For the last few years, I’ve had an occasional craving for fruit cooked in a rum sauce, but every time I’ve tried, I just get something sweet but easily forgettable (and certainly nothing that I would bother to write a recipe down for). That changed tonight.

While we were grocery shopping last weekend, I saw that Whole Foods had red bananas at a pretty decent price, so I decided to pick up a few to continue my rum sauce experiments. I know that they take well to heat (until very recently, I actually thought they had to be cooked in order to avoid a stomach ache), and I have a fondness for unusual fruit. They’ve been sitting on the counter tempting me for the last few days, so I finally decided to try again tonight with the caramel sauce.

My rum sauces usually start out with three things: sugar, butter, rum. Tonight, I added whiskey and orange juice to the mix. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add:

2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp Sucanat (dried sugarcane juice)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup golden rum
1/4 cup sour mash whiskey
pinch of salt

Warm this until it is all dissolved and fairly homogeneous, and add four red bananas, sliced lengthwise (I find it easiest to do this with the skins still on).  Place the bananas with the cut side down, and cook them, basting occasionally with the liquid (but not flipping them), until the sugars have slightly caramelized.  This should take 10-15 minutes, and you should see the bubble pattern of the boiling liquid change, especially around the edge of the frying pan. The bananas will be quite soft with a bit of crunch on the bottom, which should have some extra caramelization.

When they’re done, remove them from the heat to cool for a few minutes, and then serve them with a large scoop of ice cream (I’d recommend vanilla or coconut).

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