Triple Threat Raspberry Sauce

Well, no surprises here: I've made another Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa) recipe. And, as usual, it's fabulous. This time, I made Ina's Triple Threat Raspberry Sauce to top my homemade Lemon Angel Food Cake (you guessed it, another Ina recipe!). You see, every year on Easter SAturday, my parents have a big dinner at their house for my mom's side of the family. This used to be the big dinner at my grandma's house, but after a stroke or two, she wasn't up to having company, and we were a little scared of the idea of her cooking unsupervised. Not to be funny about it -- it wasn't a funny situation, but at the same time, there are moments with anyone suffering with Alzheimer's when you're either going to cry or laugh. In my case, I preferred to laugh (with grandma, not at her, of course).

Anyway, this dinner has been at my parents' house for quite a while by this time, so the routine is fairly established: we will have ham and turkey from the Honey-Baked Ham store. Dad will make his special baked macaroni and cheese (which Adam really likes), and there will be other sides as well, at least one of which is (hopefully) my Mom's jello casserole (I know it sounds gross, but believe me, it's amazing!). Anyway, this year we are also having mom's spinach salad (delish!) with homemade French dressing (yum!).

In previous years, my folks have really only experimented in the dessert department: some years my dad will make coconut cream pie from scratch (amazing) or his lemon raspberry layered pie (also darned good). The year Adam and I got engaged my mother went a little crazy and made chick cakes out of giant chocolate muffins. They were very good, but also very big and I needed a nap after eating all that!

This year my parents have put me in charge of the dessert, so the pressure was on. There are lots of froofy desserts that I would love to take, simply because they're impressive: pavlovas, meringues, that sort of thing. But since I've never attempted any of those things before, I figured I would stick with an old standard: lemon angel food cake. I've blogged about that before, so I won't repeat myself here. But this time, however, I'm serving the cake with triple threat raspberry sauce. The sauce is thick and luxurious and sweet, but tart at the same time. I always think lemon and raspberry are two very complimentary ingredients, so hopefully tonight's dinner will be a success. I'll be adding post-dinner thoughts, comments, etc. later tonight. For now, here's the recipe...

Triple Threat Raspberry Sauce

4 half pints of raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 12 oz. jar of seedless raspberry jam
2 tablespoons Framboise

Directions:
Combine two half pints of the raspberries, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 4 minutes. **The raspberries will start to break down as the sauce comes together.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jar of raspberry jam and the Framboise. Pour the heated raspberry mixture over the top. Pulse until smooth.

Pour the pureed sauce through a colander to remove some of the seeds. Add the last two half pints of raspberries to the sauce and stir to combine. Chill for at least two hours (preferably overnight) and serve over angel food cake, ice cream, etc.