Looking for yummy Chocolate fondue recipe suggestions!

November 19, 2011 9:46 PM

I have recently purchased a Fondue pot and I want to serve chocolate fondue at a party. The Fondue place "The Melting Pot" near my house sells chocolate bars to use, but it would be expensive to buy a lot to fill my pot.

I would like to make a simple milk chocolate fondue. I would like to make it from scratch, but I am not sure what mixture would be good.

I would also be open to knowing about good melting chocolate bars that I could get at a grocery store. .

Thanks.

posted by Jaelma24 to food & drink (13 answers total)

Have you tried buying chocolate chips or chunks in the bulk section of the grocery store? Considering that you're going to add cream to it, I don't think it'll make that much of a difference.

Alternatively, if you don't wish to sacrifice quality, here's a recipe for one that uses cocoa powder rather than actual chocolate to make the "chocolate" for the fondue... This might be a lot cheaper (especially if you plan to use it multiple times) considering you can just buy really high quality cocoa powder in bulk for a lot less than the equivalent yield of chocolate.

Cocoa Powder Chocolate Fondue Recipe
posted by Conspire at 9:59 PM on November 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Toblerone bars make excellent chocolate fondue.
posted by mckenney at 10:15 PM on November 19, 2011 [2 favorites]

Fondue chocolate is the same (or at least really close to) chocolate fountain chocolate. You can often buy it in big bags of chips -- which are easier to melt than a solid bar -- at party supply stores. You could call around to various places that rent chocolate fountains and see if they would sell you just a quantity of the chocolate.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:23 PM on November 19, 2011

Trader Joes has big chunks of good chocolate available pretty cheaply.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:26 PM on November 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

You can really use any decent quality bar chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips, because adding the cream smooths out a lot of inconsistencies. (Adding alcohol and flavoring smooths out ANY inconsistencies, barred burnt chocolate.) You can even use Wilton Milk Chocolate melting chips, if they're available at craft or cake stores in your area, although I'm not sure about the price point between that and grocery store chips or bars anything that has a decent taste when solid - the key is the presence of both cocoa solids and cocoa fat, with no hydrogenated anything in it.

Also: You don't actually fill the pot. The amount of chocolate taken up with each dip is pretty small. Most of the recipes in modern books consist, without flavorings, of 8-12 oz chocolate and about 2-6 Tablespoons liquid additions and they serve 4-8 people. You can always add more chocolate and cream if you're running low, and unmelted chocolate in chip or broken bar format keeps fine for this purpose if stored properly.

Anyway, fondue is pretty forgiving, and I'll use the only plain recipe in any of my fondue cookbooks as an example.

The plainest chocolate fondue recipes from my 1969 book are:
1. 18.75 oz chocolate from bars, broken up, 1 cup heavy cream and optional brandy.
2. (The 'dark chocolate' recipe) 9 oz milk choc bars, 1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, and 1.5 cups heavy cream and more brandy.

As you can see, the ratio of chocolate to cream is significantly different than the first, and it still works out technically. As for flavor, you'll want to adjust your ratios to taste.

The 'original' fondue at The Melting Pot, per their official recipe book, is 8 oz milk chocolate and 2T each heavy cream and chunky peanut butter.

On preview: Mckenney says Toblerone is excellent. The 1969 book says that fondue was actually created, in NYC, to promote Toblerone bars. So Toblerone fondue is kind of the 'original' chocolate fondue. Before that it was all cheese. Some of my books don't have *any* chocolate fondues, and only the oldest one has a 'plain' recipe.

Additional notes for doing chocolate fondue: If you bought an electric pot, you're all set, follow the directions that came with it. If you have one with any other kind of heat, it's necessary to melt the chocolate on the stove ahead of time to control the melt better. Candle heating elements are never strong enough to melt chocolate from cold and can't even always keep it liquid. Depending on your experience with melting chocolate in general, you'll probably want to rig a double boiler* up to pre-melt it.

*I say 'rig up' because I don't know anyone under 40 who owns proper double-boiler pans: put a smaller thin, not a heavy, metal bowl or smaller pot on top of a saucepan filled with boiling water. Chocolate goes in the dry upper bowl. Google image search for 'improvised double boiler'.
posted by cobaltnine at 10:58 PM on November 19, 2011 [9 favorites]

Agreed with cobaltnine*. All you really need is chocolate and cream. Preferably the best chocolate you can afford.

* Except the double boiler thing. I've owned a double boiler since I was 20.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:31 PM on November 19, 2011

I'll second BP's recommendation of Trader Joe's Belgian Pound Plus bars. They're the best value for the quality in my area, by far (~$3 for 500g). If you don't have a TJ's nearby, try Guittard or Gheradelli's chocolate chips. Under no circumstances buy Baker's brand. I'd go with a semisweet dark chocolate (45-55%) instead of the milk, for versatility. Real couverture chocolate is ideal, but much more expensive. Cheap candy-making "chocolate" contains oil and other weird stuff--check the ingredients, because you'll be able to taste it later. Also, make sure absolutely no water gets in the melted chocolate, including steam from a double-boiler. Enjoy!
posted by nemp at 11:35 PM on November 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

Chocolate speed tip: bar and solid chocolate melt a lot faster if you refrigerate, then grate the bar with the small holes on a grater.

I melt chocolate in the microwave, but only 20 seconds at a time, and stir. It's deceptive because the chips and squares hold their shapes and don't look melted, even though they are ready to go, so stir. I use a Pyrex measuring cup for this.

Wear brown when you work with chocolate.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 1:47 AM on November 20, 2011

Seconding Toblerones. Toss in any odds and ends sitting in the chocolate drawer. Big splash of cream and big splash of kirsch or Grand Marnier or something.
posted by bluebelle at 7:12 AM on November 20, 2011

My fondue pot was given to me from a friend. It was sitting at their house never used for a few years. So it did not come with instructions, but it has it's own electric heater. I am thinking I could even do oil fondue in it, but I have not tested if it gets hot enough for that. All I know is that i need it on low to melt the chocolate.

The pot seems big, so when I tried one 4 oz bar, it barely covered a thin layer on the bottom, so I figured I wanted have it a little higher in the pot, even if it wastes some of the chocolate.


All of these suggestions are great. It does help give me ideas what to look for in chocolate bars.

The Melting pot chocolate bar is $5 dollars per 4oz about 100g worth. So the Trader Joes for $3 dollars at 500g sounds much more reasonable to me.

Thanks everyone. It should be fun to have chocolate fondue. I am planning on making some for thanksgiving.
posted by Jaelma24 at 10:21 AM on November 20, 2011

Wait - Bluebelle has a whole drawer dedicated to chocolate? I'll be right over!

Toblerone is totally the way to go. Yum!
posted by PorcineWithMe at 5:32 PM on November 20, 2011

I went through a major chocolate fondue for birthday parties when I was a kid. Those were the days before Trader Joes (and there still isn't a TJs in my hometown) but we always made chocolate fondue with Symphony milk chocolate and cream. It was good quality but still very accessible and affordable. I think my mom added a splash of brandy sometimes too when it was for the grown ups.
posted by moshimosh at 6:30 PM on November 20, 2011

To wrap this conversation up in case anyone else will read this.

I bought chocolate bar from trader joes. I melted it and added a liberal amount of heavy cream. I heated it up really hot and it worked out great. It was a huge success.
posted by Jaelma24 at 11:09 PM on December 8, 2011