Easy Orange Sauce
Orange sauce is sweet, tangy, and a perfect topping for waffles and pancakes. I also love it drizzled over desserts like cake and ice cream. Make it with orange juice or add Grand Marnier for a more grown-up version.
What Is Orange Sauce Made Of?
The most basic orange sauce is made with sugar and orange juice.
They are heated so that the sugar melts and the orange juice reduces (some of the liquid evaporates) and the flavor intensifies.
How to Thicken Orange Sauce
If you just cook down the orange juice with sugar, you’ll end up with a thin orange syrup. This is absolutely delicious and sometimes I like to use it as is! Sometimes, especially on ice cream, it’s nice to have a thicker orange sauce.
To thicken the sauce a little, add a pat of butter. This also adds a richer buttery flavor to the sauce!
To thicken the sauce to more of a honey consistency, whisk together a half teaspoon of corn starch with a teaspoon of orange juice and add it to the boiling liquid. Whisk it into the liquid for about a minute. The sauce will start to thicken and it will continue to thicken as it cools.
What is Grand Marnier?
Grand Marnier is an orange-flavored cognac-based liqueur.
The name is synonymous with orange liqueur – just as some people use the word Coke to mean soda.
I like to use a lot of Grand Marnier in my orange sauce as I love the boozy orange flavor! If you are making the sauce for children, you may want to skip the Grand Marnier and use just orange juice.
Where to Use Orange Sauce
Here are some of my favorite ways to use orange sauce:
- Poured over Belgian waffles
- Drizzled on cinnamon rolls instead of the standard glaze
- On top of pancakes, like these perfect pancakes from The Stay at Home Chef
- Over English muffins or crumpets
- In any oatmeal
- Over any ice cream (I show vanilla here, but it’s so good on chocolate as well!)
- Drizzled over cupcakes frosted with vanilla frosting or chocolate frosting
Orange Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup Grand Marnier optionally, replace with more orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Set aside one teaspoon of orange juice in a small bowl.
- In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt butter.
- Whisk in remaining orange juice, sugar, and Grand Marnier.
- Bring mixture to a low boil and cook for ten minutes to reduce the liquid.
- Whisk the cornstarch into the previously set aside orange juice until it yields a uniform slurry, then add to the mixture. Continue to whisk for about one minute.
- Remove from heat and let cool to thicken.
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