Fondue Party

It is two in the morning on a Saturday, and what am I doing? Making fondue and baking brownies! Why? Because I’m going to a fondue party in less than ten hours. While we were at the homemade caramel class in mid-October, the conversation turned to what a great time we all had at the Fondue & Game Night that one of the ladies hosted at her house last August. We were unanimous in the decision to do it again – and soon! So a date was set for mid-November; I volunteered to bring the dessert fondue because I had so much fun with it the last time. But I delayed making it until the last minute!

What is Fondue?

“Fondue” is currently defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “a dish in which small pieces of food are dipped into a hot sauce or a hot cooking medium such as oil or broth.” That covers a lot of territory! But most people think of fondue in terms of either the classic cheese or the dessert chocolate. According to the Great Party Recipes website, cheese fondue is originally a Swiss creation dating from the 18th century, born of a need to make the dried-out winter stores of cheese and bread more palatable. They say that the first cheese fondue recipe was born when villagers melted their winter-hardened cheese in a communal pot, added wine or brandy, and dipped their stale crusty bread into it. The delicious concoction was named “fondue” from the French word “fondre,” meaning to blend or to melt, and became both a meal and a social event. Three centuries later, fondue is still a social event, but much more versatile than a peasant’s evening meal. According to the Great Party Recipes website, fondue can be a festive dinner, an elegant dessert, or even a fun party dip. And if you’ve ever done the four-course meal at the Melting Pot, you’ve experienced all three all at once!

Making the Fondue

After thinking through several different options, I made four different dessert fondues: marshmallow, chocolate, caramel, and strawberry. The strawberry was an experiment, but super easy, so I decided to literally give it a whirl.

Since the marshmallow fondue received such rave reviews at the last fondue party, I definitely had to do that one again. I don’t think I would have been forgiven if I had omitted it! Besides, making marshmallow fondue is super easy: heat together heavy cream and marshmallows in a medium saucepan over medium heat until all the marshmallows are dissolved and the mixture is fluffy. All it took was a lot of patience and stirring! But it turned out beautifully, although it unexpectedly filled two small plastic containers instead of just one. I hope my friends REALLY like the marshmallow fondue.

I actually have two terrific chocolate fondue recipes: one that is very basic – liqueur, cream, chocolate - and one that is more complex. So it was difficult to decide which of the two to use. I opted for the more complex one, since I hadn’t tested that recipe in a while. I didn’t bother to clean out the pan after making the marshmallow fondue because I figured the extra marshmallow flavor would only enhance the chocolate. This fondue starts off by heating milk, coffee, and a shockingly small amount of semisweet chocolate chips and stirring until the chocolate is fully incorporated. Then the work starts! Unwrap an entire eleven-ounce bag of Kraft caramels and stir those in until they are fully incorporated. You have to do it four or five caramels at a time, or else the mixture on the stove will scorch because it has been unattended for too long. And those little caramels are tricky to unwrap! It takes quite a while, and a lot of willpower not to just start eating the caramels so you don’t have to wait for them to incorporate into the mixture. But it got done, and done without major incident. This recipe only filled one small plastic container, but I don’t foresee any leftovers.

I had to wash the pot before beginning the caramel fondue, which is a bit of poor planning on my part. I should have done this one first because it would not have harmed the marshmallow fondue. The caramel fondue was actually a simplification of a caramel turtle fondue recipe from the Great Party Recipes website. But, like the marshmallow fondue, it turned out so well that I don’t think I would have been forgiven had I left it off the menu. This is not a recipe for the faint of heart as it uses butter and three sugars – white sugar, brown sugar, and light corn syrup. After those melt together and boil for five minutes, some heavy cream is added, which sputters and steams like crazy! Once that is combined, the mixture should be left to boil for another five minutes before pronouncing it done. It was so hot when it was finished that I thought it was going to melt through the plastic container!

