Homemade blueberry sauce

A scrumptious simmer of fresh berries & lemon

The Café at the Plaza turned me on to blueberry sauce — that stuff was divine, but I think they've since changed their recipe (bummer!). When we decided to make the Pioneer Woman's lemon-blueberry pancakes (so good!) for breakfast during our up-north weekend, I decided it was time to finally try my hand at homemade blueberry sauce. 

I worked from a recipe on My Baking Addiction. Of course I used lemon juice and zest as the recipe calls for, as well as vanilla extract. But for extra-special flavor, I added some almond extract and cinnamon, too. The flavor in this sauce is just so wonderful, I could easily have taken a spoon to this beautiful batch of bubbling blueberries. Well, confession: I did just that — many spoonfuls. It's a miracle any of this sauce made it to our breakfast table.

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HOMEMADE BLUEBERRY SUACE

WHAT YOU'LL NEED
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries 
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 TBS cornstarch, mixed with 2 TBS cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 TBS)
1/4 tsp cinnamon 

WHAT YOU'LL DO
1. In a medium pan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 TBS lemon juice. Stir frequently and bring to a low boil.

2. In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch and 2 TBS water until dissolved. Slowly stir cornstarch into boiling blueberries, taking care not to crush the berries. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, almond, and lemon zest. Store in the fridge. (I made this three days before we used it.)

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Ever since making this sauce, I'be been daydreaming other ways to use it. You could pour it over plain pancakes to take them to a whole other level, or use it as a spread for scones or biscuits. You could somehow thicken it and make a pie. Really I just wish I could have a batch of this sauce on hand, always. It's just that good!