How to Create a Holiday Fondue Party

Fondue parties are not only a fun and delicious way to feed guests for the holidays, but there’s minimal cooking required! Plus, there aren’t many party foods better than a warm pot of melted cheese. Served with a variety of delicious foods for dipping—think bread, veggies, fruit—for a meal that’s sure to please everyone.

Take the stress out of your holiday entertaining by creating a festive fondue spread with our ready-to-serve Original Fondü.

The Fondü

Our ready-made Fondü means you’ve got to do just one thing: pour it straight into a pan. Bring the cheese sauce to a boil, stirring until smooth. Once it’s warmed through, place your pot on the fondue stand above a lit candle. If you don’t have a fondue set, no worries—place your pot over a pan of hot water. It’s important to keep the cheese warm while it’s being served so it maintains a smooth, creamy consistency for dipping.

The Pairings

Veggies

Fresh vegetables make some of the best dippers and help add a variety of flavors & textures to your fondue spread. We opted for broccolini (raw or blanched in hot water until slightly tender), roasted or steamed potatoes, and raw carrots.

Fruits

Fruit and cheese is a wonderful pairing. It adds a welcome sweetness to the savory cheese. Grapes, pears, and apples all taste deliciously good with the flavors of our Swiss cheese fondue. Fruit is also a lighter option amongst the heavier pairings of meats and breads, adding levity to the meal.

Carbs

Arguably the star of the show, nothing beats bread and melted cheese! Make sure your bread has a nice crust to it so it’s easy to dip in the fondue—brioche, sourdough and multigrain loaves all work great. Cubing the bread ahead of time will make it easier for guests to skewer, dip, and devour.

Meats

Adding protein to the spread is important if you plan on making this the main meal of your gathering. We included sliced sausage here, but cubed ham, meatballs, and steak tips also make tasty dippers.

Extras

Feel free to add any other items to your spread. Nuts and breadsticks are a great option as they give guests something to snack on. Mini holiday decorations, like ornaments and trees, add a festive touch. And of course, no holiday fondue party is complete without some wine! A red Cabernet or Merlot, and white Riesling pair perfectly with the cheesy fondue. For a non-alcoholic option, serve with spiced apple cider or a non-alcoholic hard cider.

Original Fondue

Pair With

Crusty Bread Cubed Ham, Boiled Shrimp, Meatballs Red And Green Bell Peppers

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Select Fondue

Pair With

Crusty bread Cubed ham, boiled shrimp, grilled steak Apples, pears, grapes

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6 Cheesy Appetizers for Your Next Holiday Party

Impress your family and friends this holiday season with six of our favorite cheesy appetizers. These snacks, sides, & bites are easy to make, don’t require a crazy number of ingredients, and boast deliciously complex and festive flavors thanks to Emmi’s award-winning cheeses.

Spinach Balls with Gruyère

Spinach Balls with Gruyère

A Midwestern classic, we’ve updated our Spinach Balls by adding nutty Le Gruyère cheese for an extra special holiday treat.

French Onion Cheese Ball

French Onion Cheese Ball

Everyone loves a cheese ball, especially when it’s a French Onion Cheese Ball. With Le Gruyère, wine-glazed caramelized onions, and crispy fried onions.

Mini Le Gruyère Tarts

Wow guests while saving time this holiday season with these super addictive Le Gruyère Tarts! They only take five ingredients and less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

Chocolate Gruyère Bark

Our traditional Le Gruyère has a nutty flavor that pairs wonderfully with chocolate. Top these mini cheese barks with caramel corn, crushed pistachios, and candied ginger.

Baked Gruyère Dip

This super simple recipe is a holiday crowd-pleaser. Warm Le Gruyère is melted with cranberries and rosemary, then served with toasted baguette rounds for dipping.

Peach, Caramel, & Gouda Bites

These no-bake bites feature our Kaltbach Gouda cheese, dried peaches, salted caramel sauce, marcona almonds, and rosemary. Completely unique and delicious.

LE GRUYÈRE® AOP

Notes

Candied Walnuts, Dried Fruit, Spice

Pair With

Fresh Apples, Pears And Grapes Almonds Figs

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How to Make a Holiday Brunch Board

Want to enjoy a beautiful holiday brunch and still sleep in? Behold the Holiday Brunch Board. A combination of your favorite Emmi cheeses, store-bought nibbles and make-ahead bites mean you can serve a gorgeous brunch without spending your morning in the kitchen.

Follow these tips to create an unforgettable spread while making it look so easy. Because it really is so easy!

1. Make a Special Flavored Cream Cheese

Take a cue from your favorite bagel shop and make your own flavored cream cheese. Our recipe for Leek and Gruyère Cream Cheese is super simple and adds a special touch to your brunch board. Prep your cream cheese a day or two in advance and allow to soften a bit before serving.

2. Turn Your Bagels into Chips

Homemade bagel chips are a special treat, and they’re so easy to prepare. Slice your favorite flavor of bagel into thin strips and lay in a single layer on a sheet pan. Brush both sides with olive oil and bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway through baking.

3. Dress Up Store Bought Mini Quiche

Can you think of anything more elegant than bite-sized quiche topped with rosettes of Tête De Moine cheese? Literally no one will care that you started with frozen store bought quiche. Look for Tête De Moine in your local cheese case. It can be curled into flower shapes with a traditional cheese tool called a girolle. As an alternative, you can use a vegetable peeler to shave pieces of Le Gruyère into freeform curls for topping.

