My girlfriends Traci, Siel, and I threw a cocktail and dessert inauguration party last week for about 50 people to celebrate the Obamas moving into the White House.  Nothing says celebrate more than delicious chocolate fondue…

I adapted this quickie microwave recipe from The Food Network by Michael Chiarello. The first recipe is for regular chocolate fondue with cream and butter.  The second is for vegan and lactose intolerant party-goers.

Traditional Chocolate Fondue

- 2 Tablespoons of sugar

- 1 Cup of heavy cream

- 8 Oz of bittersweet chocolate chips

- 1 Tablespoon of butter

- 1 Tablespoon of Cabernet

Microwave everything but the cab for 2 minutes.  Whisk, add cab, whisk again and then pour into a fondue pot.

No Vegan Left Behind Chocolate Fondue

- 1 cup of Soyatoo Whippable Soy Topping (this is the heavy cream sold in a juice-box-like container, not the prepared whip cream in a can)

- 8 Oz of semisweet vegan chocolate chips (available at natural foods stores, check the labels, sometime they are vegan even when not labeled as such)

- 1 Tablespoon of Cab

- Sugar to taste (mine needed none) and follow the directions above

For dipping, try strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, wafers, and macaroons.

In theory, microwaving sounds super easy… but when I showed up at that hippie’s my friend Traci’s house I realized she didn’t have a microwave. So I cooked it on medium for several minutes with lots of whisking.

Other green tips:

A little goes a long way… avoid waste by making one batch at a time as needed. I doubled both these recipes for the party and I still have fondue in my fridge a week later.

Search early for organic and fair trade chocolate chips, I shopped last minute and my store was sold out.

The world has too many fondue pots - try borrowing rather than buying.

Photo courtesy of The Food Network