Bananas Foster

  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 10 mins
  • Servings: 4
  • About This Recipe

    “This recipe only takes 5 minutes to make one delicious dessert!While the bananas cook, scoop the ice cream into individual bowls so they are ready to go once the sauce has been flambeed. Before flambeing, make sure to roll up long shirt sleeves, tie back long hair, turn off the exhaust fan (otherwise the fan may pull the flames up), and turn off any lit burners (this is critical if you have a gas stove). From Cook’s Illustrated.”

    Ingredients

  • 4tablespoonsunsalted butter
  • 1/2 cuppacked dark brown sugar
  • 1cinnamon stick
  • 1strip lemon, zest of, 1 to 2 inches long by about 1 1/2 inch wide
  • 2largefirm ripe bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise and then crosswise
  • 4tablespoonsdark rum
  • 1pintvanilla ice cream, divided among four bowls
  • Directions

  • Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium heat.
  • Add the brown sugar, cinnamon stick, and lemon zest; stir to dissolve the sugar, about 1 minute.
  • (If the heat is too high, the butter and sugar will separate instead of combining to form a sauce).
  • Add the bananas and spoon some sauce over each piece.
  • Cook until the bananas are glossy and golden on the bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes.
  • Turn the bananas and continue cooking until they are very soft but not mushy or falling apart, about 1 1/2 more minutes.
  • Remove the skillet from the heat.
  • Add the rum and wait until the rum has warmed slightly, about 5 seconds.
  • Wave a lit match over the pan until the rum ignites, shaking the pan to distribute the flame over the entire pan.
  • When the flames subside (this will take 15 to 30 seconds), divide the bananas and sauce among the four bowls of ice cream and serve.
  • Reviews

  • “This is the true coup de gras of any meal!This will make a special meal a feast fit for a king!Try it, it is superb!”

  • “Love bananas foster, but lost my recipe. Found this on the internet. Something didn’t turn out right. After the last step, i should have let the sauce cool down mre. If you put it on while still hot, the ice cream will melt. Also, I do t know if requires some more cooking down or what, but it was pretty liquid and had a strong booze taste.”

  • “I keep making this again and again! Such an easy way to impress company. I occasionally substitute ground cinnamon if I don’t have any sticks on hand. Thanks for posting, you’ve made my guests very happy!”

  • “Wonderful, we enjoyed these enormously.”

  • “Excellent recipe.Tried other banana foster recipes and this one was the best.An easy, inexpensive, fun desert.”

  • “I decided to not put any stars on this review, because I think maybe I might have messed it up! I tried to ignite the rum and it only stayed lit for maybe 2 seconds.I couldn’t get it lite again so I just gave up.Therefore; I think, the rum flavor (alchohol) was unbearable and unedible.Blah! :(“

  • “Very easy and just as tasteful as much more time consuming recipes. I left out the lemon zest and it still came out just fine.”

  • “Thanks Bev for posting this delicious, quick and easy to make dessert!!! Did not make any changes.”

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