Bananas Foster
The New Orleans-inspired bananas foster recipe, aka banana flambe, is a secret weapon of any date night. Bananas are flambeed in a simple caramel rum sauce and topped with vanilla ice cream. Decadence!
Servings: 2 ½-cup servings
Calories: 166kcal
Equipment
- 8” cast iron skillet or any skillet
- chef's knife or paring knife
- wire whisk or fork
- matches or fireplace lighter (if igniting)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
- pinch Cinnamon or cinnamon stick
- 1 ripe Banana sliced lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons Dark Rum or bourbon
- 1-2 (4 ounce scoops) Vanilla Ice Cream
- 1 tablespoon Pecans or Walnuts chopped
Instructions
- Melt BUTTER in skillet over medium heat.
- Add BROWN SUGAR and CINNAMON, stirring until sugar dissolves.
- Add BANANA and cook a few minutes on both sides until softened.
- Turn off stove burner and pour in RUM.
If you don't want to ignite / flambe
- Turn burner back on and allow sauce to cook a few minutes, stirring as needed, then serve.
To make banana flambe, there are 2 ways you can ignite the flame. BE CAREFUL either way and do not stand over the skillet.
- Option 1) Gas stove burner: Turn burner on and adjust to LOW heat. Carefully tip the skillet into the flame to ignite the alcohol, shaking the pan around to baste the bananas until the flame burns off.Option 2) Match or lighter: Keep stove burner off and use a long match or lighter to ignite the alcohol, shaking the pan around to baste the bananas until the flame burns off.
To serve bananas foster
- Serve bananas and sauce in the warm skillet or transfer to a bowl. Add ICE CREAM and PECANS.
Notes
What is banana flambe
Flambe is when alcohol is added to food and ignited. When you make bananas foster flambe, rum or bourbon is added to a buttery, brown sugar mixture and set alight briefly. Whether you flambe or not, you will get a delicious caramel rum sauce with this recipe, so igniting is not required.
Is Bananas Foster alcoholic?
Alcohol is a key ingredient of classic bananas foster. The flambe process happens very quickly and 75% of the alcohol is retained even after cooking. So, if a person is avoiding alcoholic desserts, omit the alcohol entirely and enjoy this recipe without it.
What can you substitute for the alcohol in bananas foster?
If you want to substitute an ingredient for the alcohol in this recipe, you can substitute equal amount of apple juice, pineapple juice, or heavy cream. It might not be a classic bananas foster recipe and you won't be able to flambe (ignite) it, but it will still be delicious.
Can you make Bananas Foster ahead of time?
You could make the caramel sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator until needed. However, unless you're hosting an event, I find it just as easy to make the sauce as needed because it comes together in a snap.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 166kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 41mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 180IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg