Bananas Foster

When we went out to dinner for Valentines Day, I watched the waiter roll a little cart up to the table next to us, and proceed to make the most astonishing looking dessert. He lit a mini stove and sauteed butter and sugar and bananas and then lit the whole pan on fire before pouring the finished product over a tall glass of vanilla ice cream. It looked incredible! I rarely ever even consider ordering dessert at restaurants, and that night I had dessert envy. That mouth-watering ice cream sundae dish ablaze, I learned, is called bananas foster. The special ingredient that ignites the flame is rum. Well, I made my own rum-free version. No rum means no flame. The presentation is not quite as stunning, but the result is still delicious. If you want to stay true to the original, visit the link below to find out how much alcohol you should add. I've never thought of myself as much of an ice cream queen, but after finishing off an abnormally large bowl of vanilla bean drowning in warm caramel bananas, maybe I should reconsider.

INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup dark brown sugar (or light brown sugar)
3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
vanilla ice cream

walnuts, chopped (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Once the sauce begins to bubble, add the bananas and walnuts (optional) and cook for 1-2 minutes until the bananas are hot and the sauce is thick. Serve immediately over vanilla ice cream.

Makes 2 very large servings.

(Adapted from All Recipes)