Blueberry Sauce

Ok folks, for all intents and purposes it's blueberry season 'round these here parts which, you know what that means:  a boatload of blueberry stuff!  Soooo today it's Blueberry Sauce.

Lemme tell you about this Blueberry Sauce.  I have never seen people go so gaga over anything than this particular sauce.  Like, my nephew eats it right out of the jar with a spoon, why bother to put it atop a single darn thing.

Mike asks me for this Blueberry Sauce as if it's, man, I don't even know.  He gives me such a weird look while he's asking.  Totally at a loss for descriptors here.  What's more precious than My Precious? 

This sauce, apparently.

And ya know what's nutty.....it is effortless to make.  Like fifteen minutes or so of your time tops maybe and you've got the best Blueberry Sauce known to man jarred up and ready to go.

So effortless that my same nephew has made it himself and he's a young'un.

Mike on the other hand, he's not and well, he has me.

But anytime I make something like a cheesecake or it happens to be cheesecake-related or something that Blueberry Sauce can be poured on (like pancakes or waffles even), it's a requirement that this sauce gets assembled.

It's a known fact that I'm not a blueberry eater though I certainly feel the pressure and the crazy-eye stares, like why not, you. 

Everyone I surround myself with, Mike, Finn, my dad (not my mom though she has been eating them more often, or I should say she eats them when I bring something blueberry laden), my brother and his family, they're all cuckoo for cocoa puffs over blueberries.

Last year, I made a trek over to Black and Blue Farms in Saywer, Michigan for a first time ever berry picking whirlwind quick day trip adventure and I had sooo much fun.  Like it shoulda been illegal how much fun I had.

Oh yes, I will be heading back over there later this month.  And oh yes, I'm already adding stops to my list.  Oh yes.  And I'll definitely come back with more blueberries this time too as I only picked a paltry three pounds and that certainly, definitely, without a doubt was not enough.

It doesn't take much to make such an incredible sauce!

Ah bummer, they're not opening the farm this year!  Ack no!  Ok, well, hm, I'll find another blueberry spot.  It's not like I'll be hard-pressed to find one, there are more farms than people it sometimes seems.

But, there will be muffin baking, no doubt a Blueberry Cheesecake Pie or two, probably more of this Blueberry Sauce, and surely many more goodies.  Man, I'll be picking all day it sounds like, heh.

Both my dad and Mike said the berries from that farm were the best they've ever had.  Pressure's on, aw dear.  As we know, my dad is a connoiseur; I'm surprised he hasn't turned into an actual blueberry himself.

Righty-o, let's make this sauce, shall we?

Grab a medium-ish sized saucepan,* plop that on the stove.

Tumble your blueberries into that saucepan and toss in the sugar, the larger quantity of water, along with the lemon juice and pop the heat up to medium, stirring* around once in a bit but try not to smush the berries.

Be sure to give your berries a taste first; you can raise or lower the amount of sugar you throw in there as desired.

In the meantime, stir together the cornstarch and the rest of the water until the starch has dissolved into a slurry and once the berry mix starts a low slo-mo large bubble boil, stream the cornstarch and water in as you're stirring.

Ready to heat the pool.

Best to stream rather than dump as if you dump, you'll likely end up with large gooey clumps of gelled starch and uh, no one wants that.

And cornstarch a go!

Again, stir but gently, don't wanna bust up those berries (well, unless you do, this is your sauce) and keep things moving around the pan as the sauce thickens up.

This will take oh about two to five minutes or so and the longer you go, the thicker it will get so stop when it looks good to you.  It'll continue to thicken up as it cools so keep that in mind.  If you find it's too thick, you can add in some more water to thin it out.

Ok!  Hard part, if you can call it hard, is over, now just splash in your vanilla and the optional lemon zest if you're using it.

At the very least, don't skip the vanilla.  It bumps all the flavors up.

Let it cool briefly and it's ready to serve or pour that thick purple-y blueberry goodness into a jar,* let it cool completely, and toss it in the fridge. 

Tada!  Voila!  mwah!!

I bet you could freeze this sauce too, crack it out in the middle of winter for a happy cheery pick-me-up.  Make sure you leave some room at the top inside the jar for expansion if you do.

Berry berry berry!

Serve this sucker up warm, cold, however you'd like and prefer.  Or, just grab a spoon and eat it right out of the jar.  I do not judge.

So there ya go, the world's simplest, best ever Blueberry Sauce!  And happy happy summer to you!

*The saucepans, silicone spatulas, and food jars are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.