The Raspberry Sauce Recipe

Actually, I'm going to post two recipes. The sauce in the picture above is Raspberry Rhubarb Sauce and I got the recipe from RecipeZaar. It's sweet-tart and a perfect complement for ice cream. Jack loved it so it's a keeper.

The problem is that you have to have rhubarb. It's generally accepted that you can't harvest rhubarb after the 4th of July because it's just not good, anymore. Don't quote me on that but I think that's what "they" say. I did pull rhubarb for this recipe and it was just fine. So either we have exceptional rhubarb or "they're" wrong...old wives tale, perhaps.

You can also buy frozen rhubarb. I made a rhubarb pie a couple of years ago in Phoenix and found frozen rhubarb. It was just fine.

This recipe takes about 30 minutes to prepare and it makes about 3 cups.

Raspberry Rhubarb Sauce

2-1/2 cups sliced rhubarb (fresh or frozen)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 lemon, juice and zest of
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups raspberries (fresh or previously frozen, unsweetened)

1. Combine rhubarb, water, sugar & lemon zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Reduce heat and simmer until rhubarb is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice, cinnamon and raspberries and let cool.

It thickens some when it cools.

If you don't have rhubarb you can still make a nice raspberry sauce - in fact, you might like it better. It's simply this:

2 pints raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine raspberries and sugar in a saucepan and simmer gently for about 10 minutes until raspberries break down. Remove from the heat and cool. You can strain the sauce if you want to eliminate the seeds but I kind of like them.

Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa) puts a little framboise in her raspberry sauce. That would be elegant. And tasty.

So there you have it. Enjoy.