Coffee-baked bananas

Article By: Henrie Geyser

I was fortunate to visit the incredibly beautiful island of Madagascar a few years ago and I still have fond memories of some of the simple, but wonderful dishes I had during our stay there.

I never thought I would ever, ever in my life say no thank you to prawns, crayfish and fresh crab — but after four days of mountains of seafood I finally surrendered and ate only fruit for two days.

For over and above the delicious abundance of seafood, the island is also home to a wide range of fruit, including the tastiest bananas I have eaten in my life.

Two banana dishes were particularly delicious. One was a warm banana fritter, similar to our South African pumpkin fritter and the other was bananas baked in coffee, which quickly became my favourite.

This coffee-baked banana dessert is simple to make, yet interesting enough to serve at a dinner party. For four portions you need:

Ingredients

4ripe but firm bananas, peeled and sliced in half lengthways

1 cup very strong black filter coffee

¾ cup Kahlua coffee liqueur

4 tablespoons brown sugar

Method

Place the bananas in a lightly buttered ovenproof dish.

Mix the sugar, coffee and liqueur and pour over the bananas.

Place in an oven pre-heated to 180 Degrees Celsius and bake for 20 minutes.

Serve warm with cream or ice cream and a sprinkling of grated high-cocoa black chocolate.