Banana Foster

Banana Foster is a dessert made from bananas and vanilla ice cream, with the sauce made from butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum, and banana liqueur. The butter, sugar and bananas are cooked, and then the alcohol is added and ignited. The bananas and sauce are then served over the ice cream. Preparation of the dish is often made into a tableside performance as a flambé.

This is my absolute favorite dessert. It is a New Orleans original that has been around for years. My grandmother had this recipe perfected. The key to her recipe was to use very ripe to almost rotten bananas. It is a very easy dish to make just be very careful with the alcohol and the fire. The dish can be done without the fire just let it cook till the bananas are very brown.

History

The dish was created in 1951 by Paul Blangé at Brennan's Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named for Richard Foster, a friend of Owen Brennan's who was then New Orleans Crime Commission chairman. It is still served at a number of fine restaurants in New Orleans as well as in many restaurants around the world.

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The Original Recipe from Brennan's

Ingredients

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup banana liqueur

4 bananas, cut in half lengthwise, then halved

1/4 cup dark rum

4 scoops vanilla ice cream

Directions

Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet.

Place the pan over low heat either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.

Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan.

When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum.

Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum.

When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream.

Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.

My Family Recipe

Ingredients

4 very ripe bananas, sliced in half lengthwise

4 tablespoons American Beauty butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup banana liqueur

1/2 cup dark banana rum

Directions

1. Melt butter in a heavy skillet; add the brown sugar and spices, stirring until the sugar is completely melted.

2. Add the ripe bananas and cook until they are hot and well coated with syrup, but not mushy.

3. Pour in the banana liqueur and rum. If the butter is very hot, the bananas will flame on their own. Or, you can cook over medium heat, stirring, until the alcohol cooks out.

4. Serve the bananas and sauce warm over vanilla ice cream.