Alice Medrich's Chocolate Fondue Recipe

The first time I made this fondue, I had an accident. I took my eyes off the water bath for just a minute, and water managed to get into the chocolate and seized the chocolate into an unappetizing glob. Don't be like me. Because my mind seems to wander off more often than a goldfish with ADHD, I took no chance with my second batch a few days later and chucked the chocolate-milk mixture into the microwave, as Alice Medrich recommended. 

If someone tries to make you feel bad about using microwaves, show 'em this webpage on what Jonas Mikka Luster has to say about microwaves. (A German Master Chef. The real ones. Not the tv show.) 

Which goes to show that making a chocolate fondue for dessert is as hard - or easy - as you make it to be. Combine milk and chopped chocolate, and heat until they combine. Serve with cut fruits and voila! Desserts doesn't get simpler than this. The best part about this versatile recipe? Feel free to tinker with the proportion of the ingredients according to your preferred taste. 

I served this with strawberries, bananas, mandarin oranges and apples, and liked the crunchy apples most with the thick chocolate fondue. Alice M commented "I have never seen anyone dip anything (even a finger) in chocolate without a smile. Although this festive, simple party dessert is a year-round opportunity to use the season’s best and ripest fruit, I am partial to the time between darkest winter and early spring, when citrus fruit and bananas and dried fruits cry out for chocolate.” But like the recipe itself, feel free to use any fruits - or cakes or biscuits - that you want to try. This is after all, your show. When done right, (and really, it isn't that hard!), it makes a wonderful accompaniment to winter fruits, and as a chocolate sauce, dress up a bowl of ice cream or slices of cakes. 

Chocolate Mardi Gras Fondue
Original recipe from A Year in Chocolate: Four Seasons of Unforgettable Desserts, by Alice Medrich. Recipe found on this forum. 

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients: 
280g (10 ounces) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
120ml - 180ml (1/2 to 3/4 cup) milk/heavy cream/half-and-half*

30g (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter (optional, if using all milk)*

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For dipping:
Kumquats or segments of seedless clementines, oranges, or ruby grapefruit
Chunks of pineapple
Chunks of fresh coconut or large curls of dried coconut
Chunks of banana
Dried fruit such as apricot, mango, papaya, pineapple, or Bing cherries
Strips of good-quality candied orange, grapefruit or lemon peel
Cubes of pound cake or angel food cake, or toasted cubes of brioche or challah
Cigarette cookies, fan wafers, graham crackers or digestive biscuits, or pretzels
Marshmallows or meringues
Toasted shaved almonds (to sprinkle on after dipping)

Tip: If possible, separate the citrus into segments without breaking the membrane. If you set the segments on a rack to dry in a warm place or in the oven, preheated to 200° F., then turned off for several hours, the membrane will dry like crisp paper and the juices will burst in your mouth when you take a bite.

Steps:
To make the sauce, in a small bowl, combine the chocolate and 1/2 cup milk and melt gently in a barely simmering water bath. Stir until smooth. Add more liquid if the sauce seems too thick or look curdled. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Use warm fondue immediately or set aside until needed and rewarm briefly.

Choose a selection of fruit and other dippables, with an eye to variety of color, flavor and texture. And don’t forget to include some children’s favorites as well, Arrange on a platter or in pretty bowls.

Have forks, skewers, or pretty (or goofy) swizzle sticks available for guests to dip with. If the fondue gets too thick or cool, reheat gently for 1 minute in the microwave on Medium (50 percent) power or set in a pan of barely simmering water (without boiling). Leftover sauce keeps several days in the refrigerator. It is a perfect topping for ice cream.

*Note: 

This is a versatile recipe that can be tailored to your taste and the type of chocolate you are using. For an intense chocolate flavour, use milk only. Adding butter or cream results in a softer, mellower chocolate flavor. For even greater intensity, choose a bittersweet chocolate labeled anywhere from 66 percent to 70 percent. Personally, I used 1/4 cup milk to 100g of 70% chocolate.  

If using a microwave, heat on Medium (50 percent) power for about 2 minutes