The strawberry fondue is a simplification of a very berry fondue recipe from the Great Party recipes website. When I told my nutritionist about the fondue party, she was rightfully aghast and suggested that I try to find some healthy alternatives and substitutions. This fondue was about as good as I could do. It is one pound of melted frozen strawberries pureed in a blender with a little bit of sugar to take the edge off. I didn’t bother heating it because I know we’ll do that in the microwave before the party. So it went right into a plastic container and into the refrigerator.

Making the Dippers

A few days before the fondue party, a good friend sent me a blog post about brownies made with dried cranberries soaked in red wine. She found it hilarious that my go-to brownie recipe actually starred raisins soaked in ¾ cup dark rum. However, when I discovered that most people were picking out the raisins, I started leaving them out and just using enough rum to moisten the batter. Then, when I discovered that another good friend couldn’t tolerate alcohol, I usually swapped out the dark rum in favor of coffee. But I still think of them as “rum raisin” brownies! This time, I had to use my leftover coffee for the chocolate fondue so I used the dark rum (but no raisins) for the brownies. I’m pretty sure it all baked off in the oven.

Rice krispie treats are a super versatile dipper: they go well with chocolate, caramel, and marshmallow. I’m not so sure about how they do with strawberry, but I’m sure someone is going to try it. So I felt like I had to whip up a batch because it was just as easy to make them as to buy the premade ones. And one of my friends is gluten free, so I wanted her to be able to enjoy a sweeter treat than just fruit and marshmallows. I have my own recipe for peanut butter rice krispie treats (which are awesome) but this time I just followed the instructions on the box, which uses a little more butter. Of course, I almost caused an accident by stopping my cart in the middle of the aisle in the grocery store to marvel at the special holiday edition of rice krispies cereal; fortunately, the oncoming cart was kind enough to politely ask me to move and laughed when I explained the issue.

Last but not least, I intended to assemble a fruit plate for the dessert fondues. What I actually did was wash and core the strawberries, and then pack the fruit into containers. The apples and bananas I left whole to cut at my friend’s house so that they wouldn’t brown overnight and in transit. Besides, I didn’t have space in my bag for a nicely arranged fruit plate, and I didn’t have faith that plastic wrap would hold such an arrangement in place through the twists and turns of the route to our hostess’s house.

Of course, I also had a shopping bag full of store bought dippers, which included candy cane Milanos, gluten free shortbread, regular shortbread, chocolate covered graham crackers, double stuffed Oreos, caramels, and marshmallows. Unfortunately, the marshmallows fell out of the shopping bag and got left in the back seat of my car.

The Verdict

The party was awesome. The seven of us ate, talked, and played a board game for about four hours. We ate in two courses: my friends prepared the first course, which was two clear broth fondues, a pizza fondue, and a cheese fondue, accompanied by a table full of various meats, vegetables, and starches. It was so good! We all had to keep reminding each other to save room for the dessert course because there were so many different combinations to try. I was not very adventurous and (mostly) stuck to the traditional combinations: vegetables in cheese fondue, breads in pizza fondue, chicken in the wine broth fondue.

When we couldn’t eat any more, we took a break to clear the table, wash the dirty fondue forks, and prepare the dessert fondues. Not that there was a lot of work required: zap each container of fondue in the microwave for about two minutes and transfer to a fondue pot, cut up the brownies, cut up the rice krispie treats, cut up the bananas, and cut up the apples. While I was busy heating and cutting, one of my friends busied herself arranging all the store bought goodies and precut fruit on the table. The spread was a sight to behold!

Everyone appreciated all four of the dessert fondues. I thought that the chocolate fondue tasted a little too strongly of coffee, even though I love coffee! The strawberry fondue was a surprise hit, especially on the fruit. It was so easy to make that I’ll probably keep the recipe for future reference. The caramel fondue was a favorite on the shortbread cookies, and the marshmallow fondue was a surprising favorite on the rice krispie treats.

Overall, everyone had a good time and ate well. And that is what friends are for!

