OK. I admit it. I have been slacking in the cooking department. I've allowed my busyness to keep me from getting in the kitchen and trying new things, but I'm hoping I can improve as my school load lightens in the summer. In the interim, I'm trying to find quick new experiments, including today's.
Warmer weather is slowly arriving here in the Northeast, popping up in fits and starts. As we get a respite from winter in the occasional sunny spring day, it is time to start thinking of summer treats. Ice cream most immediately comes to mind. It's the quintessential warm weather dessert: sundaes, cones, shakes, etc. But as delicious as ice cream it, it can get boring after a while. While it never ceases to be delicious (strawberries and caramel, hot fudge and whipped cream!), it's fun to think of new ways to get in a sweet summer day dessert.
Today's experiment was the Almond Butter Bailey's Banana. A magazine I read recently had several suggestions for bananas (mostly smoothies), but it reminded me how delicious bananas and peanut butter are together. Not wanting to go the smoothie route (tasty, but too easy, too much like milkshakes), I opted to try freezing the banana with some added flavor. I cut the banana in half length-wise and spread a light layer of almond butter (though any nut butter would work) on each half, then dipped each half in Bailey's, adding just enough to let the flavor soak into the banana. After wrapping it in saran wrap, I left it in the freezer for a few hours.
Result? Delicious. The richness of the almond butter was a great pairing with the sweetness of the banana. The Bailey's was the perfect touch, just enough to add flavor, without being overpowering. It wasn't quite as frozen as I hoped it would be, but I suspect a longer freezing time might help with that. I might try it again sometime, with Kahlua instead of Bailey's, but this is a definitely a dessert I will be making again, as warmer days stick around.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)

No comments:
Post a Comment