Bananas Foster
Chapter 5: Cocktails & Desserts
Drop a half-stick of butter into the hot pan, let the dark rum catch the flame, and watch as the brown sugar bubbles into caramel. Born in the Creole epicenter of New Orleans but perfected in the sprawling, leather-bound dining rooms of institutions like Bern’s, a proper steakhouse dinner ends with fire. Do not ruin it with cheap, neon-yellow banana schnapps. Spring for a French banana liqueur, keep a long lighter handy, step back, and let the rum burn out. Respect the immense thermal mass of your cast-iron skillet.
Before you start
Mise en place is absolutely non-negotiable for a flambé.
Pre-scoop your vanilla ice cream into four dessert bowls and place them back in the freezer. Measure out your spirits into glasses, and mix your ground cinnamon and white sugar in a small pinch-bowl right next to the stove. Once the heat is on, this dessert takes fewer than five minutes.
Ingredients
- ground cinnamon1/2 tsp
- granulated white sugar1/2 tsp
- unsalted butter4 tbsp
- dark brown sugar1 cup
- kosher salt1/8 tsp
- Cavendish bananas4 med
- premium banana liqueur1/4 cup
- dark aged rum1/4 cup
- vanilla bean ice cream1 pt
Method
- 01
Construct the caramel base.
Place your cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add the butter. As it begins to foam, whisk in the dark brown sugar and salt, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon for about two minutes until it melts into a thick, bubbling, dark caramel.
- 02
Introduce the liqueur and the fruit.
Carefully pour in the banana liqueur, allowing it to aggressively bubble as it hits the hot caramel. Immediately lay the banana pieces flat into the syrup, cooking for exactly sixty seconds to soften the underside before gently flipping each piece with tongs to glaze for thirty seconds more.
- 03
Kill the heat entirely before ignition.
If using a gas stove, turn the flame completely off; if electric, slide the pan off the hot coil. Cast iron retains immense thermal mass, meaning the residual heat is more than enough to vaporize the alcohol without risking a kitchen fire.
- 04
Flambé the rum.
Pour the dark rum over the bananas, stand back slightly, and immediately touch a long lighter to the edge of the pan just above the liquid to ignite the vapors into a towering blue and orange flame.
- 05
Execute the theatrical spark.
While the pan is actively flaming, grab your pinch-bowl of cinnamon and sugar and dramatically sprinkle the mixture from a foot above directly into the fire to create crackling, glowing sparks.
- 06
Baste and serve immediately.
Allow the flames to die out completely on their own, burning off the raw ethanol. Swirl the pan to baste the bananas in the smoky caramel, place four warm pieces over each bowl of frozen ice cream, spoon the boiling-hot sauce over the top, and serve instantly.
Notes
Source premium spirits.
Avoid artificially flavored banana schnapps at all costs. Seek out a premium French liqueur like Giffard Banane du Brésil, and use a complex dark rum like Myers’s Original Dark or Goslings Black Seal.
Do not pour directly from the bottle.
When working with high heat and open flames, always pre-measure your liquor into a small glass. Pouring straight from the bottle risks the flame traveling up the alcohol stream.