Chocolate Covered Cherry – a holiday drink that lives up to its name

There are a lot of recipes for the Chocolate Covered Cherry floating around out there, and all of them are good if you like a sweet drink every now and then. (If you don’t like sweet drinks, quit complaining and mix yourself a Bulleit® Manhattan.) My recipe has the unbeatable combination of Baileys® Original Irish Cream, coconut rum, and Amaretto, and while it’s a little sweet, it’s nowhere near as sweet as a real chocolate covered cherry. You’ll enjoy the mix of almond, coconut, and chocolate with a hidden cherry waiting at the end. You may notice that the Chocolate Covered Cherry has three ounces of liqueurs in it, but don’t worry: it comes out to only about 20% ABV.

The secret to the garnish for this cocktail is to scout out a couple of grocery stores until you find one with jelly candy rings in a holiday theme (see photo). The holiday theme is important because you really want just red, green, and (possibly) white rings. Last year we got some called “Holiday Wreaths” that worked pretty well, but any brand of jelly candy rings should work. Just use a sharp knife to cut through the ring and perch it on the glass. You can also use other jelly candies (Christmas bells?) to garnish your glasses by cutting a slit in them, but do a trial or two to determine the correct angle so they look the way you want them to.

Chocolate Covered Cherry

1 oz Baileys® Original Irish Cream

1 oz Coconut rum

1 oz Amaretto

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker half full of ice. Shake like Jolly Old Saint Nick’s tummy until it feels ice cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a red or green jelly ring, drop in a maraschino cherry and watch it disappear. Now, prepare yourself for a treat and go find the cherry.