Bananas Foster

It's a Sunday night, I'm sitting at home, a bit bored and haven't experimented with a new recipe in a while, I get the idea of making this dessert while talking on the phone with my friend, Mike, who brought it up.

Bananas Foster, something I've NEVER tried before, unless of course you count the Bananas Foster sundae at Culver's, but I wouldn't, is a dessert made from bananas and vanilla ice cream, with a sauce made from butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum, and banana liqueur

The dish was created in 1951 by Paul Blangé at Brennan's Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named for Richard Foster, a friend of Owen Brennan's who was then New Orleans Crime Commission chairman.
It is still served at a number of fine restaurants in New Orleans as well as in several restaurants around the world.

I would also like to personally thank Gwen Stefani for teaching the world how to spell BANANAS! ;-)

The key to Bananas Foster's contrasting textures and temperatures is preparing all the ingredients before making the sauce.

For 4 servings:

1 pint of vanilla ice cream
4 large ripe bananas
1/4 cup of banana liqueur, brandy or cognac (1/4 cup water may be substituted)
1/2 cup dark rum
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Cover a small rimmed baking sheet (one that will fit in your freezer) with parchment paper, and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. When chilled, remove pan from freezer. Quickly scoop ice cream into 12 small balls, and place on chilled parchment-lined sheet. Keep in freezer until firm and ready to serve, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day ahead.

2. When ready to serve, peel bananas and quarter them, cutting lengthwise and then crosswise; set aside. Pour liqueur and dark rum into separate glass measuring cups; set aside. I did not have any banana liqueur, so I used cognac. Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over butter, and cook until sugar is dissolved.

3. Remove pan from heat, and carefully stir in liqueur. Add bananas, flat side down, and cook, over medium heat, until softened and lightly browned on the bottom.

4. Remove pan from heat, and add rum. Return to heat and cook about 10 seconds to allow rum to heat up. If using a gas stove, carefully tip the pan away from you until the vapors from the rum ignite. (Alternately, light the rum with a long match.) When the flames have subsided, remove pan from heat and gently stir in remaining 3 tablespoons butter.

5. Place 3 scoops of ice cream in each of four serving dishes or bowls. Spoon the banana mixture and the sauce over each. Serve immediately!

This took less than 15 minutes to make (minus the time the scooped ice cream was in the freezer) and was so delicious! I mean come on, bananas, brown sugar, butter, and booze on top of ice cream? What could be better?

For this recipe and many other wonderful dessert recipes visit Martha Stewart.