Sweet Berry Wine Sauce

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I keep this lovely sauce in my refrigerator during the summer months. I think of it as a secret weapon and use it to turn the simplest of desserts into something really special. I keep a supply of vanilla ice cream in the freezer, and when it's topped with this gorgeous sauce I know I have a treat that can be served to unexpected guests without fuss or bother. It's very easy to make and, despite its simplicity, it has been well-received ever since its publication in Light and Tasty Magazine. I hope you'll give this sauce a try. I'm really proud of it. Here's the recipe.

Sweet Berry Wine Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 to 1 cup sugar
2 cups frozen unsweetened mixed berries
1/2 cup port wine or grape juice
Optional garnish:
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup fresh blackberries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
Bring water and sugar to a boil. Add frozen berries and wine or juice; return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes. Mash and strain berries, reserving juice. Return juice to pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup. Cool to room temperature. If using, stir fresh berries into sauce just before serving. Chill.






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Two Years Ago Today: Blackberry Sherbet







You might also enjoy these recipes:
Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce - Half Baked
Creme Anglaise - Cook Italian.Com
Salted Caramel Sauce - The Amateur Gourmet
Strawberry Dessert Sauce - Drick's Rambling Cafe
Easy Microwave Mixed Berry Sauce - Baking Bites
How to Make Your Own Blueberry Syrup - Simple Bites
Rhubarb Syrup - Closet Cooking
Peach Sauce with Nutmeg - Smitten Kitchen
Strawberry Sauce - Our Best Bites
Mango Syrup - Annon's Thai Food

Luscious Lemon Sauce

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm really fond of this sauce and always try to keep a jar of it in the refrigerator. I can't imagine having gingerbread without it and, because lemon is my chocolate, I generally put it on ice cream and bread pudding as well. It has the velvety texture and flavor of a good lemon curd, but it flows with the easy grace of a well-made chocolate sauce. This is really easy to make and I'm featuring it here because I think any serious collection of recipes should include a great lemon sauce. This is a great, if simple sauce. It keeps for up to a month in the refrigerator. That being said, it is still best served warm. You can warm the sauce in the microwave or in a pot of barely simmering water. Here's the recipe.

Luscious Lemon Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Gourmet magazine

Ingredients:
1 large egg - very well beaten
1/4 cup cold water
juice of 1 lemon - approximately 3 tablespoons
finely grated peel of half a lemon
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter

Directions:
In a small saucepan, whisk beaten egg, water, lemon juice and peel until well blended. Place pan on medium heat and whisk in sugar. Add butter and cook, stirring constantly, until butter is melted and sauce comes to a full boil. Remove from heat, cool slightly and serve warm. Yield: 1-1/2 cups.

You might also enjoy these recipe:
Chocolate Sauce - The Galley Gourmet
Killer Chocolate Sauce - Bon Appetit Hon
Chocolate and Salted Caramel Sauces - It's a Big Cookie, Dude
Dulce De Leche - Being Susie Homemaker
Hot Fudge Sauce - In Flora's Kitchen
Mocha Hot Fudge Sauce - Joy the Baker
Chocolate and Butterscotch Sauces - H.O.G. Food Blog
Ridiculously Easy Butterscotch Sauce - Smitten Kitchen
Vanilla Sauce - Southern Food
Caramel Sauce - Buttercream Barbie

Hot Fudge Sauce

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This simple recipe was adapted from one created in the test kitchens of the Hershey Chocolate Company. It came my way as the result of some volunteer activity I was involved in a few years ago. The adaption was develop for a fundraiser, specifically an ice cream social, to which the immediate world had been invited. It was expected to be a huge affair and to assist in cost containment, twenty women were each asked to make a triple batch of the hot fudge sauce featured here today. The plan, of course, was an attempt at quality control and mess containment and it worked pretty well. On the appointed afternoon, approximately 60 quarts of sauce were reheated and served with hot fudge sundaes and banana splits. Despite a volume of hot fudge the size of a rogue wave, the organizers of the event ran shy and had to make a frantic scramble to find enough commercial syrup to assure everyone would get what they paid for. Sticking with my nautical allusions, I can tell you they raised a boat load of cash that day and those of us who made the sauce inherited a nice recipe to keep our dessert collections afloat. I promise you the sauce is better than my humor and I hope you will try it. I also hope you will put your own mark on the recipe. I use a top quality cocoa powder and hazelnut extract when I make this for my family, but bittersweet chocolate and almond extract would also work well. The sauce is best served warm and it will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator. Here's the recipe.

Hot Fudge Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Hershey Kitchen

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup golden or light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup dark, unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cup light cream or half-and-half
1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine sugar, cocoa, flour, and salt in saucepan. Add cream, water, and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until boiling. Cook 5 minutes longer. Remove hot fudge sauce from heat, cool, then stir in vanilla. Yield: 3-1/2 cups.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Salted Caramel Sauce - The Amateur Gourmet
Strawberry Dessert Sauce - Drick's Rambling Cafe
Creme Anglaise - Stumptown Savory
SSeedless Chocolate Raspberry Dessert Sauce - Megan's Cookin'
Easy Microwave Mixed Berry Syrup - Baking Bites
Chocolate Sauce - The Galley Gourmet
Mexican Hot Fudge Sauce - Gluten-Free Goddess
Caramel Sauce - Carol Egbert

Quick Bread Round-Up

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The gifts I've made for our neighbors this Christmas are simple baskets that include a small bread board, a jar of cranberry conserves and two loaves of quick bread, one sweet, the other savory. I've made a lot of bread this year and I had to puzzle what my choices for gifting would be. I could have used any of the recipes that appear in today's round-up, but I finally decided to make a seasonally colorful French olive bread and streusel topped pumpkin and pecan bread that I particularly enjoy. I've found that quick breads make wonderful token gifts for the holidays. They are easy to put together and they are always appreciated. There is a good deal of truth in that old saw, "Nothing says lovin' like something from the oven." So, if you still have gifts outstanding, may I suggest that you fire up the oven and have a go at one of the recipes that appear below.




Olive Bread















Hawaiian Banana Bread










Lemon Poppyseed Bread













Date and Hazelnut Bread












Coconut Bubble Bread











Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread










Pumpkin Apple Bread












Strawberry Tea Bread











Pumpkin Pecan Bread with Streusel Topping










Toasted Coconut Bread