Hard Sauce

Name: Hard Sauce
Yield: Makes about ½ cup
Ingredients: Grated zest of ¼ orange; ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar; ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened; 2 tablespoons cognac, brandy, rum or bourbon, or to taste; 2 tablespoons cognac, brandy, rum or bourbon, or to taste; 2 tablespoons cognac, brandy, rum or bourbon, or to taste; 2 tablespoons cognac, brandy, rum or bourbon, or to taste; ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation info

Makes about
½ cup

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Classic Home Desserts

By Richard Sax

Published 1994

About

Ubiquitous on old-fashioned desserts, this sauce is basically nothing more than creamed butter that is sweetened and spiked with spirits. One old cookbook calls this “Soft, Hard Sauce.”

Ingredients

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
Grated zest of ¼ orange

Sauce
Dessert
Vegetarian

Method

Combine the butter, orange zest and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and cream together until well incorporated and very light. Stir in the cognac or other spirit and the vanilla.
Spoon the mixture into a glass serving dish or a small bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Chill at least overnight before serving. Or, as Florence B. Jack advises in