Turtle Fondue

Todd and I celebrated Valentine's Day last night with a nice candlelight dinner. I got take-out of some of our favorite Indian food, and for dessert made this YUMMY turtle fondue that I saw on Feeding My Enthusiasms. I think it was our favorite fondue yet! So delicious and super easy to make.

TURTLE FONDUE:
Adapted from Perfect Recipes For Having People Over by Pam Anderson
8 oz. caramels, unwrapped
2 oz. semisweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
¼ cup finely chopped pecans, pre-toasted at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes until fragrant
¼ cup milk
Fresh fruit, such as apples, pears, bananas, strawberries, grapes or figs; larger fruit cut into bite sized pieces
Cubes of pound cake, pieces of shortbread cookies
Dried fruits like apricots, peaches or figs

Combine caramels, chocolate, nuts and milk in a small heavy saucepan (or a fondue pot) and heat over low heat, stirring frequently, until smooth and warm. (I melted the caramels with the milk by themselves first and then added the chocolate and nuts and found it easier this way). Serve in small bowls with skewers (or fondue forks) for dipping fresh and dried fruits and pound cake. Dip cookies while holding end of the cookie.If you have a fondue pot, use it. If you use the heavy pot, the fondue sauce retains the heat fairly well. If it starts to cool off, simply return the pot to the stove and reheat.

Serves 2 to 4.