Super Simple Raspberry Sauce

Valentine's day is looming just around the corner, which got me thinking about things that go together like: Romeo and Juliet, Ozzie and Harriet, Fred and Ginger, Hubs and Me. (sappy I know!) Naturally this got me thinking of my all-time fav food pairings as well. Spaghetti and meatballs, peanut butter and jelly, chips and salsa, and the list could go on and on. Raspberries pair well with almost any dessert. Tart, tangy raspberries + dark rich chocolate = perfection! The great thing about making a fruit sauce is that frozen berries work just as well, if not better than fresh berries. So you can make a fruit sauce anytime, not just when the berries are in season.

I put the raspberry sauce between the layers of this vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting...yum!

This raspberry sauce is so simple and delicious, you'll want to have it on hand all the time. It should hold for about 2 weeks if kept refrigerated. I keep it in the fridge in a plastic squeeze bottle which makes it easy to use anytime.

Raspberry Sauce   (printable recipe)

Yield: about 1 cup
Ingredients:
12 oz. (1 1/2 cup) frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

Directions:
In a small sauce pan, combined all of the ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the berries have broken down about 5 min. You can use the sauce now if you don't mind the seeds. At this point, while the sauce is still warm, I pour it into a sieve and strain out (most of) the seeds. To get a completely seedless sauce you will need to line your sieve with cheese cloth.

This raspberry sauce is very versatile. It's great on pancakes, yogurt and ice cream. It's also makes an amazing filling for a layer cake. Raspberry sauce elevates even an ordinary dessert into something special.

Drizzle it on your dessert plate with whatever your serving and you'll look like a pastry superstar!