Carolyne Roehm

Valentine’s Day, February 2007 >> Do You Fondue?

Fondue has made a comeback over the last few years, and with good reason: It’s delicious and fun. Like the Japanese shabu-shabu and other interactive dinners, the act of eating fondue creates a festive mood and gives rise to good conversation.

I was reminded of how much I love fondue, something I used to have often when I lived in Switzerland, over the holidays. Simon’s twin sisters were visiting Aspen from England. We became obsessed with the gripping TV drama ‘24’ and spent a few evenings holed up in the study watching back-to-back episodes on DVD. It was a hoot watching together and talking through the episodes, each trying to crack the codes first. One of the evenings we decided to make a pot of cheese fondue, and his sister’s taught me the wonderful trick of adding baking soda to make the fondue lighter and prevent it from getting gloppy. (TIP: Just before serving, add 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda to your favorite cheese fondue recipe.)

And what better finish than a pot of molten chocolate with pound cake and fruit for dipping?

Chocolate Fondue
Serves 4-6

I like to keep it simple. For a pretty and yummy dessert fondue, use small heart-shaped cookie cutters to make bite-size pieces of store-bought pound cake. Whole strawberries and an assortment of fruit works well with chocolate fondue, so cut up bananas, pears, pineapples or any other fruits you find appealing or have on hand.

1 cups premium cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup plus 5 tablespoons heavy cream
5 ounces bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I prefer unsweetened because it's a nice foil to the pound cake)
Pound cake and fruit

Place water, sugar, and corn syrup into a pot and bring to boil. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes until sugar solution has reduced by about a third. Add sifted cocoa powder into the liquid and blend with a whisk until smooth. Return the chocolate mixture to the stove and continue cooking over medium heat. Add heavy cream, bring to boil and simmer about five minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in chopped chocolate. Pour into fondue pot and serve.