A sauce that my grandmother used to prepare—which I now make for my grandchildren—has always been a favorite in the family. Over baked ham, serve hot.
| Prep Time: | 3 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 28 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 2 1/2 cups |
Ingredients
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 cup raisins
- ¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups water
Instructions
- In a saucepan, stir together brown sugar, cornstarch and mustard powder. Slowly stir in vinegar, then add raisins, lemon zest, lemon juice and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil.
Reviews
This is a great recipe. It is easy to do and came out wonderful – exactly as I remember a delicious raisin sauce should be! I did use some dried cranberry in with the raisins, and substituted ACV for white vinegar but that is what I had on hand. Many thanks for this recipe!
Loved, huge easter hit! Halved starch, less sugar, increased vinegar, added powdered mustard and whole grain mustard.
I followed the directions and the first step turned into a mess! I ended up making another sauce. If I were to make this again, I would boil the water first, then add ingredients as directed.
Yum! Loved the flavors; this’ll replace my old standby raisin sauce recipe. It was pretty thick, (I liked it) but the amount of cornstarch is easily adjusted to your taste.
Classic. Delicious.
Loved this recipe with 2 tweaks. I added pineapple and pie spice. I also only used 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. Delicious
Served it with ham for Easter dinner and all who had it said it was very good. I had to make it the night before and when it was warmed in the microwave it was very thick and looked unappealing until I thinned it out with water. Next time I will thin it out before reheating. I particularly enjoyed the taste the lemon juice added to the sauce.
Excellent sauce to serve over ham. I’ve made it several times now!
Excellent
I made it his for my boyfriend, and it was exactly as he remembered it as a child!
Followed the original recipe although I halved the recipe for a smaller group. Very easy and delicious! Will make this my go-to sauce for all my ham dinners!
Made exactly as directed. As other reviewers have mentioned, I didn’t like the texture of this sauce, it was too gummy from the cornstarch. Also not sweet enough, lacking something else too, maybe cloves and prepared mustard. It has other ingredients that I couldn’t taste, such as lemon rind, lemon juice and vinegar, which I found unnecessary in the final product. I think I will stick with my 2 ingredient ham sauce, prepared mustard and brown sugar, and just add some raisins to it.
I exchanged… 1/2 cup orange juice and added 1 cup water ( 1 1/2 cups total) , 1 tablespoon of corn starch. Mixed all ingredients in a bowl before adding to pan. Heat low and slow and stir frequently. I Added a bit of water if it got to thick. Very easy to make. Lemon zest a must:). All in all a great recipe. Juice from the ham can be used to thin sauce and add flavor. My family loved it. !! My grandmother and mother used to make it on Easter and Christmas.. We loved it.
Perfect! I used 1 1/2 Tablespoons of cornstarch and the final consistency was perfect. I also used dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup currents instead of raisins. The lemon zest and lemon juice make all the difference in the taste. Easy and delicious!
I made it exactly as the original recipe specified except that I didn’t have any lemon zest. I thought the thickness was perfect for a sauce like this. Like any sauce, it’s going to thicken as it cools. We spooned it on our ham straight out of the pan, so it was quite hot. If I were to serve it in a bowl at a dinner, it might need to be thinned, but for our needs it’s fine. Next time, I probably won’t add the mustard, but I’ll try to have some zest on hand.
Made it for my family yesterday for a holiday meal. I added the zest of a whole lemon and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Also doubled the recipe in general, cutting back on the cornstarch, and a large box of raisins. The whole family loved it. Now you must understand the family has a bunch of wonderful and critical cooks, so to give this 5-stars is really something! It wasn’t too sweet nor too sour, but they all loved it, including the picky teens. Next time I might add a tough of dark rum just for fun. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
This is very similar to the raisin sauce that my family has always made except we used to add a couple tablespoons of ham drippings also. It’s supposed to be thick, like a gel. The second day we warm it and use it as a spread on ham.
I have been using this recipe for years, my family wont eat ham without it!!!! I don’t use the lemon zest and I use apple cider vinegar
This is our family recipe, too. Only mom always added walnuts.
Very nice. Have used it many times and will continue to do so.
Really great and on pork chops also!! Everyone loved it. The dry mustard is a must so that it wont be too sweet.