Chocolate fondue with fresh fruit and nuts

• By Mark Camilleri

For 6 people, you will need:

225g of dark chocolate, 150g of caster sugar, 60g of butter (at room temperature), three tablespoonfuls of rum, fresh fruit (orange, banana, pineapple and grapes), crushed nuts (pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts and pine nuts).

Place the sugar in a pan with a glassful of water and heat this gently until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches the consistency of syrup. Melt the chocolate bain-marie (the chocolate in one pot balanced over another one which is full of boiling water, over a flame). Mix the butter into the melted chocolate, then stir in the sugar-water and the rum. Put this into a fondue-pot and serve immediately with diced fruit and nuts for dipping.