Raspberry Sauce Recipe

Easter is one of the happiest holidays in our house.  We decorate, the Easter bunny comes, we color eggs and Dad does the best job of hiding several dozen eggs for the kids.  But the day itself is about family and celebrating our risen Savior.

Traditions are so important because they remind us every year how blessed we are.  They especially remind us of the good times we have had in the past and they are a great way to mark time.  Our three teenage sons are going through that hollow leg phase of their life where food is particularly important to them.  That means food traditions are especially important to them. 

Every year we have pound cake with raspberry sauce.  It's not the most glamorous or most original dessert, but it would not be Easter without the lovely raspberry sauce and the pound cake to soak it up.

I always like to make the raspberry sauce in advance so this is one less thing I have to worry about at the last minute. Raspberry sauce is so easy. It takes minutes and the results are amazing. If you are a raspberry fan, this is something to try. I have served this on ice cream, french toast, of course pound cake, under a rich slice of chocolate torte, and in a pinch you can add a bit to hot chocolate for a yummy twist.  The board of ingredients is simple.  A 12 ounce frozen bag of unsweetened raspberries, white sugar, and the orange liquor of your choice.  You will also need some water.  I am making a double batch so that there will still be some left over after Easter. 

To start, add your frozen berries to a sauce pan over medium heat. 

Add the sugar.

Add the water and just let everything sit for a few minutes.  

The cooking time is a bit odd for this recipe.  You cannot time this one...you have to look at the berries.  See how they are still intact and whole?  That means that they have not given all of their flavor up yet.  Keep cooking and stirring occasionally.

See this?  This is exactly what you want.  The raspberries have cooked down, but you still have a beautiful raspberry color.  Get them off the heat as soon as they start to look like this.  Over cooking them means you will loose color and flavor.   

I have set up a bowl and a strainer so we can get those seeds out of the sauce. 

Add a scoop of sauce to the strainer and let the delicious juice drip out.  If you press the juice through the strainer you will get sediment in the sauce.  Sediment is fine actually, but to get a beautifully clear sauce it will need to sit in the fridge for a few days to let the sediment settle.  It's up to you.  Sometimes I press the sauce cause I am in a hurry and I use it as is.  No one can really tell...except for me. 




Discard the seeds in your compost pile.





When you have your lovely juice, you need to add a bit of sugar right away while the juice is still warm.  If you wait until later to add the sugar, it will not dissolve.  I am also adding 1 teaspoon of orange liquor for each bag of raspberries...also while the juice is still warm.  If you do not want to use alcohol for this, you can use some regular orange juice.

I like to store the sauce in this squeeze bottle so I can dress up desserts in a hurry.  When I serve the sauce for Easter, I will put it in a pretty little crystal picture.

Now let me show you how to dress up a store bought dessert.  Take a small plate and add a puddle of sauce to the plate.  There is about half a tablespoon of sauce on this plate. 

Then add your dessert to the plate.  How pretty is this?  You can add a dollop of whipped cream, or ice cream or even a pretty flower if you had one.  All I can say is this sauce is so good.  The raspberry flavor will just soak right up into that torte and it will be so good. 

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients:

12 oz Bag of Frozen, Unsweetened Raspberries
3/4 Cup White Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Orange Liquor or 1 Tablespoon Orange Juice
1/2 Cup Water

Directions:

1. Add frozen berries, water and 1/2 cup sugar to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the berries loose their shape. Remove from heat immediately.

2. Stir in the remaining sugar and orange juice or liquor until sugar is dissolved.

3. Strain sauce through a fine mesh strainer.

4. Serve sauced chilled or at room temperature. Makes approximately 12 ounces.

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