Indulge in Decadence: The Ultimate Single Serve Bananas Foster Recipe
Prepare to elevate your dessert experience to extraordinary heights with this utterly decadent, New Orleans-style classic: Single Serve Bananas Foster. Forget health food for a moment; this is one of those rare indulgences where we embrace every spoonful of butter, every crystal of sugar, and every swirl of vanilla ice cream. Oh, and of course, it features bananas and pecans… so that makes it healthy, right? Perhaps not, but it certainly makes it heavenly! This recipe is designed to transport your taste buds straight to the vibrant streets of New Orleans, offering a rich, warm, and intensely flavorful dessert that is surprisingly simple to make.
Why Single Serve Bananas Foster is Your New Go-To Dessert
One of the many charms of this recipe, beyond the irresistibly caramelized bananas drenched in a buttery, rum-kissed sauce and topped with creamy ice cream, is its single-serve nature. Prepared in an adorable little cast iron skillet, you can whip up just one portion for a personal treat or several for an intimate gathering. Each individual dessert looks incredibly appealing, making it perfect for impressing guests with minimal fuss. The convenience of single servings means you can easily scale the recipe up or down, ensuring fresh, warm Bananas Foster whenever the craving strikes.
Do you know just how ridiculously easy Bananas Foster is to prepare? So easy, in fact, that you’d be missing out on a truly delightful experience if you didn’t try this one! It’s the perfect opportunity to create a show-stopping dessert with surprisingly little effort. Imagine the “oohs” and “aahs” as you present these individual masterpieces – a perfect blend of simplicity and sophistication.
A Brief History of Bananas Foster: A New Orleans Legacy
To truly appreciate this dessert, it’s worth a moment to delve into its origins. Bananas Foster was created in 1951 by Paul Blangé, the chef at Brennan’s restaurant in New Orleans. It was named for Richard Foster, then chairman of the New Orleans Crime Commission and a friend of Owen Brennan, the restaurant’s owner. At the time, New Orleans was a major port for importing bananas, and Brennan challenged his chef to incorporate them into a new dessert. What emerged was a spectacular dish featuring bananas flambéed in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and rum, served with vanilla ice cream. This iconic creation quickly became a Brennan’s staple and a beloved symbol of New Orleans culinary decadence. Recreating this classic at home, even in a single-serve format, allows you to partake in a rich piece of dessert history.
Important Flambé Caution: Safety First!
A word of caution: there is an *optional* but highly recommended part of this recipe that involves an open flame in a skillet. If you decide to go this route and flambé the rum, ALL precautions MUST be taken to avoid injury and prevent fire. This includes essential safety measures such as ensuring adult supervision, working in a clear, well-ventilated area, and having a fire extinguisher readily on hand. Never lean over the pan when igniting, and ensure no flammable items are nearby.
Mind you, these efforts are so incredibly worth it when you taste the magical transformation that occurs. Burning off the alcohol from the rum leaves behind an exquisite richness – a deeply flavored, buttery caramel sauce infused with the subtle, complex notes of rum. It’s an experience that truly elevates the dish to pure heaven!
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Essential Ingredients for Decadent Single Serve Bananas Foster
Crafting the perfect Bananas Foster requires just a few key ingredients, each playing a crucial role in building its signature flavor profile:
- Butter: This is the foundation of our luscious caramel sauce, providing richness and a smooth base for the other flavors. Use good quality unsalted butter for the best results.
- Brown Sugar: The molasses in brown sugar gives the caramel its deep, complex flavor and beautiful golden hue. Both light and dark brown sugar work; dark brown sugar will yield a more intense caramel.
- Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla enhances the overall sweetness and adds a warm, aromatic depth that complements the banana and rum perfectly.
- Chopped Pecans: These add a wonderful textural contrast and a delightful nutty flavor that pairs exquisitely with the sweet bananas and rich sauce. Toasting them lightly before adding can further enhance their flavor.
- Cinnamon: A classic spice pairing for bananas, cinnamon adds a hint of warmth and fragrant spice that ties all the elements together. A few pinches are all you need.
- Bananas: The star of the show! Choose firm but ripe bananas, ideally with a few brown spots, as they will be sweeter and caramelize beautifully without turning mushy. Overripe bananas tend to break down too quickly.
- (Optional) Dark or Light Rum: This is what gives Bananas Foster its signature kick and makes it ideal for flambéing. Dark rum offers a richer, more robust flavor, while light rum provides a slightly milder taste. If you prefer to avoid alcohol, you can omit the rum entirely, or use a non-alcoholic rum extract for flavor.
- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream: The essential cool, creamy counterpart to the warm, rich bananas. Vanilla bean ice cream provides a delicate counterpoint to the intense sweetness and helps balance the entire dessert. A high-quality ice cream makes all the difference.
Key Kitchen Tools for Perfect Single Serve Bananas Foster
Having the right tools makes this easy recipe even smoother:
- 5” Cast Iron Skillet: The absolute ideal vessel for single-serve Bananas Foster. Cast iron heats evenly and retains heat beautifully, keeping your dessert warm longer. Its compact size also makes for an adorable presentation.
- Paring Knife: Perfect for slicing your bananas precisely lengthwise, ensuring they cook evenly and look elegant.
- Silicone Spatula: Essential for gently stirring the caramel sauce and carefully turning the delicate banana slices without scratching your skillet.
- Ice Cream Scoop: For perfectly rounded scoops of vanilla bean ice cream, ensuring a beautiful presentation and ideal portion size.
More Amazing Dessert Ideas to Satisfy That Sweet Tooth!
Looking for more dessert decadence that goes with any holiday or special occasion? We’ve got you covered! While this Bananas Foster is a spectacular treat, sometimes you want to explore other equally delightful options. Check out my Orange Olive Oil Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache. It’s a simple cake with very distinct orange and chocolate flavors, offering a sophisticated twist. If you’re a chocolate lover, you’ll adore these Black Truffle Salted Dark Chocolate Drizzled Nuts. Like the Bananas Foster, they’re super easy to make and wonderfully decadent – only without the peril of igniting an open flame!
Here are some more amazing dessert ideas to satisfy that sweet tooth, from no-bake wonders to comforting cobblers:
- Peanut Butter Marbled Brownie Skillet Pie: A delightful combination of peanut butter and chocolate, baked to perfection in a skillet.
- Chocolate Lasagna: Layers of cookie crust, cream cheese, chocolate pudding, and whipped topping create an irresistible no-bake dessert.
- Lemon Blueberry Trifle: A refreshing and vibrant dessert featuring bright lemon flavors and sweet blueberries layered with cake and cream.
- Peanut Butter Oreo No Bake Cheesecake: An incredibly easy and rich cheesecake that requires no oven, perfect for warm days.
- Cake Mix Apple Cobbler in the Crockpot: A fuss-free, comforting dessert that lets your slow cooker do all the work.
- Sex in a Pan: A playful name for a truly irresistible layered dessert, packed with chocolatey goodness.
- Banana Fritters: If you love bananas but want a different kind of treat, these crispy, sweet fritters are a fantastic choice.
Single Serve Bananas Foster
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar dark or light
- ⅛ tsp vanilla
- 1 tablespoon chopped pecans
- a few pinches cinnamon
- 1 banana sliced lengthwise
- 1 tbsp rum (dark or light) optional
- 1 scoop vanilla bean ice cream
Instructions
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Melt butter in skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar; heat until sugar dissolves, stir as needed (about 2 min).
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Stir in vanilla, pecans, and cinnamon (be careful: liquid/oil splattering may occur).
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Place bananas, sliced side up, in skillet; heat for about two minutes.
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Gently turn bananas over, sliced side down; continue heating for two more minutes.
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Remove skillet from heat; (optional) add and “ignite” the rum.
To “ignite” rum (CAUTION: Igniting rum means to create an “open flame” in the skillet to burn off the alcohol. Please take ALL precautions necessary to prevent injury and fire, such as adult supervision and fire extinguisher on hand).
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Remove skillet from heat; pour rum over sauce; using a long match or long lighter, carefully ignite contents of the skillet; be sure to stand back as the flame may shoot out from the pan; once ignited, allow flame to burn and completely die before serving.
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Top caramelized bananas and sauce with 1 scoop ice cream; garnish with chopped pecans; serve warm.
Nutrition
The recipes on this blog are tested with a conventional gas oven and gas stovetop. It’s important to note that some ovens, especially as they age, can cook and bake inconsistently. Using an inexpensive oven thermometer can assure you that your oven is truly heating to the proper temperature. If you use a toaster oven or countertop oven, please keep in mind that they may not distribute heat the same as a conventional full sized oven and you may need to adjust your cooking/baking times. In the case of recipes made with a pressure cooker, air fryer, slow cooker, or other appliance, a link to the appliances we use is listed within each respective recipe. For baking recipes where measurements are given by weight, please note that results may not be the same if cups are used instead, and we can’t guarantee success with that method.
