When I left home to start my nursing training and I felt in need of a sweet treat, I would pop to the local store and buy an individual pot of berry-topped cheesecake. How I loved the crunchy, sugary base, creamy cheesecake layer and the sweet but still sharp berry topping! It hit all the right spots plus seemed to be the height of sophistication to my rather naive 18 year old self 😉
That particular type of cheesecake has long been off the menu for me, although I have managed to create my own versions in the last few years. When I first went plant-based, I used to make lovely coconut based raw ‘cheesecake’, like this amazingly delicious raw salted caramel cheesecake.
But when coconut became a no go area, I created this yummy OMS friendly chocolate and strawberry ‘cheesecake’. I also have an amazing baked cheesecake recipe (that’s it in the photo) I taught in one of my live on-line cooking classes – I’ll share that sometime soon.
For the baked cheesecake, I hankered after the yummy sweet but sharp berry topping I so loved as a teenager. And so this simple berry sauce was born. It really wasn’t too difficult – just some frozen berries, a little maple syrup and a spoonful of cornflour and voila!
This sauce can be made runny or thicker according to how you want to use it. To top a cheesecake, it needs to be fairly thick otherwise you loose it all over the sides, which is a bit of a messy nightmare. This is why there is a variable amount of cornflour in the recipe, so you can adapt it to your needs.
There’s all sorts of desserts that can be enhanced by this berry sauce:
- pour over pancakes
- stir into yoghurt
- drizzle over chocolate cake or brownies
- spoon over ice cream or make a berry sundae
- fill pastry cases for summer fruit tarts
- spooned over meringue (make vegan ones with aquafaba)
I always use frozen mixed berries for this sauce, partly because frozen fruit is slightly cheaper, but it also oozes more fluid which helps make a good sauce. If you have a glut of fresh fruit in season, then of course feel free to use this, but you may need to add a little water to the pan. And of course if you don’t like mixed berries, then go for whichever singular fruit takes your fancy.
I hope you enjoy this simple but tasty berry sauce. As it’s gluten free and nut free as well, it’s an easy sauce that will suit all ranges of needs. Do let me know your favourite way of using it.
Yummy berry sauce
Ingredients
- 300 grams frozen mixed berries - defrosted or single frozen fruit of choice
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 - 3 teaspoons cornflour use 1 for pouring and up to 3 for a set topping
Instructions
- Pop the berries into a small pan with the maple syrup and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Mash the berries once soft to release more juice and to get the consistency you want. Simmer for 8 minutes.
- In a small bowl mix the cornflour with a little of the berry juice to make a paste. Pour it into the berry mix and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it starts to thicken.
- Simmer for another 2 minutes then turn off the heat and leave to cool. Use straight away or keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Published by