Dessert Whiskey Sauce

This is an excellent choice if you're looking for a dessert sauce with a little "spirit". Our easy and versatile whiskey sauce is perfect to spoon over a variety of desserts and can help you give a twist to old dessert recipes that can now be elegantly presented with this delicious sauce on top. Serve over bread pudding, cheesecake, chocolate lava cake, or plain vanilla ice cream. This is a versatile sauce that you can prepare in just 10 minutes, and if needed you can make it ahead and keep covered in the refrigerator for a couple of days, warming it up on the stove before using. Butter, sugar, whiskey, and one egg make a thick and silky caramel-color sauce that has a bold but sweet flavor. Try it with dark chocolate, nut and dried fruit quick breads, crème brûlée, vanilla custards, or apple and pear desserts such as crumbles, pies, and tarts.

We chose whiskey for our recipe, but if you're keener on bourbon or brandy you can easily make the switch. The amounts we use provide enough of the spirit's flavor without overwhelming the palate. You can, however, add more to taste if you want a little more punch. Depending on the whiskey you use, the depth of flavor can change, but in general, if using an oak-aged American spirit you'll end up with a sauce that is woody and characterized by caramel with hints of vanilla. Be mindful that this sauce does contain alcohol and that you would need more than 3 hours of constant cooking to burn off all traces of it—our sauce only goes on the stove for 5 minutes—so this is a preparation that is not suitable for kids, pregnant women, or people who abstain from alcohol for personal or dietary reasons. You don't need to use top-shelf whiskey for this recipe, but simply a medium-range brand that you'd enjoy drinking, too. If you wouldn't drink it don't cook with it, as the flavors do translate to the sauce and there's not enough sugar or butter that can offset the flavor of cheap whiskey.

The whiskey sauce is perfect over slices of pound cake or pie. Enjoy it on ice cream with a few chopped nuts on top, or make a classic Mexican flan and drizzle some of this sauce for a beautiful finish.