I was quite reticent to order these, especially after reading the reviews (I tend to put a great deal of stock in critical reviews), but my craving got the better of me and I ordered a box.
My oldest friend (we met when we were both 5 years old and stayed friends until her death 50 years later) used to give me a box of chocolate covered cherries every Christmas, when we were growing up.
I didn't really like them: they were kind of a low quality - mushy cherries swimming in a puddle of half-melted fondant and covered in milk chocolate - and biting into one was like biting into a nuclear powered sugar bomb. They usually sat around until, somehow, various family members worked up the courage to eat them.
Her seasonal gift became a bit of a joke until one year, when we were in high school, she gave me a box of Cella's.
My world changed forever.
Although I did allow my family to sample them, I have to admit I did so grudgingly. Since then, I'd buy Cella's whenever I could find them, even going so far as to pay the exorbitant fees for a single one from any candy counter that carried them, until they became a bit too pricey. Seeing them on Amazon not only called up years of memories of my friend, but also revived the cravings for one of these delicious treats.
But, oh horror! There were so many critical reviews!
I finally "bit the bullet" and ordered them, anyway. I was too apprehensive to open the package right away because I was just not in the mood to have a childhood favorite destroyed, as so many seem to be, these days. However, after a couple of days, my desire for the succulent sweetness of one of these gems got the better of me and I opened the package.
The container was in excellent shape and there was no leaked goo anywhere inside the box. A couple of the cherries had the SLIGHTEST bit of "bloom" on the chocolate, but the cherries were intact and the liquid filling was every bit as delicious, clear, and fluid as I remembered.
HURRAH!
Thank you, Amazon, for delivering a practically perfect reminder of my youth! I shall savor each and every one - particularly as my family doesn't live anywhere near me.
Dark Chocolate
