Homemade Chocolate Blueberry Cordials

by Darain Schug
(El Paso, IL)

What type of blueberries would be best to make homemade chocolate blueberry cordials?

My wife and I have made some homemade chocolate-covered cherry cordials with good success each year at Christmas for the last several Christmases.


It's a basic recipe, where you mix up some fondant (store bought dry mix), with some butter, invertase, and milk. The fondant is about the consistency of pie dough.


We wrap it around a maraschino cherry and then cover it with some chocolate. It works well; after about 10 days, the centers liquify.


We usually put them in a cardboard box and allow them to sit for 10 days in a cool, dry spare room in our house.


The last two years at Christmas, I've seen "Queen Anne" brand chocolate-covered blueberry cordials in the store. I love those things!!


I want to try to make some at home. However, I haven't been able to figure out how to get nice-sized blueberries for making candy with.


Maraschino cherries with stems are the perfect size to work with and the stem provides a nice handle!


I bought a can of canned blueberries (Oregon brand), but they're too small and mushy to work with.


I tried to put four canned blueberries on some fondant this year while making the covered cherries, but it didn't work. We couldn't get the blueberries wrapped up with the fondant, they're just too small and impossible to get wrapped right.


I was wondering if you could recommend which type of blueberry to use? I thought of using fresh ones from a grocery store. Would a fresh blueberry go bad in the time it takes for them to sit around?


It would be wrapped in fondant, dipped in chocolate, then sit for at least 10 days while the invertase does its job of making the centers gooey. Would fresh blueberries work ok, do you think? Any ideas?

Thanks!

Darain Schug
El Paso, Illinois

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Hi Darain,

Homemade chocolate blueberry cordials? Yum!!! I haven't tried Queen Anne's Blueberry Cordials, but I will definitely be looking for them the next time I'm in the States.


I have to admit that I haven't attempted to make homemade blueberry cordials so I can't speak from experience regarding which blueberry choice would be best.


My suggestion would be to either go with fresh or dried. I can certainly understand why the canned blueberries would be a mushy mess and very difficult to work with.


Because the blueberries are enrobed in the sugar invertase and then in chocolate, I don't think you'll have to worry too much about the spoilage, although I can't guarantee it.


I hope that you'll be the guinea pig and test both methods then come back and tell us your results (add pictures, too, if you can).


Has anyone else made homemade chocolate blueberry cordials? Let Darain know what method you followed and what type of blueberries you used. Share your experience by clicking on the comments link below.


Merry Christmas Blessings,
Angie from chocolate-candy-mall.com