2    Bottles maraschine cherries
With stems
1/2    Recipe fondant (follows this
Recipe) flavored with Grand
Marnier or kirsch
Cornstarch
12 oz Dark couverture or compound
Chocolate

Drain the cherries and pat as dry as possible with paper toweling,
then place them on a candy or cake rack covered with paper toweling
and allow them to dry for at least 24 hours. Cover a cookie sheet
with wax paper.

Place a small pile of cornstarch on the counter and have handy a bowl
of water and paper towels for wiping your hands. With
cornstarch-dipped fingers, pull off a small portion of fondant,
flatten it a bit, and pat and wrap it around the cherry. (Be careful
to leave the stem intact, but if it falls off, simply stick it back
down into the cherry and the chocolate will eventually hold it in
place.

Place the fruit on the cookie sheet. Continue covering fruit in this
manner. The cherries will need to be chocolate coated no later than 45
minutes after being covered in fondant, or the fondant will begin to
melt. It is best not to do too many at once.

Melt the chocolate. For the most professional job, place cherries
upside down, with their stems hanging downthrough the wires of the
rack. Press the fondant into a rounded shape if necessary, then coat
the bottom halves of the cherries by brushing them with thick
chocolate. Place the rack in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to harden
chocolate.

Place wax paper on a baking sheet. Turn the cherries right side up on
the rack. Place a fork under a cherry and dip the fruit in the
chocolate. Place cherries on the paper lined baking sheet.
Refrigerate the tray briefly.

To double-dip the cherries, spoon chocolate over the upright cherries
and swirl the chocolate around the step in a pretty whisp of a
patter. Then take a pastry brush and coat the stems with chocolate.
When chocolate is hard place cherries in a covered container and keep
in a cool place for 2 weeks to mellow. At the end of thi time, the
fondant will have melted and transformed itself into a liquor.

Basic Fondant Servings: 1 pound

4 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups cold water 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar Kirsch or
Grand Marnier

Clear a large space on a counter or marble pastry slab. Splash it
with cold water, and have a cup of cold water and a clean pastry
brush near the stove. Place sugar and wate rin a saucepan. Stir over
very low heatuntil the sugar has melted and the liquid is clear. Turn
up the heat and continue stirring until the syrup reaches a boil.
Stop stirring and add the cream of tartar. Dip the pastry brush in
cold water and wash down the sides of the pan, then immediately cover
the pan and let the syrup boil bigorously for 3 minutes. Uncover,
insert a thermometer, and let cook rapidly to soft-ball stage (240F)
Immediately take the saucepan to the counter or slab. Run a wet hand
over the moist surface to redampen any dru spots, then carefully pour
out the syrup onto the counter. Do not pour out the last bit of syrup
and do not scrape the pan clean (That would add overcooked,
crystallized sugar.) Let the syrup cool. To work the syrup most
effectively, have 2 scrapers at hand. Start scraping the outer
portions of syrup into the center and keep turning the mass over and
over itself until it starts stiffening and lightening in color. Keep
working the sugar until it is perfectly white and so thick that it
can be kneaded. Knead briefly, then divide into 2 portions Flavor
half with kirsch or Grand Marnier to taste (sprinkle on the flavoring
and knead it in). Leave the other portion unflavored. Wrap both
fondants tightly in plastic wrap and place them in a covered
container. Moisten 2 sheets of paper toweling and fit them over the
fondant. Cover the dish with the lid and let the fondant mellow inthe
refrigerator for at least 4 days before using.