Banana Foster is an American dessert. It is basically caramelizing the bananas in butter and brown sugar and then add cream to make a sauce. It is then finished off with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream and a dust of cinnamon. It is really good and very easy to make. Traditionally some form of alcohol is added but today I will be making it with non-alcoholic malt instead. You can leave it out if you want and just use cream.
Use bananas that are not very ripe and soft. We need them to keep their shape when heated and they won’t be able to do that if they are too ripe, they will turn soggy which is not what we’re after.
Brown sugar is a must in this recipe.. it adds the caramel flavor to the bananas. Unless you want to caramelize your own white sugar to get the same flavor profile, use brown sugar.
Traditionally banana foster is made with ice cream but you can make it with whipped cream or any type of cream and it is just as good.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 bananas (not very ripe)
- 1/2 cup butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ tspn cinnamon
- ¼ - ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup non-alcoholic malt drink
- 1 teaspoon banana essence
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (I used both vanilla essence + concentrate)
- Pinch of salt
- Vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream
*Peel the bananas and cut them in half lengthwise.
*In the pan dissolve the butter and add the brown sugar and boil.
*Lay the halved bananas and cook for a few minutes then flip them over. Do not cook them on very low heat, they will soften too much you won’t be able to flip them properly.
*After you flip the bananas and they are cooked on both sides, gently remove them from the pan onto a plate.
*Now we make the caramel sauce. To the butter and sugar add the malt drink, I prefer pouring it into a cup first to get rid of the foam. Be very careful, adding any liquid to hot sugar will result in vigorous bubbling, keep the pan at a distance from you and maybe lower the heat a bit at this point until it calms down. This step is totally optional, if you do not want to add malt leave it out. I just find the slight bitterness helps with the flavor and also makes the caramel slightly more liquidy.
*Once all the sugar has dissolved, pour in the cream. If you are not using malt, make the cream ½ a cup and not 1/4 . Add in the banana essence, vanilla essence, salt and the cinnamon. The salt will balance all the sweetness. Bring back the bananas to the caramel sauce just for a minute to heat and take in all the flavors.
*Serve in a slightly deep bowl to fit the sauce, lay the bananas, pour the sauce on top and finish it off with vanilla ice-cream and garnish with a dust of cinnamon. That’s it, enjoy!
