Bananas Foster Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients Needed
- 3x bananas (around 600g/1.3lbs skin on)
- 60ml/2floz aged rum 45% ABV (see ingredients above)
- 4 scoops vanilla ice cream
- 30g/1oz butter
- 120g/4oz light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 45ml/1.4floz banana liqueur or vanilla vodka
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - PREP If you are serving bananas foster with crepes, fold the crepes and place on a platter. Scoop ice cream (4 scoops vanilla ice cream) onto plates (or into bowls). Peel bananas (3x bananas) and slice in half lengthways. Cut in half and set aside.
Step 2 BANANAS - Place butter (30g/1oz butter), brown sugar (120g/4oz light brown sugar), vanilla (1 teaspoon vanilla) and cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon) in a saucepan on medium heat. Allow butter to melt and then add the banana liqueur (45ml/1.4floz banana liqueur or vanilla vodka). Stir to combine and then heat until bubbling rapidly (see pic above). Add bananas (3x bananas) cut side up and spoon caramel sauce over the bananas while simmering for 2 minutes.
Step 3 FLAMBE - Remove the pan from the stovetop and place on a heat safe mat. Make sure there are no curtains or anything that can catch on the flames. Heat the rum (60ml/2floz aged rum) in the microwave on 100% power for 20 seconds. Have a large metal saucepan lid ready to smother the flame just in case. Pour the rum over the bananas and light immediately with a fire lighter. Let the flames die naturally. If you don't want to flambe the bananas foster, just add the rum to the pan and let the heat cook off the alcohol.
Step 4 SERVE - Use two tablespoons to lift each piece of banana onto the plates or bowls. You can also reduce the sauce slightly to become thicker. Note that bananas contain pectin so the sauce naturally thickens and becomes jammy. Only saute for 1-2 minutes on high.
Personal Note
This recipe although simple, came through so much testing and I went through kilos of bananas trying to get it just right and working from memory. Luckily Mr NQN loves bananas foster and sometimes he would even have it with yogurt for breakfast.
As we were flambeeing, I wanted to make sure that Mr NQN was there to help me just in case something went wrong. We put the dogs in another room, moved the sheer curtain away and poured the rum on top of the bananas. He lit it and we watched in anticipation.
Nothing.
"Try again!" I whispered, as if it could hear us.
NOTHING. There was no fire at all.
It was then that we realised that the most important thing for flambeeing is the percentage of alcohol in the rum. A lot of rums sit at around 37%ABV but that may not ignite. You need 40% ABV and above for flames or you need to make sure that you warm your rum just before igniting.
Mr NQN was about to make a quick trip to the bottle shop when we decided to ask one of our neighbours if they had a nip or two of rum. Mr NQN texted him and sure enough he had one at 45% ABV. Mr NQN went to get some and we warmed it up and tried it again and it ignited straight away. When we did it for the restaurant I didn't realise that it was a particular % of alcohol but I'm glad that I didn't wait to try this when guests were here and it would have been the anticlimax of the week!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever flambeed anything? Do you like bananas foster?