Cherry Lux Bon Bon

Have you ever had one of those terrible cherry cordials? You know, the kind that is kind of plasticy but also gooey at the same time and has a cherry that has been preserved for eternity hanging out inside? Maybe with a dash of cheap-o kirsch? I've had planty of them! In fact, I still eat them every once in a while because they are one of my grandpa's favorite things (well, his number one cherry chocolate is cherry mash [link: https://cherrymash.com/] but he has created a habit for himself where he comes by Bon Bon Bon to pick up a half dozen Bons for his very lovely, very patient girlfriend, Tufi and maybe a friend or two and then not-so-secretly swings by The Polish Arts Center [link: https://www.polartcenter.com/] and picks up some liquor filled truffles!

It takes a special kind of guy to really have that kind of commitment to cordials.

Honestly, I don't get it. I am convinced the man (almost 94) has been preserved so long purely by his own sugar consumption. He's not as big now, but he used to be built like a bear, so big and strong and he got that way on "Two King Sized Candy Bar" lunches and a side of Cream Soda. Although I admire his dedication, it's not my jam. Probably as a reaction to their parents, my parents promoted a pretty hippie dippie lifestlye with homemade bread, peanut butter, jam, they even homemade the home itself out of a pile of rubble. So here I am, a chocolatier that adores her cordial loving grandpa raised by a buncha of rock and rollers afraid of cancer.

At any chocolate shop, you've got to have a cherry piece, right? So what to do? Well. I do like cherries. I like eating them fresh and spitting the pits out the window while driving the back roads up north and I like when you get that one dried cherry that puts Gushers to shame. I like how when I lived in New Zealand they became a rarer, more special commodity and you would squeal to see them on the menu or the counter at Floroditas [https://www.floriditas.co.nz/]. I also once had the perfect aviation cocktail. I don't even remember where I was! I was in some big city feeling ratty and studying confection, I just don't remember which one and that chubby clearance feeling was all-to-familiar for a while. But the cherry. The griotte cherry. Holy hell, that is my kind of cherry. Except for, I am from Michigan, so it's kind of not.

So what to do?

We landed on Cherry Lux. It's perfect. To this day it's one of my favorite Bons we make. It's dried Michigan tart cherries that we candy in luxardo syrup until they are super tender and we can create a filling that is slightly softer and slightly chewier than a paste. Then, we top it with super smooth, slightly fudgy dark chocolate ganache, the prettiest cherry goes on top and then the tiniest bit of large sanding sugar, a nod to the crunch of the classic sugar encrusted cordial - but just a nod.

It's a perfect chocolate, maybe not universally, it's just the perfect cherry chocolate for a chocolatier from Michigan who loves her grandpa and was lucky enough to experience something truly fancy once or twice. I really hope you enjoy it. And if you don't, don't sweat, just email us [link to: bonbonbon@bonbonbon.com] and we will send you something different!