Up next on the Baked schedule… Bananas Foster Fritters! Posting date is Janauary 13. Enjoy!

Bananas Foster Fritters from Baked Explorations

For the Rum Dipping Sauce

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon banana liqueur (or pure vanilla extract)
2 Tablespoons dark rum
Pinch cinnamon (optional)

For the Fritter Dough

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus  more if needed
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 medium ripe bananas
1 tablespoon dark rum
1 teaspoon banana liqueur or pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Vegetable oil for frying
1/4 cup confectioners sugar

Make the rum dipping sauce
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the cream and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the liqueur, rum and cinnamon if using. Set aside until serving time. (The sauce can be made ahead. Allow it to cool, then cover it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Rewarm it over low heat in a saucepan or microwave it in short 15 second blasts before serving).

Make the fritter dough
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, allspice, and 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Use your hands to rub the chunks of sugar into the flour mixture and whisk again (it is ok to have a few chunky sugar pieces remaining).

In another large bowl, mash the bananas with your hands or a heavy spoon and stir in the rum, liqueur and butter.

Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the banana mixture. The mix should look wet, but it should hold its shape when scooped into a small ball. If dough is too thin, keep folding in flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it stiffens up. Refrigerate the dough while the frying oil heats up and you prepare the sugar topping.

Pour enough oil into a deep skillet to fill it 3/4 inch to 1 inch deep. Slowly heat the oil over medium-high heat until it registers 375 degrees F on a deep-frying thermometer.

While the oil heats, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Set aside.

Fry the fritters
Line a plate with double layer of paper towels and set it near your work area.

Using a small spatula and a small spoon, two spoons, or an ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, drop heaping spoonfuls of dough into the oil. Do not crowd the skillet. Cook until the fritters have browned on one side, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, turn them over to cook for another 2 minutes or until browned. Do not overcook or burn the fritters. Use the slotted spoon to transfer the fritters to the prepared plate and continue frying dough until finished.

Place the fritters on a serving plate and sift the cinnamon sugar over them. Serve immediately with rum dipping sauce.

Excerpted from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copyright © 2010 by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

A simple, refreshing summer dessert! And no pudding this week. :) Posting date is July 15.

Simple Blueberry Parfaits
recipe source: Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, p. 186
serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

4 to 6 ounces vanilla wafers, depending on how thick you want to make your wafer layer
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
1 teaspoon orange juice
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Freshly grated zest of 1 orange for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Choose four clear, wide-mouthed glasses for serving. Put the vanilla wafers in a food processor and pulse them into coarse crumbs.

In a small saucepan, combine 1 1/4 cups of the blueberries and the Grand Marnier. Cook over medium heat until the blueberries break down, about 5 minutes. Let them cool to room temperature. (If you’re in a hurry, put the mixture in the refrigerator to cool it quickly.)

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium speed for 1 minute. Sprinkle the confectioners’ sugar over the cream, turn the mixer to high, and beat until soft peaks form.

Add 3/4 cup of the fresh blueberries and the orange juice to the room-temperature blueberry syrup and stir until combined.

Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the crumbled vanilla wafers to cover the bottom of each glass, top with a heaping tablespoonful of the blueberry mixture, then top that with a dollop of whipped cream. Continue to layer until you fill
the glasses or until you run out of ingredients. Garnish with the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries and finish each parfait with a sprinkle of orange zest. Serve immediately.

Excerpted from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copyright © 2010 by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Excerpted by permission of Stewart, Tabori & Chang, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.