Cherries take a dip

For reasons that I can’t imagine, it’s Christmas and Valentine’s Day when we see boxed “cordial cherries” — otherwise called “chocolatecovered cherries.” Maybe they’re tied to Christmas and Valentine’s Day because the cherries are red, but they’re chocolate-covered. In any case, two brands have always been there and I will offer no comparison between the Queen Anne and Cella chocolate-covered cherries; these things are a matter of taste.

But while both offer milk-and dark-chocolate versions, Queen Anne has lately been moving into unfamiliar territory, with French Vanilla Cordial Cherries and Black Cherry Cola Cordial Cherries. I can’t help passing along this description of that latter confection, from the Queen Anne website: “Warm cola notes with a hint of citrus and spice are paired with the deep, complex notes of black cherry and enrobed in smooth milk chocolate to create a one-of-a-kind cordial.” Yow.

Anyway, that is not the path Cella has chosen. New, or at least new to me, are Cella Dips: cherries dipped in dark chocolate, but without the liquid/fondant that is found between the cherry and the chocolate covering in a chocolate-covered cherry. One would easily get the impression from the bag that the cherries are still on their stems. They are not. (Maybe that’s a “serving suggestion.”)

At the store where I found them, the bag of 30 was $3.99.