chocolate covered cherries in a mould, cast thin shells of tempered chocolate in a polycarbonate mould, coat well-dried cherries in fondant mixed with invertase, set one coated cherry in each shell, seal it the same day with more tempered chocolate, scrape the mould clean and demould once set. Then keep the chocolates sealed at room temperature for several days: the invertase slowly turns the fondant into the liquid, syrupy centre that makes a cherry cordial. The published methods give 3–4 days (Kansas State University), 4–5 days (Retail Confectioners International) and 10 days (Culinary Institute of America).

Your need	What we recommend	Price
A deep cavity for a whole coated cherry	Chocolate World American Truffle L mould CW1291 (45 × 45 × 38 mm, 14 cavities)	$39.95
A wide, shallower dome	Chocolate World Half Sphere Ø 50 mm mould CW2251 (50 × 50 × 25 mm, 12 cavities)	$44.95
Dark couverture for the shells	Bassan Sur del Lago 71% dark couverture, 5 kg	$273.00
Checking tempering temperatures	Martellato digital thermometer for chocolate 50T001	$29.95
A cherry-red colour painted inside the mould	Pavoni Seasons Cherry Red natural cocoa butter concentrate, 200 g	$69.00

How do chocolate covered cherries get a liquid centre?

The liquid centre comes from invertase, an enzyme that slowly turns the solid fondant around the cherry into syrup after the chocolate is sealed. Kansas State University's food-science lab on cherry cordials explains that invertase converts sucrose (table sugar) into glucose and fructose, that the change takes several days at room temperature, and that storing the chocolates in the refrigerator slows the reaction and holds back the syrup.

This is why the timing matters. Retail Confectioners International (RCI) stresses that the chocolate must go on immediately after the invertase is applied to the fondant, and the CIA coats its cherries in chocolate the same day they are coated in fondant: the fondant has to be closed inside a sealed shell before it starts to soften.

Ingredients and equipment

You need cherries, fondant, invertase, tempered couverture, a polycarbonate mould and a thermometer. The CIA's cherry cordial recipe, which makes 50 pieces, gives the base quantities:

Ingredient	CIA recipe (50 pieces)	Notes
Maraschino cherries	50, drained	Dried thoroughly on a towel; K-State dries them overnight
Poured fondant (not rolled fondant)	2 cups (24 oz)	Thinned with water or brandy if it gets too thick
Invertase	1/4 teaspoon	Stirred into the warm fondant off the heat
Dark chocolate	1 lb, tempered	For a moulded shell, use real chocolate, not compound coating (see below)

Use couverture for the moulded method. The BCcampus textbook Understanding Ingredients for the Canadian Baker explains that compound coating does not set as firmly as cocoa-butter chocolate, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to remove from a mould, while properly tempered chocolate shrinks slightly and releases.

The CIA notes that invertase is sold by candy-making supply stores; we do not stock it.

Which mould for chocolate covered cherries?

Choose a cavity deep and wide enough for a fondant-coated cherry to sit fully inside the shell, below the rim, with room left for the chocolate that seals it. Measure a coated cherry before you buy, then compare it with the cavity sizes Chocolate World publishes:

Chocolate World mould	Cavity (W × L × depth)	Cavities	Weight per piece
American Truffle L CW1291	45 × 45 × 38 mm	14	~44 g
Half Sphere Ø 50 mm CW2251	50 × 50 × 25 mm	12	~40 g
Half Sphere Ø 30 CW1217	30 × 30 × 15 mm	24	~9 g

Chocolate World also makes a cherry-shaped mould, Cherry Small CW1081 (cavity 32 × 32 × 28 mm, 21 cavities); contact us for its availability. A moulded shell closes completely, so the stem cannot stay outside it: keep stemmed cherries for the dipped version described below.

View Chocolate World polycarbonate moulds →

How to make chocolate covered cherries in a mould, step by step

The moulded method follows the shell, fill and seal routine Chocolate World gives for its moulds, with a fondant-coated cherry as the filling.

1. Prepare the mould. Clean it before first use and polish the cavities; a clean, polished cavity gives the shine.
2. Colour it (optional). Brush a cherry-red cocoa butter colour into the cavities and let it crystallise completely before casting the chocolate.
3. Temper the chocolate. Follow the maker's curve: Bassan Sur del Lago 71% is melted at no more than 50°C (122°F) and tempered to 30–32°C (86–90°F).
4. Cast the shells. Fill the cavities, tap to release air bubbles, turn the mould over to drain the excess, scrape the surface clean and let the shells set; Chocolate World sets them at 17°C (63°F).
5. Dry the cherries. Drain them and dry them thoroughly. The CIA warns that if the fondant will not stick, the cherries need more drying.
6. Coat them in fondant. Warm the fondant, stir in the invertase off the heat, dip each cherry and let the fondant harden on a parchment-lined tray dusted with confectioners' sugar (about 10 minutes in the CIA recipe). The K-State lab instead wraps each cherry in a flattened ball of no-cook fondant and rolls it smooth.
7. Fill the shells. Set one coated cherry in each shell, sitting below the rim. Chocolate World advises never pouring sugar- or alcohol-based fillings straight into the mould: the shell must separate the filling from the polycarbonate.
8. Seal the same day. Cover each cherry with tempered chocolate, as Chocolate World's chefs cover and seal their filled pralines, then scrape the mould clean so every base is flat and closed.
9. Demould. Once set, turn the mould over and release the pieces with several light taps rather than one hard strike.
10. Let the centres turn liquid. Keep the chocolates in a sealed container at room temperature for the days your method calls for (see the table below), not in the refrigerator.

