conquering fear with dessert

The culinary blowtorch that I’ve had in my possession for quite a while now has, I must admit been somewhat of a frightening prospect. The thought of using it has seemed like a high risk adventure and yes, dangerous in the hands of a novice (which I am). But recently I stumbled upon a recipe for Caramelized Bananas in Puff Pastry and thought that this was going to be the dessert recipe that would help me conquer the fear of the blowtorch!

I’ve changed up the recipe a bit from the original, actually tossing the bananas in a mixture of butter, brown sugar and rum, making it a little bit more like Bananas Foster. The original recipe has the bananas which are tossed in sugar, then caramelized with the blowtorch. Either way you choose to go with the bananas, if you add some salted caramel and a scoop of vanilla ice cream to top it off you can’t go wrong.

I am happy to report that I successfully made the dessert (wolfed it down, for lunch actually) and didn’t burn the house down or singe my eyebrows. The only ones that received the torch were the butter and rum flavored bananas, and they seemed to love it!

Enjoy!
Shannon

Caramelized Bananas Drizzled Salted Caramel in Puff Pastry
inspired by Gourmet Traveller, Austrailian publication

Puff pastry, 1 sheet
1 egg yolk, for brushing

Caramelized bananas
3 bananas, chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup dark rum
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Salted Caramel
Vanilla Ice Cream

Preheat oven to 400 cut four 4 inch rounds from pastry and place on a baking tray lined with parchment. Score part-way through pastry to form a 1 inch border, prick the center of the circle with a fork and brush all over with egg yolk. Freeze until firm (5 minutes) then bake until puffed and light golden (6-8 minutes). Remove from oven, detach the center top layers of puff pastry and discard. Return puff pastry to oven and bake until dark golden (6-8 minutes). Set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare caramelized bananas. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and stir until sugar begins to melt, bubble, and form thick mass, about 4 minutes. Add rum and lemon juice; simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add bananas and cook until glazed with caramel, about 1 minute. Divide the bananas among the puff pastry circles and hit them with a blowtorch until bubbly and the coating hardens, forming a candied coating (if desired). Drizzle with salted caramel and top with vanilla ice cream. Serve hot with extra salted caramel.

serves 4

a thoughtful take on a simple pleasure

I am so inspired by the literary prose of M.F.K. Fisher the legendary food writer of such books as Consider the Oyster, How to Cook a Wolf,  and The Gastronomical Me. Fishers’ work is masterful; every word seems perfectly placed, like the musical notes in a score. Her muse is food and the enjoyment that surrounds it, and the way in which she shares those pleasures is a melody that seems to transport you to a happier time and place.

It makes me wonder, that in a time that is so busy, where pleasure seems complicated that we can, or are willing to slow down enough to enjoy the simple beauty to be found in life.

With all of the rambling I do in this blog for almost a year now, I’m not sure who even reads these words of mine, if anyone.  I’m curious...dear reader are you a cook, a gourmand, or just a curious passerby? Are you inspired in the kitchen? Or do you simply need inspiration?

When someone finds out I enjoy cooking and even finds out I actually blog about it (which is sometimes a little embarrassing) I more times than not hear “Oh, I don’t cook.” After I hear this I always think, (but of course never say) “Do you eat?”

Or maybe I should ask “Do you eat well?”

My hope is that we will see our need for appreciation of the beauty, especially the simple beauty, to be found in life, amidst the confusion and turmoil that surrounds most of our lives. One simple way to achieve this, in my humble opinion is to carve out time each day to plan and create a meal for your family or just for yourself. Then take pause and a prayer if you will and give thanks.

Below is a recipe for Salted Dark Caramel Sauce, it is a quick delicious pleasure that can be a lovely flavoring for your favorite coffee drink, or simply drizzled over ice cream. I like to take the caramel to the brink of burning, until it is the color of an old penny. I love the deep intense flavor of a well colored caramel.

Enjoy!
Shannon


Salted Dark Caramel

1 cup heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, split in 1/2 lengthwise and seeds scraped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. sea salt

Place the heavy cream and vanilla bean and seeds in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove the cream from the heat and let sit while making the caramel.

Whisk together the sugar and water in a medium non-reactive saucepan over high heat. Cook until dark golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the caramel from the heat and immediately add the cream slowly, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Return to the heat and cook until the mixture becomes smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and salt. Transfer to a bowl and serve immediately.

makes almost 2 cups