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Homemade cranberry chocolates feature the sweet, pleasantly tart, and subtly spiced flavor of cranberry sauce paired with rich dark chocolate. Decorated with a sprinkle of edible gold luster, they’re a beautiful Christmas candy that adds a touch of sparkle to a holiday dessert table or cookie platter.
Think of these as a cross between cherry cordials and chocolate covered cranberries: a sweet/tart cranberry filling enrobed in rich chocolate. If you’re a fan of Brookside dark chocolate covered cranberries, you will love these homemade cranberry chocolates!
These are the perfect festive candy to bring to a Christmas party or cookie exchange. They’re also great for gifting! (Who doesn’t love edible Christmas presents, right?!)
And if you usually have candy on hand for Christmas morning but want something a little more special, this recipe is perfect.
I like to use homemade spiced cranberry sauce to make this chocolate candy. I find that the sweetness level is just sweet enough without being too sweet. And the warm spices not only makes this candy festive, but it complements the dark chocolate beautifully.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Minimal ingredients. Two, to be exact, but three if you want the pretty gold look seen in these photos.
- There’s a quick version. You can go the more in-depth route and make your own cranberry sauce and temper the chocolate. Or you can use store-bought cranberry sauce or cranberry orange chutney and chocolate flavored melting wafers.
- They look like they came from a fancy chocolatier. These chocolate cranberry candies are impressive – both delicious and gorgeous!
- Unique. If you’ve only had dried cranberries paired with chocolate, just wait until you try these fresh cranberry chocolates. Their filling reminds me of cherry cordials, but with a balanced sweet/tart flavor.
Cranberry Chocolates Ingredients and Substitutions
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
- Cranberry sauce – you can use homemade or store-bought cranberry sauce (my preference for this recipe is homemade spiced cranberry sauce)
- Dark chocolate – you can use good-quality dark chocolate and temper it, or use chocolate flavored melting wafers
- Gold cake dust – just a little bit of gold cake dust makes these feel really special; or you can swap out the gold for any color you like
Tip: Use Cranberry Sauce Without Large Pieces of Fruit
I’ve noticed that this recipe works best if the cranberry sauce doesn’t have large pieces of fruit. If you’re using homemade cranberry sauce, mash it well with a potato masher to break up the fruit. On the other hand, if you’re using store-bought cranberry sauce, you can pulse it a few times in a blender or food processor to break up large chunks of cranberry.
Instructions
- Temper the chocolate (or melt the chocolate wafer candy if that’s what you’re using). Spoon the melted chocolate into each well of the mold, covering the sides all the way up to the top. The trick is to get a thick enough layer of chocolate so the filling won’t seep out, but to keep the chocolate thin enough so you can add enough filling. Let the chocolate set.
- Add cranberry sauce to each well. Be careful not to add too much filling; when you add chocolate on the bottom, you want it to touch the chocolate on the sides so the filling is sealed inside. With the molds I used, I found that a slightly scant 1 teaspoon of cranberry filling worked perfectly (and it works better if there aren’t large pieces of fruit).
- Spoon a little melted chocolate on top of the cranberry filling in each well, making sure it touches the chocolate on the side so you won’t have filling leaking out. Let the chocolate set.
- Pop the chocolates out (this is so easy with a silicone mold!) and place them on a flat surface so you can decorate them. To decorate the chocolate with edible gold luster, simply dip an unused paint brush into the gold dust and flick it onto the chocolates.
What Mold is Best for Making Cranberry Chocolates?
I ordered 3 different sized molds to test which was the best for making this candy. Here’s what I was looking for in a mold:
- Easy to release the chocolate
- Easy to clean
- The perfect size (not too much filling so that the candy is messy to eat, but enough filling so you can taste it!)
I found that the Lerykin small semi-sphere silicone mold on Amazon is perfect! The cavities have a diameter of 4cm/1.6in and are 2.5cm/.99in deep. A slightly scant 1 teaspoon of cranberry sauce filling works great; it’s enough filling to taste it, but not too much so it oozes everywhere when you bite into it.
Storage
The trick to being able to store these cranberry chocolates is to be careful to use a layer of chocolate that’s thick enough so that none of the cranberry filling will leak out.
You can store this candy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 3 months. I don’t recommend storing it at room temperature because of the cranberry sauce filling.
More Holiday Candy Recipes to Make
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Cranberry Chocolates
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Equipment
- Silicone mold the cavities in my mold have a diameter of 4 cm/1.6 in and are 2.5 cm/0.99 in deep
Ingredients
- 14 ounces good-quality dark chocolate or chocolate flavored melting wafer candy
- 1 cup spiced cranberry sauce see Notes
- Edible gold luster for decorating
Instructions
- Temper the chocolate (or melt the chocolate wafer candy if that’s what you’re using).
- Spoon the melted chocolate into each well of the mold, covering the sides all the way up to the top. The trick is to get a thick enough layer of chocolate so the filling won’t seep out, but to keep the chocolate thin enough so you can add enough filling.
- Let the chocolate set.
- Add cranberry sauce to each well. Be careful not to add too much filling; when you add chocolate on the bottom, you want it to touch the chocolate on the sides so the filling is sealed inside. With the molds I used, I found that a slightly scant 1 teaspoon of cranberry filling worked perfectly (and it works better if there aren’t large pieces of fruit).
- Spoon a little melted chocolate on top of the cranberry filling in each well, making sure it touches the chocolate on the side so you won’t have filling leaking out.
- Let the chocolate set.
- Pop the chocolates out (this is so easy with a silicone mold!) and place them on a flat surface so you can decorate them.
- To decorate the chocolate with edible gold luster, simply dip an unused paint brush into the gold dust and flick it onto the chocolates.
Notes
- Cranberry Sauce: I like to use my homemade spiced cranberry sauce for this recipe, but you can use any type of cranberry sauce or cranberry chutney you like. I’ve noticed that this recipe works best if the cranberry sauce doesn’t have large pieces of fruit. If you’re using homemade cranberry sauce, mash it well with a potato masher to break up the fruit. On the other hand, if you’re using store-bought cranberry sauce, you can pulse it a few times in a blender or food processor to break up large pieces of cranberry.
- Storage: The trick to being able to store these cranberry chocolates is to be careful to use a layer of chocolate that’s thick enough so that none of the cranberry filling will leak out. You can store this candy in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 3 months. I don’t recommend storing it at room temperature because of the cranberry sauce filling.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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