Step 1

Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving a tablespoon of the liquid. Place the drained cherries on a paper towel-lined plate, then cover them with another paper towel. Press gently to remove any liquid from inside the cherries. Transfer the dried cherries to a fresh paper towel.

Step 2

Add the vegan powdered sugar, the 40 g of shortening, vanilla, salt, coconut milk, and reserved cherry juice to a mixing bowl. Mix until the fondant comes together.

Step 3

You want to be able to knead the fondant without it sticking to the bowl or your hand, so add additional powdered sugar (if necessary) and knead until the fondant is no longer sticky.

Step 4

Pinch off a piece of fondant the size of the cherry you are coating. (You will get different sizes of cherries, so this way of determining how much fondant to use works the best.) Roll the piece of fondant into a ball.

Step 5

Flatten the ball of fondant out into a thin circle. Place the cherry in the center, then wrap the fondant around the cherry. For cherries without stems, roll the covered cherry around until you have a nice ball. For cherries with stems, just press the fondant around the cherry as neatly as you can.

Step 6

Place each fondant-covered cherry on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet, then chill them for 30 minutes.

Step 7

Once your fondant-covered cherries are chilled, temper half of your chocolate chips by following the directions on my post on how to temper chocolate. Remove half of your cherries from the fridge and dip them in the tempered chocolate.

Step 8

To dip cherries without stems: put a cherry on the chocolate, turn it over with a fork, lift the cherry out of the chocolate with the fork, scrape the excess chocolate off on the side of the bowl, then carefully place the dipped cherry onto a new sheet of waxed paper. Repeat with the remaining first half of the cherries. Let the chocolate harden fully before touching the dipped cherries.

Step 9

To dip cherries with stems: gently pick up a cherry by the stem and dip fully in the chocolate, lift it out, allow the excess chocolate to drop off, then carefully place the dipped cherry on a new sheet of waxed paper. Repeat with the remaining first half of the cherries, then allow the chocolate to harden fully before touching the dipped cherries.

Step 10

You can dip as many more fondant-covered cherries from the second half as you can, but your chocolate will eventually be too shallow to dip any more. Add some chopped nuts and or dried fruit to the remaining chocolate and spread it out on waxed paper to make chocolate bark. Allow it to harden fully, then break the bark into pieces.

Step 11

Temper your second batch of chocolate, and dip your remaining cherries. Please note that the cherries with stems use more chocolate than the ones without.

Step 12

Once the chocolate has fully hardened, place each chocolate covered cherry in a mini muffin liner. For best results, store the chocolate covered cherries at room temperature for at least five days so the fondant begins to melt. The cherries are at their best between seven and seventeen days after you make them. Sooner, and the fondant is not as melted. Later, and some of the sugar in the fondant may begin to crystallize.