Strawberry Sauce

 

Strawberry sauce!  Yep!  Summer!  Berries!  Fun and delicious!  Adding to my collection of simple to make, no muss no fuss, easy peasy sauces, we’re coming in peppy with Strawberry Sauce today.

Mike is a huuuge huge fan of Strawberry Sauce, especially on a cheesecake, so this is pretty well a no brainer concept in our household.

Before he met me, or, on occasion in desperation, his go to fix was the frozen Sara Lee strawberry topped cheesecakes.  Which is fine.  I’ve remedied that for him.  Heh, how he suffers so.

Ok so what’s awesome about this sauce?  It is a no brainer to make, in that it's shockingly simple with an even simpler handful of ingredients, a wee bit of stirring then done.  Despite this low effort, what you get in return is a glorious summer filled sauce for well, darn near anything you want to put strawberries on.

What's extra awesome?  My neighbor has started himself a hibachi-style food business which is fantastic.  One evening, Mike and I strolled over to say hi, then me and my big mouth, I got ballsy and said hey, you wanna add dessert to your menu?

He was game (!!).  We quickly opted for cheesecake along with offering the Blueberry Sauce and the Microwave Caramel Sauce.  Gah, wiping the drool off my chin. 

Needless to say, I've been cranking out cheesecakes and sauces for him weekly, holy fantastic.  Me and my ballsy big mouth.  Heh. 

Recently he asked for a strawberry sauce and lo, here we are with this winner.

I’d made something similar in the past which Mike went gaga for but this version is the winner.  Here’s why…

Like I said, it's crazy simple which when it comes to things like a sauce, well, and quite a lot of things, I find simple is typically better.  This one's got a whopping five ingredients which no doubt you've got most of on hand.

Another why and the main tip for this Strawberry Sauce:  it's flexible in how you approach and prepare it.

Tip I learned recently about hot to choose strawberries:  make sure they're completely red tip to top for the sweetest berries.

By that I mean, chop your fresh (or frozen) strawberries however you like.  I opt for a variety pack size of chunks since this does cook down a tad, so some are larger, some end up being a wee bit smaller.  This way you have a variety in the finished sauce.

One thing I personally don't do is cook this way way down but you're welcome to let the berries cook as long as you'd like.  The more you cook them down, the more they break down. 

I keep the cook time short and sweet, as brief as possible, to preserve larger chunks in the finished sauce, so yeah, the timings I’ve listed below make for a chunkier sauce.  But you do you; if you like it more saucy than chunky, chop small and/or cook longer.

If you wanted to, you could hold back a handful of raw strawberry chunks to toss in at the end for varying textures in the final sauce.  Up to you. 

The sugar amount here is pretty minimal which allows the strawberries themselves to shine.  And to not overwhelm whatever you’re putting the sauce on with too much extra sugar either. 

I am all about balance here, as with every recipe I present to you.  Too much sugar, too much anything, is a fast track to disaster IMO.

Do feel free to taste a berry and adjust the sugar higher if need be but I might not go much less. 

Why?  In addition to boosting the berry’s natural sweetness, the sugar helps pull the precious strawberry juices out during cooking.

You'll note the amount of cornstarch here is pretty minimal as well; just this side of enough to thicken things up.

Once you add the cornstarch slurry, it’ll take a minute or two to thicken and the sauce may seem rather runny still but keep in mind, anytime you use cornstarch, the finished item will thicken much further after it cools, especially once chilled.

Point being, if it’s kinda thickened in the saucepan but seems kinda runny still after a minute or two, trust me, pull it off the heat, it’ll be fine.

Please don't skip the vanilla extract at the end.  It's what gives this sauce its extra specialness, it's bougie oomph, that whiff of layered flavors and depth.

So, yeah, I pretty much just outlined the whole Strawberry Sauce recipe process right there!

Chop up your fresh, or as I mentioned frozen, berries. If using frozen, keep them generally pretty frozen to this point, and toss them into a medium or large saucepan.*

Spill in your sugar, give that a good healthy stir with a nonstick spatula* over the heat.

Meanwhile, mix up your cornstarch and water in a tiny lil’ dish* and once the berries have let loose a whole bunch of their juices, stir in the cornstarch.

Make sure the sauce has a low boil going to activate the cornstarch.

Yank the pot off the heat and drop in the vanilla.*  Catch a nice whiff of this Strawberry Sauce, let your eyes flutter, and enjoy.

Happy Strawberry Sauce to you and happy summer!

*The saucepans, nonstick spatulas, prep bowls, and vanilla extract are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.