Cheese Fondue

Updated on 11 April 2021

Ahh, for the love of cheese!  I could eat cheese fondue far too often (and probably do lol).  This recipe is what I came up with based on recipes I've read, my experimentation and modification of it over time, and cheeses commonly available near me.  As such, I don't measure some of the ingredients. To get an idea of how much I use, check out my YouTube video here:

https://youtu.be/yXTxGKkYTLM

This cheese fondue is in the style of Swiss fondue, but I use this combination of cheeses:

The one on the top left is Gruyère (Swiss/French); below that is Jarlsberg (Norwegian), and on the right is Comté (French).  I used to use Emmental (instead of Jarlsberg), but stopped because it was harder to come by and more expensive.

Ingredients:

6 1/2 oz. Jarlsberg cheese

5 1/4 oz. Gruyère cheese

4 oz. Comté cheese

all-purpose flour (or cornstarch)

1 1/2 c. Chardonnay or other dry white wine
bottled minced garlic
Kirschwasser
lemon juice
pepper
nutmeg
bread (baguette or other hard-crusted), cut into pieces or cubes

any other dippers desired (apples, etc)

special equipment: fondue pot

Directions:

1. Shred all the cheeses together (I use and recommend using a food processor with shred blade) into same bowl. Sprinkle with a small amount of flour, work in by hand, then repeat a couple of times until cheese no longer sticks together as much (again, see the video for a better explanation). 

2. Add the Chardonnay to the fondue pot and minced garlic, to taste (I go a bit heavy). Turn the pot on to a low setting, just enough to get the mixture to rapidly simmer for a couple of minutes. (On my current fondue pot (Rival brand), I have to set it to 200°F. The one shown in these pix is our old one.)

3. Begin adding cheese a small handful at a time, mixing after each addition.  At first it will look like this:

After a few more handfuls, it should look more like this:

4. Add a small splash of the Kirschwasser and a squeeze of lemon juice (I typically use bottled lemon juice, but have used fresh as well).  Continue adding cheese handfuls until the mixture clings a bit to the utensil, but drips/melts off slowly (you may end up with a little unused shredded cheese or you may have to shred and add more).

5. Add pepper, to taste:

Followed by nutmeg, to taste:

6. Stir to combine and it should look something like this:

7. Serve with bread and enjoy!!