Fully customizable fruit topping or sauce for cheesecake, pancakes, waffles, cake, yogurt and more. Super easy to make with only a few ingredients.
We love the versatility of this fruit topping recipe, it can be used for many things. The obvious ones are topping cheesecake, pancakes and waffles but there are so many more uses.
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Use this simple fruit sauce to top pound cake, chiffon cake, or any type of cake. Add some to the top of your breakfast porridge, overnight oats, or oatmeal. It is great for making yogurt parfaits or pudding cakes. The options are endless really.
There are so many times we want to make a fruit topping on the fly, but it's usually with different fruits and berries. We wanted to create a recipe base that is fully customizable to whatever fruit, sweetener and flavors you want.
What's Cool About This Recipe
- Fully customizable: This can be made with a variety of fruits and berries, whatever sweetener you like and lemon or lime juice.
- Easy to make: Only a few ingredients and about 15 minutes (minus cooling) are needed.
- Can use fresh or frozen fruit: We have made this successfully with fresh and frozen fruits and berries.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Fresh or frozen fruit: This recipe is great with a variety of fruits. We have listed our favorites below. You can also use a combination of fruits like, mixed berry, or mango and peach etc.
- Peaches
- Mango
- Cherries
- Pineapple
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Sweetener of choice
- Cane sugar
- Raw sugar
- Honey
- Maple syrup
- Coconut sugar
- Lime or lemon juice: We love using fresh but bottled will work too.
- Water: You can use apple juice, orange juice or other fruit juice in place of the water. Just remember that you will probably need less sugar.
See recipe card for quantities.
Variations
Add fresh herbs: Herbs can be amazing in desserts. Some good ones to add to this fruit topping would be mint, basil and thyme. Chop them up and stir in after it’s done cooking.
Add butter: Adding a little butter will give the topping a velvety texture. After the topping is done cooking, remove it from the heat and stir in about 1 tablespoon of butter.
Flavor it: You can add a little bit of vanilla extract or some spices such as cinnamon or cardamom.
How To Prepare Fruit and Berries for Sauce
Stone Fruits
Fresh: For fresh stone fruits then you'll want to remove the pit, peel them and cut into about ¼"-⅜" dice.
Frozen: Frozen stone fruits usually come with the pit removed, peeled and cut into large chunks. Let the fruit thaw just enough that you can cut it into smaller pieces then proceed with the recipe.
Berries
Frozen and fresh berries can be left whole except for strawberries. They should be cut into quarters, or if the are very large than diced.
Instructions
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the fruit is softened, juicy and slightly thickened. About 7-10 minutes
The cooking time will vary depending on how ripe your fruit is and how small it is cut.
Let cool until ready to use. If you're using it for cheesecake let it cool in refrigerate until cold. For things such as pancakes and waffles it can be served warm or cool.
Serving Suggestions
There are so many ways to serve a fruit topping, here are some of our favorite ways to eat it:
- Cheesecake, baked or no bake
- Pancakes and waffles
- Hot breakfast cereal
- Overnight oats
- Yogurt
- Cakes
- Vanilla ice cream
- French toast
- Chiffon or Angel food cake
Storage
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
How to Freeze
Place in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Tips From Our Kitchen
If the topping is too runny then you can mix 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1-2 teaspoons of cold water and stir into the topping, make sure to bring it back to a boil to thicken the cornstarch.
If you want more of a fruit sauce than a topping then make the topping as instructed, let it cool slightly and blend it to the desired consistency.
Use ripe fruits for the best flavor.
Chop the fruit small or use a potato masher to make the fruit smaller and more saucy.
FAQ
Yes, frozen fruit works well in this recipe. There is no need to thaw it either before using.
Fruit sauce is usually made with fruit, sugar, citrus juice like lemon or lime and sometimes water.
You can make a cornstarch slurry with equal parts cornstarch and water (start with 1 teaspoon, a little goes a long way) mix them together really well and then add to your fruit sauce. Bring it to a boil to activate the cornstarch.
Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Fruit Topping/Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups Diced fruit (fresh or frozen) see notes for fruit options
- ¼ cup Water or fruit juice decrease sugar if using fruit juice
- 2-4 tablepsoons Sugar or sweetener of choice amount will depend on the sweetness of the fruit you're using.
- 2 teaspoons Lemon or lime juice
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan, place over medium heat and stir until combined.
- Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally for 7-10 minutes or until the fruit is softened, saucy and slightly thickened.
Notes
- Peaches
- Mango
- Cherries
- Pineapple
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cane sugar
- Raw sugar
- Honey
- Maple syrup
- Coconut sugar
We calculate these nutritional facts using an estimate and they can vary drastically between ingredients used and measuring technique. So, they are not intended for medical use.
Did you make this recipe? We would love to hear from you!