Now that the holiday baking season is over, let's look at some interesting sauces you can use to dress up regular desserts.

Dessert sauces are divided into two general classes: hard and liquid. Hard sauces are uncooked mixtures of butter and sugar. Liquid sauces are made with water, fruit juice, milk or cream-thickened with egg, flour or starch.

Before choosing a sauce, one should consider the nature of the dessert, its texture and its color. A rich dessert should have a simple sauce; a bland one is given character by a sauce with high flavor.

Here are some sauces I recommend:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Sauce

1 (6-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon whipping cream

Melt chocolate morsels in top of a double boiler. Add peanut butter, stirring until well blended. Remove from heat, and stir in corn syrup and whipping cream. Serve warm over ice cream.

Makes: 1 1/4 cups

NOTE: Store in refrigerator. Reheat over low heat before using. If the sauce becomes too thick, stir in a small amount of whipping cream.

Apple Ice Cream Sauce

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon corn starch

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

3/4 cup water

1 (20-ounce can pie-sliced apples, undrained

1 quart vanilla ice cream

Combine brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon rind and water; blend well. Stir in apple slices, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Serve hot over ice cream.

Makes: 4 to 6 servings.

Sunshine Sauce

2 egg yolks

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup heavy cream, whipped until stiff

Beat the egg yolks, add sugar and vanilla and beat together. Just before serving add the cream.

Port Royal resident Ervena Faulkner is a retired educator who has always had an interest in food and nutrition. Email her at features@beaufortgazette.com.