Cheese Fondue
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: Serves 3-6
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Swiss
How to make a classic Cheese Fondue using Gruyère, Vacherin Fribourgeois and Camembert. This classic fondue recipe from Switzerland is perfect for sharing with friends. Recipe with step-by-step photos.
Ingredients
For the cheese fondue
- 500 g (18 oz) Camembert
- 400 g (14 oz) Gruyère
- 400 g (14 oz) Vacherin Fribourgeois
- 625 ml (2 1/2 cups) dry white wine (see notes)
- 6 teaspoons cornflour (US: cornstarch)
- 3 tablespoons Kirsch
- 2–3 small cloves of garlic
- freshly ground pepper
To serve
- 1 loaf of crusty bread (white or brown bread, or a mix), cut into bite-sized cubes
- boiled small new potatoes
- cornichons
- pickled corn and/or pickled onions
Instructions
- Remove the rind from the Camembert and chop the soft cheese into small cubes.
- Cut the Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois into small cubes.
- Heat the wine in a large fondue pot until it starts to simmer.
- Add the cheese and use a large whisk to slowly melt the cheese into the wine.
- Meanwhile, mix together the cornflour (US: cornstarch) and Kirsch in a small bowl.
- Once the cheese has fully melted into the wine, slowly whisk in some of the cornflour (US: cornstarch) mixture. You may not need all of it – use enough until you have a thick consistency, but still light enough to easily coat a piece of bread. If your fondue is too thick, simply thin it with some more white wine.
- Add the garlic cloves and season with some pepper.
- Serve the fondue immediately on a stand over a medium flame.
- The fondue needs to be stirred constantly so that it remains emulsified. So as you are dipping your bread into the cheese, swirl it around the pot to give the cheese a good mix, and also to coat your bread nicely.
- Once you get to the bottom of the pot, you will find that a lovely layer of golden cheese will have formed. In our home, this is considered to be the prize of the meal and everyone always fights for a piece.
Kitchen Notes
WHAT TYPE OF CHEESE TO USE
A classic Swiss cheese fondue uses half Gruyère and half Vacherin Fribourgeois. You can experiment with different types of cheese by substituting one or all of the varieties specified in this recipe. Note that Gruyère can range from mild to strong-tasting (I like to use mild Gruyère for fondue). I would suggest only 2 to 3 different cheeses for a fondue, and preferably of French or Swiss origin. Some good varieties include: Comté, Emmental and Beaufort. A good substitute for Camembert is Brie.
WHAT TYPE OF WHITE WINE TO USE
I use a dry white wine in this recipe, which also happens to be the wine we like to serve alongside the fondue. As the wine is one of the major flavours in this dish, you definitely need to use a good quality wine which you would be happy to drink; the wine does not need to be expensive, but it needs to taste good.
SUBSTITUTES FOR KIRSCH
Kirsch a strong cherry brandy. You can substitute it with grappa, or even whisky is a delicious alternative.
MAKE IT LESS ALCOHOLIC
If you don’t like the flavour of alcohol in your fondue, you can try to cook off some of the alcohol in the white wine by letting it simmer for 3-5 minutes before adding the cheese. You could also omit the Kirsch.
USING GARLIC
The garlic cloves gently flavour the cheese during the meal. If you don’t want to use whole garlic cloves, the more traditional method is to simply rub one garlic clove all over the inside of the pot before starting this recipe.
OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website use temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. Convection ovens (i.e. fan-forced ovens) are typically 20°C/70°F hotter than conventional ovens, but please check your manufacturer’s handbook.
CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 3 to 6
- Calories: 1096
- Sugar: 1.2g
- Sodium: 2215.4mg
- Fat: 79.5g
- Carbohydrates: 6.1g
- Fiber: 0.1g
- Protein: 69.6g
- Cholesterol: 254.7mg
View the recipe online: https://eatlittlebird.com/classic-cheese-fondue/