4. Add More Cheese

Fill your board with slices of Emmi Le Gruyère or Emmi Emmentaler cheese. They pair well with all your favorite brunch bites and are sure to please adults and kids alike.

5. Fill with Flavorful Pairings

Try these savory brunch accompaniments to complete your board and let everyone make their perfect bites:

  • Medium boiled (aka jammy) eggs – boil for 8 minutes and cool in ice water before peeling
  • Smoked salmon
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Green olives
  • Capers
  • Dill
  • Sparkling wine – it is a holiday, after all!

Related Recipes: Leek and Gruyère Cream Cheese

LE GRUYÈRE® AOP

Notes

Candied Walnuts, Dried Fruit, Spice

Pair With

Fresh Apples, Pears And Grapes Almonds Figs

Learn More WHERE TO BUY
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Festive Pairings: Pie and Cheese

Nothing says the holidays like pie and cheese. Turn your leftover pie into pairings for a beautiful, seasonal cheese board with these clever cheese and pie pairings. No need to be fussy here. Simply arrange slices of pie and cheese on a platter so everyone can try a bite of everything. Start with these pairing suggestions and create your own. There are no rules!

KALTBACH Gouda + Pumpkin Pie

The sweet, caramel notes of cave-aged KALTBACH Gouda are a magical match with sweet, earthy pumpkin pie. Add a drizzle of caramel sauce for extra decadence.

Emmi Le Gruyère + Cherry Pie

With its notes of candied walnuts, dried fruit and spice, Emmi Le Gruyère complements all sorts of berry pies, but cherry is our top pick.

KALTBACH Le Crémeux + Apple Pie

Aged in the legendary Kaltbach Cave, Le Crémeux has a distinctive, complex flavor and a wonderfully creamy texture. Classic apple pie is a perfect pairing.

Triple Source Le Gruyère + Chocolate Pecan Pie

Selected exclusively from three of the premier Le Gruyère AOP creameries in Switzerland for consistent flavor and quality, Triple Source Le Gruyère can be found exclusively at Costco. Pair it with an equally showstopping pie – chocolate pecan.

KALTBACH Le Gruyère + Sugar Cream Pie

The mineral-rich air of the Kaltbach CAVE creates the perfect environment for transforming specially selected Le Gruyère wheels into wondrous depths of flavor. Pair slices of KALTBACH Le Gruyère with luscious bites of sugar cream pie.

Emmi cheese and pie pairings for Thanksgiving
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Incorporating Emmi Cheese Into Holiday Treats

When the holidays roll around, I’m always excited for all the extra baking. The most exciting part for me is to be able to share special recipes with family and friends — I love to indulge with truly decadent recipes at this time of year. I’m always looking to wow with a few special dishes: a holiday breakfast, a decadent dessert that’s full of surprises, and of course — something delicious to gift to others. This year, I turned to Emmi cheeses for all three of these needs.

First up, a breakfast dish. Since I spend most of the year away from my immediate family, I love to prepare a leisurely breakfast for them when I visit for the holidays. This year, I opted for a totally over-the-top stuffed French toast: thick layers of brioche stuffed with sautéed spiced pears and thick slices of one of my favorite cheeses of all time: gooey, melty Raclette. After stuffing the slices of bread to the brim with filling, I dip them in a classic custard, sweetened with maple syrup, and cook them until golden brown on a hot griddle. You can hold them in a 300 degree oven, tented with foil, to keep them warm if you’re cooking for a crowd. The finished dish is the perfect combination of sweet and savory, fruity and creamy, rich and filling. It’s a perfect and impressive way to start off a holiday morning!

While I’m on the subject of how much I love Raclette, let’s talk about all the amazing things it can do. It’s so buttery and creamy, it can actually almost serve as a substitute for them in some recipes, like caramel sauce. Yes, you heard me right — you can melt Raclette into a golden caramel sauce and it adds an incredible depth of flavor: a slight nuttiness, and a deeply delicious taste I’ve become obsessed with! It’s good on everything from ice cream to cakes, but I especially love it drizzled over fruity pastries, such as my Citrus Skillet Danish. Start by par-baking a layer of puff pastry in a cast iron skillet. Then, a layer of delicious almond cream is spread on top, and finally an assortment of sliced citrus — I used mandarin oranges, oranges, and grapefruit — but really any citrus will work beautifully! The finished pastry has a crisp crust, a creamy filling, and bright citrus flavors, all of which are amplified with a drizzle of the gooey cheese caramel. A wonderful, surprising dessert to bring to any holiday soirée.

But most of the baking I’ll do this holiday season is meant for gifting, and this year I wanted to do a twist on a classic. I took my favorite Panettone recipe — traditionally a sweet holiday bread from Italy, loaded with inclusions like dried fruit, chocolate, and nuts — and made it savory instead. The soft, buttery dough is studded with chunks of dried sausage, toasty pecans, chewy dried apples, and chunks of Kaltbach Gruyére. The result is a beautiful loaf worthy of gifting, but the smell it infuses your kitchen with while it’s baked is like a bonus gift for the baker!

No matter what your holiday baking needs are this year, be they sweet or savory (or a combo of both!), there are so many fun and creative ways to incorporate one of my favorite ingredients of all time: cheese! I especially love the versatility, flavor, and meltability of the flavorful Alpine cheeses from Emmi, and can’t wait to whip up these recipes for my hungry family this season.

Interested in making some of these delicious holiday treats? See below for recipes.

Skillet Citrus Almond Danish with Gooey Raclette Caramel

Savory Cheese and Sausage Panettone

Pear and Raclette Stuffed French Toast

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