Bruleed Banana Split Food

BROILED BANANA SPLITS

Steps:

• Mix 1 tablespoon brown sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Halve 4 bananas lengthwise; brush with 1 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Wrap in foil and broil until golden, about 3 minutes. Top with frozen yogurt, toasted almonds and chopped chocolate and/or raspberries.

BANANA CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the bananas, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of white sugar. Stir well to blend the sugar and butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. The bananas should be lightly caramelized. Mash the bananas with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the lemon juice to the mixture, raise the heat to high, add the brandy, and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, divide among 6 wide, shallow creme brulee dishes, and let cool. Place the heavy cream in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape the seeds into the cream with the tip of a knife. Add the scraped-out vanilla bean, and bring the cream just to a boil, then remove from heat. Reserve. Place the egg yolks and 5 tablespoons of white sugar in the top of a double boiler. Whisk them together, then stir over simmering water until the mixture becomes fairly thick (about 15 minutes). Strain the reserved cream into eggs, and stir the mixture over simmering water for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and ladle over the cooled banana puree in the 6 dishes. Place the dishes in a roasting pan, and fill the pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the dishes from the pan, and chill them for at least 3 hours.
• When you are ready to serve, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of light brown sugar over each dish, distributing evenly. Place the dishes on a bed of cracked ice in a roasting pan, and position the pan under a broiler until the sugar caramelizes. Watch carefully, and move the dishes around so the sugar browns evenly but doesn't char. Remove and serve while the crust is still hot.

BANANA SPLITSVILLE

Steps:

• Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small, heavy saucepan and place over high heat. As soon as the sugar has dissolved, heat your thermometer under warm tap water (to prevent thermal shock) and attach to side of pan, making sure that the bulb is completely submerged. Do not stir the mixture or agitate the pan at this stage.
• When the mixture reaches 230 degrees, reduce the heat to medium and allow the sugar to color gradually. As the temperature approaches 300 degrees the color will start to turn to amber. At this point, it's safe to swirl the pan gently to help distribute the heat evenly. As the caramel heads towards 340 degrees, it will reach a deep amber color.
• Remove the pan from the heat and slowly stir with a metal spoon, allowing it to cool until the caramel falls from the spoon in a solid stream, like a string. When it does, it's doodad time.
• Form doodads by holding the spoon 12 to 16 inches over the caramel and drizzling the patterns on the parchment. (Hint: allow the spoon to unload into the pan for a few seconds before attempting doodad. This will allow a narrower stream.) Quick back and forth motions or side to side movements are best. It's all in the wrist. Allow doodads to cool for 15 minutes then peel the paper off (not the other way around). Stack in an airtight container with wax paper between each piece.
• After making 15 to 20 doodads, you should have sufficient caramel remaining to move on to the sauce phase. So, return the remaining caramel to medium high heat and continue cooking until you see the first sign of smoke. Immediately remove from the heat, and add the cream, all at once, at arms length. (It will boil furiously.) Once the mixture calms down, return to medium heat and boil 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature, move to squirt bottle and refrigerate for up to a week.
• To make the bananas brulee, quarter the bananas (peel on) and rub into sugar to coat thoroughly. Remove peel and place on cooling rack over several layers of foil. (Don't try this on your dining room table.) Don your safety goggles and fire up your torch. Hold the torch so that the very tip of the flame barely touches the banana, and move quickly back and forth until the sugar melts, turns brown, and bubbles. As soon as it looks like caramel, move on. You know you've got it down when a solid, glasslike sheet of gold (no graininess) has formed on the banana.
• To do the split (so to speak), squirt a pattern of caramel sauce on a chilled plate, top with 4 banana pieces (Lincoln log style), top with the ice cream of your choice (we like our peachy vanilla from Churn Baby Churn), and finally, a doodad.

BANANA BRULéE

Steps:

• To make the bananas brulée, quarter the bananas lengthwise (peel on) and rub into sugar to coat thoroughly.
• Remove peel and place on cooling rack over several layers of foil. (Don't try this on your dining room table.).
• Don your safety goggles and fire up your torch. Hold the torch so that the very tip of the flame barely touches the banana, and move quickly back and forth until the sugar melts, turns brown, and bubbles. As soon as it looks like caramel, move on. You know you've got it down when a solid, glasslike sheet of gold (no graininess) has formed on the banana.