There isn’t much better than cheese fondue on a blistering winter evening. This recipe uses hard apple cider instead of white wine which gives the fondue deeper, sweeter and more layered flavors.
Cheese makes a few annual traditional appearances in our household – for Christmas we order a special cheese from France, a spread of the best cheese for my birthday, and on the first snowfall we eat cheese fondue while watching Aspen Extreme. So, you can image how thrilled I was when snow was on this week’s forecast. And snow it did. About one foot, making this cheese fondue extra special.
In years past, I had cornstarch bubbles in my fondue from adding the cornstarch after the cheese melted. This time, I mixed the shredded cheese and the cornstarch before melting, and there were no bubbles in sight.
I love the addition of hard apple cider instead of white wine. The fondue still has a boozy taste from the brandy, but the cider adds in a touch of sweetness that pairs perfectly with apples. We served ours with a whole bunch of vegetables and some sliced sausages.
PrintGruyère Cheese Fondue with Apple Cider
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
Description
There isn’t much better than cheese fondue on a blistering winter evening. This recipe uses hard apple cider instead of white wine which gives the fondue deeper, sweeter and more layered flavors.
Ingredients
- 1lb (1/2 kg) Gruyère cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 cup (240 ml) flavorful hard apple cider (in you liquor store)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp apple brandy or regular brandy
Fixings for Fondue -You can use whatever you’d like to dip but here is a list of what we used
- 2 chorizo sausages, cooked
- 2 apple sausages, cooked
- Granny Smith Apple
- Radishes
- Celery
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
Instructions
- In a large bowl, thoroughly mix cheese and corn starch.
- In a medium sized saucepan, heat cider and vinegar over medium to high heat until just simmering.
- Keeping a gentle (very gentle) simmer and start adding handfuls of cheese.
- Once the cheese has melted continue adding handfuls until all of the cheese has been mixed in.
- While keeping a constant stir, increase the heat until the cheese starts to bubble.
- Then turn down the heat and add brandy.
- Cut desired vegetables and meats (meat should be already cooked) into bite size pieces.
- Transfer to a fondue pot, grab some wine, watch the snowfall and dig in!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
Oh, I love cheese fondue!