Sweet and Saucy

Fresh fruit sauces are designed for warm weather. They showcase the fresh flavors and vibrant colors of seasonal fruits. Cool, refreshing and relatively low in calories, they are ready in minutes. Serve them over frozen yogurt with sliced fruit and you have an elegant colorful dessert. Sauces made from berries and other soft fruits do not require any cooking at all.

Light sauces made of fruit purees are known in France as coulis , which are ideal partners for cakes, puddings, souffles, crepes, pastries and Bavarian creams, as well as ice cream. If you prefer a lighter dessert of frozen yogurt, ice milk, sherbet or sorbet with these beautiful sauces, you won’t miss the calories.

To prepare dessert sauces, simply puree soft fruits and sweeten them. This method produces a sauce of a fresher, more natural flavor than did the old-fashioned practice of making sauces from preserves or jam.

Using this easy formula, you can prepare sauce in a multitude of flavors and a rainbow of colors, from the soft green of kiwi sauce to the bright red of strawberry sauce to the deep orange of cantaloupe sauce to the dark blue-purple of blackberry sauce.

With one of these quick sauces, a dessert takes just a few minutes to make. Swirl mango sauce on a plate, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with a few raspberries, and you have a lovely sundae. Top a slice of your favorite cake with ice cream or frozen yogurt and fresh berries and encircle it with a ribbon of berry sauce. Prepare a colorful fruit salad of nectarines, kiwi slices, strawberries and figs and accompany it with an exotic mango sauce.

To accent the flavor of a fruit sauce, stir in a little liqueur or brandy made of the same fruit, such as melon liqueur with honeydew melon sauce, or of a complementary fruit, like peach brandy with mango sauce or raspberry brandy with strawberry coulis.

The natural sweetness of fruit is affected by its variety and its ripeness. Even at the height of its season, in some years the same fruit is sweeter than in others. How sweet to make a sauce depends on personal taste and on what the sauce will accompany. The sauce should taste slightly sweet but should feature the natural tanginess and flavor of the fruit. If you serve the sauce with a sweet ice cream, sweeten the sauce enough so it won’t taste too tart with the ice cream. If in doubt, taste the sauce with a little ice cream before serving.

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Raspberry is the most popular fruit sauce, but other berries make delicious sauces too. Any ice cream, cake or fruit salad becomes glamorous when served with these bright, flavorful sauces.

FRESH BERRY SAUCE 3 cups fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, olallieberries or blueberries 1/2 cup plus 1 to 3 tablespoons sifted powdered sugar 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice or 3 to 4 teaspoons kirsch, raspberry brandy or Grand Marnier, optional 2 or 3 teaspoons creme de cassis liqueur, optional for blueberries or blackberries

Gently rinse berries. Hull strawberries. Puree berries in food processor or blender. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and process until very smooth. Strawberry puree can be left unstrained. Strain other purees into bowl, pressing on pulp in strainer. Use rubber spatula to scrape mixture from underside of strainer.

Taste sauce and whisk in more powdered sugar if needed. Whisk sauce thoroughly to blend in sugar. Cover and chill 30 minutes. (Sauces can be refrigerated, covered, 2 days.) Stir before serving. Add lemon juice. Add water by teaspoons to thin sauce if necessary. Serve cold. Makes 1 cup berry sauce or 1 1/2 cups unstrained strawberry sauce, 4 to 6 servings.

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FRESH MELON OR MANGO SAUCE 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds melon or mango 4 to 6 tablespoons sifted powdered sugar 2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice or 1 tablespoon orange juice 3 to 5 teaspoons melon liqueur or kirsch, optional

Peel fruit. Remove any seeds or pits and cut flesh into chunks. Puree fruit in food processor or blender. Add 4 tablespoons powdered sugar and process until very smooth. Strain puree into bowl, pressing on pulp in strainer. Use rubber spatula to scrape mixture from underside of strainer.

Whisk in remaining powdered sugar if needed. Whisk sauce thoroughly to blend in sugar. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. (Sauce can be refrigerated, covered, 2 days.) Stir before serving. Add lemon juice and melon liqueur, if desired. Serve cold. Makes 1 to 1 1/3 cups sauce, 4 to 5 servings.

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Homemade fruit sauce and fresh berries easily turn plain cake and ice cream into a delightful summer treat. I prefer this with vanilla or chocolate ice cream or a combination of the two, like chocolate chip or chocolate ripple. This is also wonderful made with ice cream that has sorbet swirled through it.

CAKE A LA MODE WITH BERRIES AND BERRY SAUCE 4 thin slices loaf cake, such as pound or marble cake 2 or 3 teaspoons framboise (raspberry brandy) or kirsch 1 1/3 cups vanilla or chocolate-ripple ice cream or frozen yogurt, slightly softened 1/2 cup raspberries and 1/2 cup blackberries, or 1 cup raspberries 1 cup raspberry sauce, Fresh Berry Sauce

Sprinkle or brush each slice cake with framboise. Set cake on 4 dessert plates. Top each cake slice with scoop of ice cream. Sprinkle with berries. Spoon raspberry sauce over and around each dessert. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.