Chocolate Cherry Mice

by Alexandra Kennedy

For a really special gift, package these little guys with a mouse-related holiday book, such as "The Night Before Christmas," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!," or "The Nutcracker."

Ingredients

24 maraschino cherries with stems
Waxed paper
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
24 milk chocolate Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped
48 almond slices

FOR THE ICING:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Black paste food coloring
Red food coloring
3 plastic sandwich bags

Instructions

Drain the cherries and pat them dry with paper towels. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.
Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat them until smooth, working in 15-second intervals, stirring between each.
Holding a cherry by its stem, dip it into the chocolate and swirl it around to completely cover the fruit. Set it on its side on the waxed paper and immediately press a Hershey's Kiss onto the cherry for the head. For the ears, gently wedge two almond slices between the Kiss and the cherry. Repeat to make 24 mice.
Make a thick icing by mixing 1 cup of confectioners' sugar with a teaspoon of water. If the mixture is too dry, stir in more water, a few drops at a time, until you have a thick, smooth icing. Divide the icing among three small bowls.
Tint one bowl of icing black and one pink. Spoon each of the three icings into a plastic bag and snip a tiny corner from each. Pipe white eye dots on the mice, then refrigerate them until set, about 10 minutes. Add black pupils and pink noses. Keep the mice in the fridge until you're ready to serve them or give them away.