Fruit sauces - a way to add a tasty bit of pizzazz

I readily admit to being a fan of sauces. Give me a good wine reduction sauce on a nice cut of beef, a tangy lemon caper sauce on a slow-cooked chicken fillet, or a fresh fruit sauce drizzled over a luscious piece of New York cheesecake and it makes my day.

Making a fresh fruit sauce is one of the simplest, yet most impressive things one can do if entertaining guests. It takes the presentation element of a dessert up a few notches and can create two dimensions of flavor to a dessert.

Fortunately, in Fallbrook, we can easily find fresh fruit at local farm stands and in grocery stores. It is something that can be prepared just as easily with organic or non-organic fruit. You can use frozen fruit – just defrost in the microwave. If it gets a little unexpectedly warm, it doesn’t matter since it will be cooked further anyway.

There aren’t many decisions involved in making a fruit sauce. The major ones are – how chunky do you want it, do you prefer a subtle flavor add-in, and do you want to combine any fruits for interesting flavors?

Chunky or smooth? With seeds or without? In the recipes below, when preparing the fruit in a blender or food processor, you can whirl it to the level of smoothness or chunkiness preferred. If preparing raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries, you can opt to keep the seeds in the sauce or pour the fruit through a fine mesh sieve to catch the seeds and thus create a silky, smooth sauce.

The sauces below are simple to make and can be used in many ways – warm or cold.

Fresh Fruit Sauce

Yield: 2 1/2 cups

This recipe will work for many different fruits. Mix or match two cups of fruit puree. Use flavorings, extracts or spices as desired.

Ingredients:

2 cups fruit puree (your choice - use one type of fruit or combination to equal amount)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon flavoring or extract - if desired - such as vanilla, almond, or rum

Pinch of spice - if desired - cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Wash and prep fruit. If preparing strawberries, remove hull/top, then cut in halves or quarters. If using raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries, leave whole. To process peaches, apricots and similar fruit, peel and remove pits, then cut fruit into chunks.

Place the fruit into a blender or food processor and process until fruit is smooth or to whatever level of smoothness/chunkiness that you prefer. Strain fruit if you prefer to eliminate seeds.

Pour puree (processed fruit) into a two-quart saucepan. Add sugar and mix well. Using low or medium-low heat, bring fruit mixture to a simmer. Cook five to 10 minutes; stir frequently to keep fruit from sticking to bottom of pan. Refrain from letting the mixture come to a boil as it can burn easily.

If the sauce is a little thicker than you prefer, thin very gradually with a little water or fruit juice (apple is good).

If the sauce appears to be thinner than you would like, remove it from the stove and let it cool. The sauce thickens as it cools. If it is still too thin after cooling, return it to the stove, reheat and simmer, allowing it to reduce further.

It is possible to freeze the sauce in containers that seal well.

Uses for fruit sauce

Fruit sauces can be served warm, at room temperature, or cold, depending on what it is being served with or to personal taste. When re-warming a sauce, do it gently to avoid scorching and stir constantly. Foods that are easily enhanced by topping them with fruit sauce include:

* Pancakes or waffles

* Warm pieces of cake

* Ice cream or frozen yogurt

* Cheesecake

* Pie