Party Food Part 4: Sweet Dipping Sauces

Fruit with a Variety of Dipping Sauces

We also had a variety of fresh fruit (apple slices, bananas, pineapple, grapes, strawberries) with dipping sauces.  I made the Raspberry Sauce from The Joy of Vegan Baking with a few tweaks.  Since there were a bunch of kiddos at the party, I decided to go ahead and strain the sauce to get rid of the seeds (I really disliked raspberry seeds as a kid, but maybe that was just me).  After straining, I poured the sauce back into the pot and reheated with a tablespoon of arrowroot powder until it just started to bubble to thicken it up a bit so it would coat the fruit nicely when dipped.  Yum!

I also made the Chocolate Sauce recipe again from The Joy of Vegan Baking, but added about a third a bag of chocolate chips right at the end for added rich chocolatey goodness.  Again, yum!

Chocolate and Raspberry Sauce:  side by side besties

Salted Caramel Sauce

Lastly, I made a salted caramel sauce for fruit dipping.  This is one of my fav’s.  The salt is totally optional so feel free to leave it out if you don't think salt belongs in caramel sauce (I respectfully disagree).  It freezes really well, and depending on your needs it can easily be double or even tripled.  It’s great for any of those times when you may be thinking, this [whatever you may be eating] would be so much better with caramel sauce!  You will need a candy thermometer, but don’t be intimidated.  It really is quite easy and so worth it.

Mmmmm.  Caramel Sauce.

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (such as Earth Balance)

1 cup sugar

1 cup non-dairy creamer or full fat non-dairy milk (this probably isn’t the time to use rice milk)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

Place margarine, sugar, and non-dairy milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil stirring often.  Cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until mixture reaches 230 degrees F.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt.  Allow to cool slightly, then pour into a jar and allow to finish cooling uncovered.  The sauce will be quite thick when cooled, but will thin out a bit when reheated.

**Variation:  for chocolate caramel sauce, add a couple squared unsweetened chocolate to the margarine/sugar/non-dairy milk mixture before boiling.