It’s a glorious sauce that’s lightly sweet, slightly tart, and quite uncomplicated! The star in this vintage sauce is the raspberry, showing in a very beautiful way some of the best desserts can be quite simple. Served warm, slowly sliding over a scoop of ice cream onto a tender pound cake – it elevates a simple dessert into something magical.
Sauces can take a simple dessert and transform them into an elegant confection. This is a tasty example of such a sauce. Melba sauce – a vintage dessert sauce – said to have been created to honor an Australian soprano, Nellie Melba in the late 1800s. Originally served alongside peaches in a dish known as Peach Melba, this gorgeous raspberry sauce is ideal to adorn a variety of desserts.
It’s made with a handful of ingredients – raspberries, a touch of sugar, a little cornstarch, and currant jelly for a vibrant shine.
And with the arrival of spring, you’ll find fresh ripe raspberries lining the shelves in the produce markets. But if they’re not in your area just yet, you can also use frozen berries. The sauce comes together quickly. In about 30 minutes, the cornstarch is clear and the sauce is thickened.
The currant jelly melts into the berries producing a sauce that showcases the delectable red raspberry. Finish by puréeing into a smooth and silky sauce, almost glossy in appearance.
It’s splendid for topping for a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of pound cake. Simple and marvelous!
Melba Sauce
24 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries, about 4 cups
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
1-½ tablespoons cornstarch
⅓ cup currant jelly
Toss the raspberries into a saucepan. Add the sugar, cornstarch and currant jelly. If the raspberries are tart, use all 4 tablespoons of the sugar.
Cook and stir over low heat until the juices of the raspberries release and the sugar and the cornstarch have dissolved, about 10 minutes.
Raise the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring occasionally. Cook until the sauce is no longer cloudy in appearance and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Process the sauce in a Vitamix for about 3 to 4 minutes on high to pulverize the seeds, or strain the sauce through a sieve to remove the seeds.
Makes about 3 cups of sauce.
Melba Sauce – Celebrating the Beauty of Raspberries
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Vitamix blender or sieve for removing the seeds
Ingredients
- 24 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries, about 4 cups
- 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1-½ tablespoons cornstarch
- ⅓ cup currant jelly
Instructions
- Toss the raspberries into a saucepan. Add the sugar, cornstarch and the currant jelly. If the raspberries are tart, use all 4 tablespoons of the sugar.
- Cook and stir over low heat until the juices of the raspberries release and the sugar and the cornstarch have dissolved, about 10 minutes.
- Raise the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring occasionally.
- Cook until the sauce is no longer cloudy in appearance and the sauce has thickened slightly, about 15 to 20 minutes. The sauce will have a slightly cloudy appearance until the cornstarch has cooked sufficiently and begins to thicken.
- Process the sauce in a Vitamix for about 3 to 4 minutes on high to pulverize the seeds, or strain the sauce through a sieve to remove the seeds.
