I never intended on making Bananas Foster Ice Cream. I had originally wanted to make Ginger Ice Cream, but that poor frozen treat came to untimely end, unfortunately. My ice cream curdled on me, and I was left with no more ingredients to start over with. So, thinking on my feet, I scrounged together the ingredients I had lying around in my kitchen and decided to make a Burnt-Sugar Banana Ice Cream. It sounds good right? Well, it was! And not only was it tasty, it ended up tasting just like Banana’s Foster, that decadent treat combining bananas, brown sugar and butter until caramelized. So in the end, I snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Who needs Ginger Ice Cream anyway?

This ice cream was super simple to make. The hardest part was probably making the burnt sugar. You add some sugar and water to a medium pan and boil it until the sugar turns dark brown. That’s the trickiest part. Because if you take the caramel off the heat too soon, you’re left with plain old caramel, which is OK but not the flavor we’re looking for here. If you leave it on too long, you’ll end up with a black caramel which will leave your ice cream with a burnt, acrid flavor. Wait until the sugar has turned a dark brown color, with perhaps just a fleck of black beginning to appear. Then, take it off the heat immediately and pour in the cream. Don’t worry, with some practice you’ll get it just right. And you’ll be glad you did because burnt sugar ice cream of any kind is amazing!

This ice cream has only a few ingredients in it, just three if you really pare it down. But all of its simplicity the flavor payoff is phenomenal! Rich and delicious, like a great banana’s foster, only frozen. Try it with a bit of flaky sea salt for that salted caramel flavor.

Bananas Foster Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas (the more brown spots, the better!), mashed

2 cups heavy cream

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon dark rum

 1.)    Add sugar to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil with about two tablespoons of water added in. Boil, without stirring, until the caramel turns a dark brown. You’re looking for a very dark caramel here, but you don’t want out and out burnt. If your caramel turns black and starts smoking start over; you’re ice cream will taste horrible if you use it.

2.)    Once your caramel turns dark brown, quickly take it off the heat and add the cream. Don’t worry if it roils up and hardens, bring it back to the heat and it will dissolve completely.

3.)    Add in the mashed up banana, rum and vanilla extract and cool until completely chilled. Churn in ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Make it a Sundae!– This decadent ice cream hardly needs it, but you could take it completely over the top by adding a rum-caramel sauce, fresh whipped cream and toasted pecans. Now that’s a sundae!

The Lighter Side– You substitute half and half for the heavy cream for a less rich ice cream.