Brandied Cherry Rhubarb Sauce

Vibrant tart sweet rhubarb sauce with a bit of maple syrup, vanilla, fresh cherries then laced with brandy, cooked and thickened into an enticing red sauce that’s as rich and delicious as it looks. Spoon it over ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal, cake … or heck, just eat it with a spoon! This sauce is so good, you might be tempted to drink it.

I brought back some rhubarb last time I visited my parents because they have three HUGE plants that produce an overabundance of rhubarb every year. I adore rhubarb, but I didn’t want a super-sugary treat like I usually make. After my friend Becky mentioned that she’d made a sauce with her rhubarb and used it in her oat bran cereal in the morning, I decided that a rhubarb sauce was the thing I wanted to make.

I remembered the rhubarb sauces my mom used to make when I was a kid. The rhubarb completely “melted” into the sauce, falling apart into little strands that danced in the sauce. I was entranced with everything rhubarb my mother made for us, especially the Royal Rhubarb Crisp, which I’ve made for my kids many times as well. My daughter absolutely loves it!

But I digress … Back to the sauce: my friend Becky sweetened her sauce with stevia, and I thought that was a good idea, but stevia by itself can be a little bitter and flat. So I added some maple syrup, as my dietitian recommended. She was worried that too much stevia would affect my hormones. I don’t think it has, but still, per her advice (and my mother’s), I do try to keep from eating an excess of stevia. Since I think maple syrup adds a great flavor to just about everything I put it in, I went for maple syrup. If you don’t want to use stevia, skip the stevia and try 3/4 cup of maple syrup. Calories will be higher, but you’ll still be free of processed sugar. You can also substitute honey for the maple syrup and stevia.

Rhubarb is delightful on its own, but if you want a vibrant red color to your sauce, the best way is to add a red fruit. Most people think of strawberries, but rhubarb goes beautifully with so many other berries and fruits. I happened to have some sweet cherries in my fridge (from when I caved at the grocery store and bought a huge back of them) and I wasn’t keeping up with eating them fresh, so I decided to toss a few cherries into my sauce. You can also use sour cherries if you prefer. You might need more sweetener, but the tart cherries will add another dimension of flavor that I kind of really want to experience now. But for today, I went with the sweet bing cherries.

And then I had to add some sort of liquor. I keep a bunch of different liquors and liqueurs on hand not for drinking, but for cooking and baking (with an occasional cocktail). If you haven’t cooked with liquor (or liqueur), you might be surprised at the rich decadent flavor it adds. The alcohol gets pretty much completely cooked out of the sauce, but the flavor it adds is fabulous!

I was rewarded with a rich and decadent vibrant red rhubarb sauce that I seriously didn’t want to stop eating. After the photos, I was going to try not to eat the ice cream, but the sauce was so freaking good with the ice cream that I couldn’t help but scoop it all into my face, then used my finger to get every last speck of that fantastic sauce. I totally loved the light hint of cherries with the sweet tart rhubarb. I’m so looking forward to indulging in the rest of the sauce, which I’ve tucked away in a jar in the fridge.

Brandied Cherry Rhubarb Sauce

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of sauce 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted cherries
• Liquid stevia or other sweetener, to taste
• To thicken: 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

---

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, add the brandy, maple syrup, vanilla, rhubarb and cherries. Cover, set to medium low heat and cook for about 20 – 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb falls apart and “melts” into the sauce.
2. In a small cup, stir the cornstarch into a couple Tablespoons of water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the rhubarb sauce a bit at a time, stirring constantly, just until the sauce is thickened to your liking.
3. Taste and add stevia or other sweetener until it’s sweet enough for you.

---

Notes

Rhubarb will fall apart as it cooks and become tiny little strands of tart goodness in the sauce.

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

© Copyright 2019, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

---

Nutrition

• Serving Size: About 1/4 cup
• Calories: 92
• Fat: 0.2 g