J's Raspberry Soda's

Looking at this raspberry soda makes me smile. One late afternoon as I was leaving work, J.J. (my 8 year old) called me and asked, "Mom, do we have any raspberries? Cause I'm watching Giada and I want to make something." I'm a sucker for an 8 year old who watches Giada, so even though raspberries were NOT in season, he gave me an ingredient list and I was off to the store. He made this homemade sauce all by himself, running back and forth to the T.V. pausing and rewinding (what did we ever do before DVR?) When I tried to help him, he would say, "Don't tell me mom, I'm just going to copy Giada!" And the BEST part was that these sodas were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.! This is the best raspberry sauce I've ever tasted - it would be perfect drizzled over cheese cake or chocolate cake. Oh, and I must mention that because of the out-of-season raspberries, these sodas cost about $18....but so worth it! .

INGREDIENTS

1 pint raspberry sherbet
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 1/3 cups club soda
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup raspberry syrup (recipe follows)

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RASPBERRY SYRUP

1/2 cup orange juice
2 T. corn starch
10 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup sugar

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Pour orange juice in to a sauce pan and stir in cornstarch. Mix until cornstarch is dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour the mixture through a fine strainer, pressing on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. This removes the seeds and creates a smooth, velvety sauce.

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ASSEMBLY:
In a soda glass, add 1 scoop vanilla ice cream and 1 scoop raspberry sherbet. Pour club soda on top and then drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce down in to, and on top of the soda. Top with fresh raspberries. Serve immediately. Divine!