Bananas Foster Recipe (Fast and Simple)

I would be the first to let you know that I’m not a baker. I do not imply that I am unable to bake, I can—when you doubt me, watch me make the infamous pecan pie recipe that Stella Parks deemed so tough she refused to launch to the general public. For me, baking normally includes extra effort than I care to expend on dessert, part of the meal that I contemplate absolutely non-compulsory. Which means that my candy spot for desserts is something with an incredible effort-to-reward ratio, and if the bananas Foster is something, it is that.

What makes bananas Foster so nice is how excessive it scores on all the next metrics: Simple to make? Examine. Spectacular? Examine, examine. Scrumptious? Examine, examine, examine. Pyrotechnics? Examine, examine, examine, examine, examine, and…IGNITION.

These flames generally is a hurdle, although. Recipes that contain a setting a bonfire to a skillet could be intimidating, so let’s tackle this head-on. First, you do not have to gentle the alcohol on hearth, you’ll be able to efficiently simmer the caramel with the booze the caramel reaches a very good stage for serving; the alcohol will largely have cooked off at that time anyway. However second, it is actually not that onerous. Simply take into consideration who historically makes bananas Foster. (Trace: It is not the cooks.) I will clarify.

Flash within the Pan: Why the Origins of Bananas Foster Clarify Its Ease

Bananas Foster is a New Orleans traditional, invented within the Fifties on the restaurant Brennan’s in honor of Richard Foster, town’s crime commissioner on the time. Watch any video of bananas Foster being made at Brennan’s (there are so much!), and you will discover that that is a kind of tableside desserts that eating places love to do for a little bit dining-room theatrics. I imply, I get it, the pyrotechnics are cool.

However you’ll be able to solely do tableside service for dishes which are simple to make, for a pair causes. First, the dish needs to be fast and easy sufficient to organize in minutes utilizing minimal gear and components. It does not work to have the maître d’ pull up a cooking trolley after which slowly stir a pot in entrance of you whereas saying, “And now we’ll preserve cooking this roux for an additional 45 minutes till it is darkish sufficient for a correct gumbo. Take care of a cocktail?”

And that is the opposite factor: It is normally a maître d’ or different front-of-house workers doing the cooking, not the precise cooks within the kitchen, and whereas I imply no disrespect, being an incredible cook dinner is not a part of any front-of-house job description. So a tableside dish like bananas Foster needs to be one thing the wait workers and administration can shortly be taught to whip up efficiently on repeat with a facet of aptitude and entertaining monologue.

None of it is going to work if it is a tough or time-consuming dish to make.

Look How Simple!

I can write all day about how contextual clues are proof that bananas Foster is simple, however I can even simply let you know. It is this simple:

• Soften butter and brown sugar in a pan together with a pinch of salt and heat spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Add bananas and cook dinner as caramel types.
• Add booze and lightweight it on hearth. Cook dinner till flames die down and caramel appears good.
• Serve with ice cream.

One notice on the booze: Within the authentic recipe from Brennan’s, each rum and banana liqueur go into the pan. I thought of calling for banana liqueur right here too, however ultimately determined in opposition to it. I am positive there are some respectable makes use of for banana liqueur and maybe a few of you studying this have already got a bottle in your liquor cupboard. However I am unable to in good conscience name for an ingredient with such restricted utility once you actually do not want it right here. The bananas within the pan are banana-y sufficient, the rum tastes nice, you’ll not miss it.

That stated, in case you have banana liqueur and wish to add a splash, please do—although as with all flambés, by no means pour instantly from any bottle of booze instantly into the pan with a flame below it, lest the hearth leaps up and lights the entire bottle on hearth. The aim is to flambé the alcohol within the pan, not make a Molotov cocktail.

The traditional approach to serve bananas Foster is with some ice cream, normally vanilla however I say have enjoyable with no matter taste appeals to you. This raises a form of definitional query that I might like to depart you with: Is bananas Foster a dessert unto itself, wherein à la mode is the standard approach to serve it? Or are we actually simply making a banana–flavored caramel sauce for ice cream? My god, I simply realized it is an à la minute banana split, served sizzling. I believe I simply lit my mind on hearth.