How warm should the fondant be, and how long until the centre is liquid?

The published methods differ, so follow one method from start to finish rather than mixing their numbers.

Method	Fondant and invertase	Rest before the centre is ready
Culinary Institute of America (dipped)	Prepared poured fondant heated in a water bath to 160°F (71°C); 1/4 tsp invertase stirred in off the heat	10 days, sealed, at room temperature
Retail Confectioners International (dipped)	16 oz water to 8 lb fondant sugar; 4 lb of the mix heated in a double boiler, never above 140°F (60°C); 1 tsp invertase	4–5 days before selling
Kansas State University (lab)	A no-cook fondant of 1 cup powdered sugar, butter, corn syrup and cherry juice, with 1/2 tsp liquid invertase, wrapped around 12 cherries	3–4 days at room temperature

For a business, this rest is part of the production plan: a batch made today cannot be sold as a liquid-centre cherry until its rest is over.

Preventing leaks

A cherry cordial leaks when its shell has a weak point, so the seal matters more than anything else. RCI double-bottoms its dipped cherries, coating them twice, to prevent leaks. In a mould, the same idea means a complete shell with no thin spots, a cherry that sits below the rim, and a sealing layer that covers the whole opening before you scrape. If you see leaks, check those three points first.

Moulded or dipped chocolate covered cherries?

	Moulded	Dipped
Look	Identical pieces with the polished shine of the mould	Hand-finished pieces that keep the stem
Equipment	Polycarbonate mould, scraper, tempered couverture	Dipping forks, tempered chocolate, parchment
Sealing	Shell plus a sealing layer	Coating, double-bottomed by RCI to prevent leaks

To dip them instead, see how to use chocolate dipping tools. For the moulding technique in detail, read how to mould chocolate.

How AI can help your production

Ask an AI assistant to plan your cherry production backwards from the sale date: when to cast the shells, when to coat and seal, and when each batch finishes its rest, using the rest time of the method you follow. Ask it to scale the recipe from 50 pieces to the number of moulds you fill, and to produce a label and a batch log with the sealing date for every tray, so nothing is sold before its centre is ready.

AI organises the information; tasting and the final decision stay with your chef.

Moulds and chocolate for cherry cordials at Zucchero Canada

We are an authorized distributor of Chocolate World, whose polycarbonate moulds are made in Belgium and ship across Canada. Each mould page lists its cavity size, number of cavities and washing limits, so you can check the fit before you order.

• View the American Truffle L mould CW1291 → $39.95 CAD
• View the Half Sphere Ø 50 mm mould CW2251 → $44.95 CAD
• View the Half Sphere Ø 30 mould CW1217 → $39.95 CAD

For the shells, Bassan Sur del Lago 71% ($273.00 CAD for 5 kg) is a dark couverture made in Canada from Venezuelan cacao, listed for moulded bonbons and pralines. To colour the shells, the Pavoni Seasons Cherry Red concentrate ($69.00 CAD) is coloured with natural plant extracts and is melted at 45°C before use. More shades are in our coloured cocoa butter collection.

Producing for a shop, a hotel or a seasonal gift range? Contact us for volume orders of moulds and couverture, or call 587-774-8873 (toll free 877-741-8251).

Chocolate World moulds | Chocolate World | Coloured cocoa butter | How to mould chocolate | How to avoid chocolate bloom

This article is for information only. Every business is different: draw your own conclusions based on your own expectations, budget and goals, and talk to qualified experts before you decide or invest.

Sources: The Culinary Institute of America (CIA Foodies), "Cherry Cordials"; Retail Confectioners International, "Two Methods for Making Cordial Cherries" (2020); Kansas State University, Kitchen Science to Shelf, Appendix 11 "Enzyme Lab"; BCcampus, Understanding Ingredients for the Canadian Baker, §7.3 Compound Chocolate; Chocolate World Moulds catalogue, Edition 15 ("Usage of the moulds"; Chef's Signature recipe CW1780) and Chocolate World mould data (CW1291, CW2251, CW1217, CW1081); Zucchero Canada product data for Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, the Martellato 50T001 thermometer and Pavoni Seasons Cherry Red NC05.