I've always wished I was one of those people who could just whip up some fancy hors d'oeuvres on the fly when friends stop by. If I'm lucky, I might have some cheese and crackers to put out, but otherwise, I've got my guests covered with water and some kind of sweet treat hiding in my cupboard.
However, in my quest to have an easy (but fancy-looking) stash of things to have on hand when friends come over for a playdate or even for pre-dinner bites, I asked my friends at Heirloom LA to help me come up with hors d'oeuvres that are not only easy and delicious, but that include something unexpected. We decided to create fruit and veggie boards—both accented with a touch of dark chocolate.
I love the contrast of rich chocolate with light, fresh fruit, so we made a really simple and delicious chocolate fondue to pair with a fruit board.
Dark Chocolate Fondue Recipe
You'll need:
-1 (16 oz) can coconut cream
-1 (12 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
-3 bars (24 oz) Ghirardelli dark chocolate, chopped
Here's how:
1. Place half the chocolate in a small fondue pot.
2. In a separate pot, bring coconut cream and condensed milk to a simmer, then pour mixture over chopped chocolate in fondue pot.
3. With a spoon or whisk, slowly stir in remaining dark chocolate until smooth.
4. Serve warm, with sliced pineapples, melon, strawberries, orange slices, grapefruit wedges, grapes, or apples. Also, to make a simple but beautiful presentation, think about other parts of the fruit you can use to decorate the board (Matt from Heirloom simply used the head of the pineapple, which adds extra interest). We also added some granola and simple puff pastry (sprinkled with cinnamon sugar) to complement the fruit.
Now, for a veggie version, here's an updated version of crudite that's so, so delicious, thanks to a chipotle cream cheese spread that's topped with dark chocolate.