The Recipes

Marshmallow Fondue

10 oz bag mini marshmallows
2 cups heavy cream

1. Mix together marshmallows and cream in a large saucepan.
2. Heat over medium low, stirring frequently until marshmallows dissolve and mixture is fluffy.
3. Transfer to warm ceramic fondue pot. Keep warm over low flame.

Chocolate Caramel Fondue
This has been a perennial favorite since its debut at the first Princess Party. Of course, the recipe has been refined a few times since then. And it also makes great fudge sauce.
½ cup milk (do NOT use soy milk)
½ cup strong black coffee (decaf is okay)
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
11 ounce pkg Kraft caramels (about 35)

1. Place milk and coffee in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer.
2. Whisk in chocolate chips until melted and well blended.
3. Unwrap caramels 4-5 at a time and add to the pot. Mix to melt and combine well. This will take a while, so be patient.
4. Transfer to a warm ceramic fondue pot. Keep warm over a low flame.
♥ To enforce some will power, freeze the leftovers and enjoy them at a later date. The consistency will be almost exactly the same once thawed.

Classic Chocolate Fondue
Because the Chocolate Caramel Fondue tasted of coffee, I’m including this super simple dessert recipe as an alternative. You can also use it as a fudge sauce over your favorite ice cream, or let it cool and spread like Nutella it over strong fresh bread.
2 tbsp flavored liqueur, cold coffee or espresso
1½ cup heavy cream
12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat the cream and liqueur in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until hot, about 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add chocolate. Whisk vigorously until it is just melted and smooth.
3. Transfer to a warm ceramic fondue pot. Keep warm over a low flame.
♥ Orange and raspberry liqueurs are my favorite for dessert fondue. Coffee, chocolate and mint liqueurs also work.

Caramel Fondue
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1 ½ cup heavy cream

1. In a slightly larger than necessary heavy saucepan, mix together butter, sugars and corn syrup over medium low heat until the butter is melted and the sugars have dissolved.
2. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove pan from heat. Slowly and gradually stir in the cream.
4. Return to heat and let boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Transfer to warm ceramic fondue pot. Keep warm over low flame.
♥ This will separate when chilled. Just stir vigorously when reheated.

Rum Raisin Brownies
These are my favorites, especially topped with canned chocolate frosting and M&Ms. Dad likes them with baked with raisins and served with vanilla ice cream.
1 packed cup raisins (optional)
¾ cup dark rum
1 cup butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
¾ cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts (optional)

1. Pour raisins and rum into small bowl. Cover and let soak until raisins are plump, approximately 30 minutes.
2. Melt butter and chocolate together in a heavy saucepan over low heat.
3. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar until smooth.
4. Whisk in raisins and rum.
5. Whisk eggs together in small bowl to break the yolks. Stir into batter.
6. Mix in flour, chocolate chips, and walnuts.
7. Pour into well-greased 11 x 9 pan. Bake at 350F for approximately 40 minutes, checking and rotating every 10 minutes. Done when toothpick in center comes clean.
8. Cool completely before cutting. Best served with canned chocolate frosting.
♥ If not using raisins, use ½ cup rum for the batter and ¼ cup rum for the cook.
♥ The alcohol can be divided between rum and liqueur. Coffee, chocolate and orange liqueurs work best.
♥ A non-alcoholic version works best with cold strong coffee (caffeinated or decaffeinated).

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares
This also works very well with cocoa rice krispies. And you can leave out the peanut butter, but why would you want to? A silicon pan works best because you can just peel off the pan to cut into squares on a cutting board.
¼ cup margarine
10 oz package marshmallows
5-6 cups rice krispies
¼ cup peanut butter

1. Melt margarine in a large saucepan over low heat.
2. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
3. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until well combined.
4. Add 3 cups of rice krispies and combine. Add remaining rice krispies gradually, stopping when marshmallow mixture doesn't coat cereal.
5. Press into buttered 13 x 9 pan.
6. Allow to cool to room temperature and cut into human sized pieces.