RECIPE: Vegan Bananas Foster with Coconut Vanilla Bean vice cream

(photo: Food Network)

Vegan Bananas Foster

I made some vegan Bananas Foster and Coconut Vanilla Bean vice cream* for Veggie Supper Club tonight.  Our theme was “Cajun”… so what better than a classic New Orleans flambé dessert?  Both recipes below are super easy, and super delicious.  And, to be fair, making Bananas Foster into a “vegan recipe” is easy – you just swap out the butter for a vegan spread.  This recipe paired with the vegan coconut vanilla bean vice cream is stupendous.

*– vice cream = vegan ice cream (Jeff Rogers’ Vice Cream at Amazon)

There were different recipes for Bananas Foster available online, and the first one I tried was waaaaaay too saucy… it made for a lot of leftover juice and didn’t seem to have the consistency I’ve known in Bananas Foster.  Here’s the recipe I ended up going with (a modification of several online recipes):

Ingredients:
serves 4

• 1/4 cup vegan spread, butter substitute (aka 4 tbsp or 1/2 stick)
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 3-4 bananas, peeled and sliced lengthwise or into coins
• 1/3 cup dark rum (Myers, Whalers, etc)
• 2 tbsp banana liqueur (DeKuypers, etc)
• ground cinnamon
• a bbq lighter or other fire source

Steps:

1. Melt the vegan spread (butter) and dark sugar in a pan until smooth, creamy paste.  I used a big wok, as I was making a large batch and wanted room for the flames, too.
2. Add cut bananas and sautee for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat.
3. Combine rum & liqueur into a microwave safe dish and warm in a microwave slightly (30 seconds).
4. Add rum & liqueur to bananas and light on fire, stir to stoke the flames… **
5. Sprinkle cinnamon while flames are present for a small fireworks display.
6. Serve over ice cream and enjoy!

**– The “showy” way to do this is to light a shotglass on fire, or if using a gas stove light a metal ladel full of the rum mixture and pour into the bananas.  We had a small accident with a ceramic dish when testing this out at home prior to the Veggie Supper Club; so we opted for the safer way.  Add the rum mixture directly to the pan and light with a long bbq lighter.  Use precautions, have a friend handy with water or a fire extinguisher.  I’d recommend not doing this over a gas oven if you’re tentative.  Seriously folks, be careful. :)  It’s all fun and games until someone lights their kitchen on fire.

Vegan Coconut Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

This recipe comes from Jeff Rogers’ Vice Cream recipe book.  I modified it slightly as the measurements weren’t realistic (size of coconut milk can) and the texture (not using the bean skin).  I made a double batch, and again, it worked great with the Bananas Foster…

Ingredients:
makes 1 quart

• 2 cans of coconut milk (14 oz each), use regular not “light”
• 1 cup pitted, diced medjool dates  (used as a sweetener)
• 3 vanilla beans
• Note: You will need an ice cream maker

Steps:

1. Add 2 cans of coconut milk to a food processor or blender.  For ice creams, you want a high fat content; so refrain from using the light (or “lite”) variety of coconut milk.
2. Add 1 cup of pitted, diced medjool dates to the coconut milk.  If you can find these prepared in the stores, good luck.  I just bought some in the bulk section and pitted and diced them myself.  Medjool dates are a great natural sweetener, and they also help to solidify the vice cream.
3. Cut the very tips (on either end) and slice vanilla beans length-wise.  Use the knife (or a small spoon) and scrape out the vanilla bean seeds from the pod and add to the mixture.  The seeds are where the flavor is held.  For an example of how to do this, check out this informative YouTube video from Dyann Bakes.  The seed yield you’ll get is more than what she got…
4. Blend the mixture until smooth, approximately 1 minute.
5. Chill for a few hours in the fridge.
6. Add to ice cream maker and follow instructions included with your ice cream maker.

This is a mainly music-based blog.  If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes, like vegan biscuits & gravy, spiced biscotti, and vegan cactus chili at THIS LINK.

~Dan – np: Wussy – Wussy