Bon Bons!

It's been my experience that usually when someone doesn't want to share a "family recipe" it is because it is so simple they dont want you to know how easy it really is. I would recommend that you go to a cake supply store or maybe even Michaels and look for a box of creme filling, I think Wilton's makes this.
She is probably using this and adding bits of marashino cherries as well as the fruit syrup and then dipping this in chocolate.

It is called:
Martha Washington Candy
1 can coconut
1 C. chopped pecans
I can sweetened condensed milk ( Eagle Brand or Kroger)
1 stick soft margarine
2 pound bag of powdered sugar
Chopped marichino cherries, well drained
Blend all ingredients and roll into a 3/4" to 1 " diameter ball. Chill in ref. about an hour or longer.
Insert toothpick and dip in chocolate parafin mixture. Let cool on waxed paper.
Parafin Mixture:
Melt 1/4 pound parafin (Gulf Wax) and one large 12oz. package of semi-sweet or sweet chocolate chips in a small saucepan on the stove over low heat. (10-15 minutes)

Have fun!

Yes I have the recipe you're looking for I believe.
3 Tbls butter softened
3 Tbls corn syrup
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
Mix these together. Then gradually add
2 1/2 c. Powdered sugar. Beat well, or knead.
Divide fondant in half and roll into 7" logs and wrap in wax paper. Refrigderate 1 or 2 hours till firm. Then cut logs into 1" pieces. Cut each piece into quarters. Then flatten each piece in palm of hand. Evenly wrap each cherry. ( 2 10 oz. Jars maraschino cherries) Place on wax paper. Then freeze 30 min. Then melt chocolate morsels and add 3 T. Veg oil
Melt over hot water, then dip frozen cherries into chocolate.

I've made this recipe several times and it's as good or better than store bought.

try going on FoodNetwork.com and typing it in there.

K.,
My mother-in-law makes something that may be similar. She calls them Matha Washingtons. I googles it and found candies made without cherries, but then I added chopped cherries to the descriptor and up popped lots of recipes. Most call for pecans and coconut, but I know that my MIL skips those ingredients. She often even leaves out lthe cherries so that there is just the creamy filling dipped in chocolate, so I think that the recipe is pretty flexible. Anyway, it will give you a starting point to your search. Good Luck!
Jen

Try googling "chocolates and chocolate dipping." Lots of things can have chocolate put around them (yum!), and there is apparently quite an art to the dipping process. I have an old recipe here but it's too long to post here - it goes into the whole dipping process in detail. I will send it to you privately, if you can't find it otherwise and will let me know. Just thinking about chocolate-dipped cherries makes my mouth water!

I have a couple of recipes that I've decided to make family secrets, too. It's kind of fun to keep a recipe to yourself... for a while, at least.

You may want to look up cherry truffles, as that process seems like some truffles I have made....now I want to find a recipe too!

I searched on allrecipes.com under chocolate covered cherries and a couple of recipes came up, with the first one (named Chocolate Covered Cherries II) sounding like yours. I think the problem might be that not everyone calls them bon bons so you need to search with some other words. They sound good!