Ever since I saw Sandra Lee make a homemade raspberry sauce on Food Network years ago, I’ve always wanted to try making my own. Hers was pretty much a combination of frozen raspberries and powdered sugar mixed together. It was good but not great. This homemade raspberry sauce is great. The raspberries are mixed with a little citrus and some sweet sugar for a complex sauce that makes the perfect addition to any of your favorite desserts. It’d be really good with these mini cheesecakes, or even on this chocolate lava cake! It’s definitely my favorite raspberry sauce for cake!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Use it on all sorts of desserts – this sauce is super versatile so you could make it and use it on all sorts of different desserts! Easy to make – this recipe is as easy as literally just mixing the ingredients together in a pot on the stove until they’re combined. Great flavor – unlike some raspberry sauces that have a super tart flavor because of the raspberries, the citrus cuts that a bit to make it a more complex flavor that everyone will love!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
Lemon – you’ll use the lemon for both fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. I highly recommend using fresh rather than bottled lemon juice. Raspberries – I highly recommend using fresh raspberries in this sauce. If you can’t get fresh, frozen will work in a pinch but you need to make sure to thaw and strain them completely first or the extra liquid will dilute the sauce flavor.
How to Make Homemade Raspberry Sauce
The first thing you need to do is combine half of the raspberries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to boiling. Stir them together until the sugar is completely dissolved into the raspberries.
Once the sugar is dissolved, reduce the heat and add the rest of the raspberries, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir to combine them all well together in the pan. While that is heating, combine the cornstarch with 1 TBS of water in a small cup or bowl and mix well. This step is important so that the cornstarch thickens the sauce, not just coats the berries. Once the cornstarch is mixed, pour it into the hot raspberry mixture. Stir it in well. Boil the mixture over medium to low heat for another 4-5 minutes until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the pan from the heat and either serve warm or allow the sauce to cool and serve cooled. Serve on top of your favorite desserts, with fresh fruit instead of a fruit dip, or even just set it out on a dessert board for people to add to their dessert choices! Even better when you serve with fresh raspberries on top!
Expert Tips
Don’t turn the heat on too high. You want to keep it at medium-low to allow the flavors to combine together well without scorching the sauce. Keep the sauce in the refrigerator for up to a week in an airtight storage container.
More Easy Desserts
If you like this homemade raspberry sauce, you’ll love these other fruity desserts!
Brownie fruit pizza – like a traditional fruit pizza but better because it’s made with a brownie crust! Blueberry whipped cream – another great fruity topping for your favorite desserts and only three ingredients to make! Chocolate covered rice krispie treats – these delicious chocolate dipped rice krispie treats are upgraded with a burst of fruity flavor! Glazed cherry cake – an old-fashioned cherry cake with a nice sweet glaze on top! Cherry cheesecake cookies – like cherry pie and cheesecake wrapped up in one simple cookie recipe!
Update: This was post was originally written in 2014 with a homemade raspberry sauce using frozen raspberries. It has since been updated with a new raspberry sauce recipe. If you’re looking for the old one, you can find a printable version here.
