No-Flambé Bananas Foster with Brown Butter Rum Caramel

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The New Orleans classic, rebuilt for a home stove with no fireball required. You brown the butter first for a nutty, toasted backbone, build a glossy dark-rum caramel, then slide the bananas in off the heat so they warm through and stay in one piece instead of collapsing into mush. Spooned over cold vanilla ice cream, the sauce seizes into ribbons of butterscotch — all of the tableside theater, none of the singed eyebrows.

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 2 tbsp banana liqueur (crème de banane)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 4 firm-ripe bananas (yellow, no brown spots)
• 1 pint good vanilla bean ice cream
• 1/4 cup toasted pecan pieces (optional)
• flaky sea salt, for finishing

Instructions

1. Scoop 4 generous portions of vanilla ice cream into chilled bowls or wide coupe glasses and return them to the freezer. Cold, firm ice cream is essential — the hot caramel should set into ribbons on contact, not melt everything into soup.
2. Peel the bananas and slice each one in half lengthwise, then crosswise, giving you 4 pieces per banana. Set them on a plate. Do this just before cooking so they don't brown, and measure out the rum and liqueur into a small cup so they're ready to go.
3. In a 10- or 12-inch stainless or light-colored skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue cooking, swirling the pan often, for 3 to 5 minutes: it will foam, then quiet down, and the milk solids at the bottom will turn golden brown and smell nutty like toasted hazelnuts. Watch closely once you see color — brown butter goes to burnt fast.
4. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and orange zest. Stir with a heatproof spatula for about 1 minute, until the sugar melts into the butter and looks like wet sand turning to lava. It may look separated or grainy at first; keep stirring.
5. Pour in the heavy cream and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sauce is smooth, glossy, and coats the back of the spoon. It should bubble gently, not boil hard — lower the heat to medium-low if it's spitting.
6. Slide the pan off the burner completely. Stand back and pour in the rum and banana liqueur, then stir; it will hiss and steam. Return the pan to low heat and simmer, stirring, for 60 to 90 seconds just to cook off the raw alcohol bite and re-thicken the caramel slightly. Do not tilt the pan toward the flame and do not attempt to ignite it. Stir in the vanilla.
7. Turn the burner off entirely. Lay the banana pieces cut-side down in the hot caramel in a single layer, spoon sauce over them, and let them sit in the residual heat for 2 to 3 minutes, gently turning once with a spatula. They should be warmed through, glazed, and still holding their shape.
8. Pull the bowls from the freezer. Arrange 4 banana pieces over each portion of ice cream, spoon the warm caramel generously over the top, scatter with toasted pecans and a few flakes of sea salt, and serve immediately while the sauce is still setting up against the cold ice cream.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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