Flambéd bananas

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 4 bananas
• 2 30 g Clarified butter
• 3 30 g caster sugar
• 4 1 lime
• 5 1 orange
• 6 10 g Vanilla sugar
• 7 ½ glass rum
• Total weight: 1,250 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
24 min.	16 min.	40 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Wash carefully 1 lime and 1 orange, cut zests (get organic fruit if possible, especially when peel is used, as in this recipe).
2	Squeeze the juice, add zests to juice, add 10 g Vanilla sugar, mix and set aside.
3	Heat serving plates. Peel 4 bananas, cut in half lengthways.
4	Put 30 g Clarified butter in a frying pan over medium heat to melt (if you don't have clarified butter, use normal butter instead). Scatter half of 30 g caster sugar, allow to caramelize slightly and add bananas.
5	Leave bananas to caramelize as short a time as possible (2-3 minutes maximum, bananas must stay firm inside and golden brown outside, otherwise they become limp) then turn them over and sprinkle the other half of 30 g caster sugar.
6	As soon as the second side is golden brown, add ½ glass rum, agitate the pan gently, and light with a match, or by approaching the gas flame.
7	A soon as flames are out, pour in fruit suice and bring to boil. Then remove bananas, cut in two and put onto hot plates (one banana per guest).
8	With a wooden spatula, deglaze frying pan bottom and reduce syrup slightly. During this operation the zests will crystallize a little.
9	Put two half bananas in each plate, cover with syrup, and serve immediately.

Remarks

For success with this recipe, it's important to use bananas that are not too ripe, which can be cooked the few minutes necessary to caramelise and not become too soft. The perfect flambéd banana is golden brown all over, tender but still a little firm, and coated with its delicious rum, citrus fruit and vanilla syrup.
All proportions of butter and sugar are very approximate, don't hesitate to modify them to taste, but try not to add more butter, it adds nothing.
It's not necessary to use a great rum, an ordinary one will do.
For a children's version, you can leave out rum, it's still very good.

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