Instead of making a cake or pie for dessert, try a fondue fountain. Chocolate fondue fountains allow for lots of flavor combinations for your family and friends. Fondue fountains also make the idea of dessert a creative food experience that will be different for everyone, based on their dipping selections.
Use Fruit
Fruit may be wonderful by itself, but when you add chocolate, the combination of flavors is nothing short of delectable. Arrange a platter of fresh strawberries, orange wedges, sliced bananas and apples, raspberries and pineapple slices. On another platter, add large dried fruits such as apricots, papaya and mangoes. Be sure to provide toothpicks or bamboo skewers for guests to dip the fruit into the flowing chocolate.
Firm Cakes and Sweets
Many delicious desserts taste even better dipped in chocolate. Use pieces of rich fudge, cubes of firm pound cake, cheesecake, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, brownie and toffee chunks, large marshmallows and sugar wafers. Be sure to only include desserts that can withstand being skewered and then held under the flowing chocolate. If you use runny or soft items, such as pie slices or thin cake pieces, your chocolate fountain will become a clogged mess instead of an enjoyable dessert.
Savory Works
To offset the sweetness of chocolate, make a tray of savory snacks. Try pretzel rods, large mixed-nut clusters, cheddar cheese cubes and potato chips. Though some of the savory dipping options sound strange, the sweet and salty combination provides an explosion of flavor. All it will take is one guest to try and enjoy a chocolate-covered potato chip before word spreads about the strange-yet-delicious concoction, and then you will have all of your guests clamoring for the salty snack.
Go Non-Traditional
Surprise your family and friends with dipping ideas that may introduce them to a whole new way of thinking about chocolate. Use small squares of cooked waffles, miniature doughnuts, rolled crepes, biscotti, pancakes, fortune cookies and granola bars. Other options could be crystallized ginger or even chili peppers. The sweet and spicy combination is a shocking, yet delicious, treat. Your imagination is the limit, as almost anything tastes wonderful dipped in chocolate, even if it is just your fingers.
Tags: dipped chocolate, family friends, flowing chocolate, your family, your family friends