Bananas Foster

During our time spent with family last week, we finished off a delicious meal with one of my favourite desserts, Bananas Foster. Well actually, I have a lot of favourite desserts... but this is one that Brian and I learned how to make when we lived in our little bachelor apartment as newlyweds. It's simple, dramatic, and delicious. Brian had the camera out when I was making it and thus documented the process quite nicely.. I never usually do these food type posts but thought I might as well!

Here is how you make it, step by step. The actual recipe can be found here. You should give it a try!

Slice the bananas in half and then horizontally. You want them to be firm-ripe.. sweet tasting but not so ripe that they fall apart, they need to stand up to cooking.

Melt the butter over medium heat, stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook until moist.

Add the banana liqueur and stir continuously. We've had that same bottle for a while now and it's finally almost gone. Made by the Dutch! (Bols Amsterdam)

Put the banana pieces rounded side down in the pan and cook until they begin to soften.

There they are, getting all soft and delicious in the caramelly sauce.

Get your rum ready! You also will want to have a lighting device ready. A BBQ lighter would probably work well... we just used matches with a homemade skewer- aka pared down chopstick. If you do something like that it's easier to light the skewer from a lit candle than a match.. timing is important!

Turn the bananas over onto their flat sides. They are a bit fragile. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the rum. When the pan is off the heat, turn that element up to high.

 Put the pan back onto the hot element, and quickly ignite the rum! You should see flames like this. Flambéing..... ooh la la! Shake the pan gently.

See how the flame dies down...

Get your ice cream ready. The Breyer`s Natural Vanilla is an excellent choice.

Arrange some banana pieces on your ice cream and pour some sauce over them. Serve immediately. Yum!!

A satisfied customer! :)