Raspberry Sauce with Black Currant Liqueur (French Coulis de framboise)

Here is an easy raspberry sauce recipe that's so good you may find yourself eating it by the spoonful. But don't miss out on pouring this fruit coulis on top of your favourite desserts and exploring some wonderful taste combinations.  This raspberry coulis gets an extra punch of flavour from crème de cassis, a sweet and luscious French liqueur made from black currants. Crème de cassis is the key ingredient in a Kir Royal, a fabulous Champagne cocktail.

1 quart raspberries (about 1 lb)
½ cup sugar
¼ black currant liqueur
½ cup water

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat.

Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The berries will gradually disintegrate as they are cooking. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

Strain the sauce through a fine mesh wire sieve placed over a bowl, using the back of a spoon to push on the pulp. Throw away the seeds and pulp that remain in the sieve.

Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature. Pour the sauce into a clean jar with a lid and refrigerate until ready to serve.

This syrup can be stored for several days in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1¾ cups.

Cooks Notes: This sweet coulis goes well with other fruit flavours and is divine with chocolate. Try it in a delicious and classic Peach Melba recipe or with a decadent chocolate mousse cake recipe. Pour it on top of plain yogurt, vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche for a simple, but oh so yummy, treat. It would also go great on a plain cheesecake or for a more unusual taste combination, try it with figs.  Raspberry season is too short to miss out on having this sauce other times of the year, so do not hesitate to try making this with frozen raspberries. Commercially frozen fruit tends to be a bit sour, so do use the sugar and liqueur to correct for this. If you make this sauce with fresh raspberries that are quite sweet, you may wish to lighten up on the sugar a bit.