Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! Valentine’s Day is only two weeks away, so here’s a fabulous dessert suggestion 🙂 Start collecting fondue pots, dippers, and toppers now so you don’t get stressed out at the last minute! I wish I knew how to take better pictures, to do this recipe justice, and I should also try to take my pictures before eating the food!

This fondue is rich, dark, silky smooth, and delicious. This is NOT melted chocolate chips with a bit of shortening, no, No, NO! It’s high quality chopped chocolate and cocoa powder, whipping cream, and sugar.   Would you expect anything less from me? 🙂 You’ll need a candy thermometer to make this, but don’t stress! The candy thermometer is a very helpful tool for getting the texture just right.

For me, the hardest part of this recipe was figuring out how to get ten individual fondue pots for my dinner guests last night. I thought I would use individual butter warmers, but after countless shopping trips, I couldn’t find any. Of course, I’d seen lots of them in the stores when I didn’t need them . . . Oh well, even if I had found some, I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford ten of them, sooooo…

I ended up crafting my own pots out of small glass candle holders, tea lights, metal triangles, and ramekins! They were a bit precarious, but considering the amount of work that went into them, I am going to have to use them forever 🙂

With it getting closer to Valentine’s Day, perhaps butter warmers or individual fondue pots will be easier to find, BUT, if you don’t have a fondue pot—individual or otherwise—make the fondue anyway! The sauce can be kept warm in a crockpot, and your guest can put little puddles of chocolate sauce on their plate to dip their goodies in.

See the end of the recipe for great ideas for dippers and toppers. 

I wish I could remember where I found this recipe.  I tried about 5 different recipes before knowing this was ‘The ONE’.  If I remember or find out where I found this recipe, I will post that information ASAP 🙂

Chocolate Fondue

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup Scharffen Berger or Valrhona cocoa powder
• 1¼ cup bottled water
• 1½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup corn syrup
• ½ cup plus 5 T. heavy cream
• 5 oz. Scharffen Berger 62% semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the water, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to boil.
2. Reduce heat to simmer, and clip a candy thermometer on the side of the pan. Allow to mixture to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it reaches 220° on the candy thermometer.
3. Remove pan from heat.
4. Whisk in cocoa powder, and keep whisking until mixture is smooth.
5. Return pan to medium heat and bring back to 215°-220°.
6. Remove candy thermometer—be very careful, it’s hot—and then add heavy cream. Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Remove pan from heat and stir in chopped chocolate, keep stirring until mixture is smooth.
8. Pour into fondue pots or crockpot to keep warm and serve.

DIPPER IDEAS

• Cubes of Lemon-Poppyseed Tea Cake
• Mini Peanut Butter Cookies
• Mini Rice Krispy Treats
• Homemade vanilla and peppermint marshmallows
• Cubed Croissant
• Dried apricots, plums, or pineapple wedges
• Fresh strawberres, banana and pear slices
• Mini scoops of Vietnamese Coffee Ice-cream—not all ideas are pictured

TOPPER IDEAS

• Toasted coconut
• Crushed pretzels
• Chopped peanuts
• Rainbow sprinkles
• Grated white chocolate
• Chopped mint chocolate

More good news! This sauce can be made ahead and reheated either on top of the stove or in the microwave! Also, I successfully doubled this recipe (for 10) and had plenty of leftovers 🙂 Leftover sauce freezes well, too!

Thanks for stopping by my chocolate-y kitchen today!