Banana Pudding is a legendary dessert favorite in the South. But it’s not the only sweet way to serve up bananas. In fact, there’s an even better way to plate bananas for dessert, especially for those of you who aren’t big fans of fruit in your sweet dishes.

Bananas Foster truly takes about 10 minutes to make, and it offers you flexibility to make it your own way. Alcohol, for example, is a big part of Bananas Foster for many, but it was an unnecessary ingredient for our house.

Whether you add rum to yours or not, Bananas Foster, like other caramelized fruit dishes, provides a glimpse into the science of cooking. As you heat your sauce in the pan, you truly see the sugars coming out as the ingredients mix.

 

Bananas Foster

What You Need:

2 under-ripe bananas

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon or cinnamon sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

pinch of salt

four scoops of vanilla ice cream

What You Do:

1. Slice your bananas into thin pieces.

2. Heat your burner on medium heat. In a pan on the heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Stir to mix your ingredients and thoroughly combine all of them. Turn your heat up to high and continue to stir. You will see the sugary mixture almost pulsing in the pan.

3. When you mix your ingredients well, add your sliced bananas to the pan, and thoroughly coat the bananas in the sauce. Don’t stop stirring to make sure that your mixture does not have time to solidify, stick or burn in the pan.

4. Scoop vanilla ice cream into four separate bowls. Use a spatula or spoon to scoop your bananas and sauce onto your ice cream. Serve quickly before the ice cream melts.

Molly’s Take: I’m not a huge fruit dessert person, but this simple recipe blew me away. The sweet, caramel-coated bananas literally melted in my mouth and the vanilla bean ice cream proved a creamy, delightful companion to the occasional caramel crunch. I loved this and I’m the person who usually picks the bananas out of her banana pudding. It’s quite easy, quite simple and definitely something you can – and should – try. For me, a caramel or vanilla or simple sugar dessert is always my favorite. Add this to the list of favorites for the Tessnear household.

Matthew’s Take: If you’ve been reading the blog faithfully, you’ll know that I enjoy caramelizing fruit. This is a different way to do it because it includes more than the natural and juicy sugars in a peach or blueberry. You don’t get juices in a banana, so you make your own sweet sauce to complement the banana flavor. You get a very sweet banana dessert that outdistances banana pudding in decadence. You also get the best of both worlds: You feel like you’re eating healthy because you’re eating fruit, but you also feel like you’re getting something incredibly rich because of the sugary coating that tops your ice cream. This take on Bananas Foster gets an A+ for taste, an A+ for ease and an A for cost. If you already keep the pantry ingredients in your home, then all you need to do is pick up bananas and ice cream at the grocery store.