The Fruity Sauce Ina Garten Pairs With Her Popular Coconut Cake
Ina Garten is an iconic kitchen symbol these days. After launching her "Barefoot Contessa" series in 2002, Garten has been nominated for and won Emmy awards for "Outstanding Culinary Host" and "Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host" multiple times over the last decade (via IMDb). And her influence on the lives of at-home cooks is unquantifiable. Some of our favorite recipes and cooking tips of the famous cook include tricks for bread pudding toppings, cooking kielbasa, and, of course, the creamiest mac and cheese.
However, the self-taught cook was not always a part of the culinary world. Learning from French and New England cookbooks, and mentored by Eli Zabar and Martha Stewart, Garten began to focus on using fresh ingredients and cooking tricks to help save time and create some truly delicious meals (via Jewish Virtual Library). Thankfully, she now shares these genius hacks and ideas with her followers on social media. Just recently she posted on Instagram about one of her favorite dessert combinations — coconut cake and fresh raspberry sauce.
Raspberry sauce gives her coconut cake a delicious twist
On her Instagram account, Garten made a post discussing her absolutely divine coconut cake recipe. The dessert's recipe is also posted on her website and features sweet and rich ingredients like shredded coconut, vanilla, and almond extract, as well as a whole lot of butter, all topped with cream cheese frosting. It really is one of the more lavish cakes you can make and is perfect for anyone with a ravenous sweet tooth. But, in Garten's latest Instagram, she suggests a new, tasty addition to her classic coconut cake. The cook says to try pairing the dessert with a raspberry sauce this holiday.
The tart-sweet raspberries cut through the uber-sweet characteristics of the cake and also give the baked goods a little lively color. Garten's raspberry sauce recipe is incredibly easy to make whether you want to slather it onto your cake or onto your morning toast. Food Network says that all you have to do is fill a saucepan with raspberries, granulated sugar, and 1/4 cup water for four minutes and then blend the mix with Framboise liqueur (for a little depth and spirited kick) until smooth. It is cheap, quick, and simple to make and the perfect thing to brighten up a fluffy, holiday-worthy dessert.